Short course
20th Century French Philosophy
Course status:
Applications being accepted
Dates and time:
13/04/2027 - 15/06/202719:00 - 21:00
Study format:
In-person weekly
Fees:
£315.00
The Twentieth Century was a very fertile period for French Philosophy. Picking up on a wide range of influences like Marxism, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, positivism and personalism, French Philosophy had strong roots, to which it would lend a rich interpretation and nuanced development. With a studious eye cast on greats like Hegel, Kierkegaard and Heidegger, the thinkers from this period would be at the forefront of a range of new and challenging approaches to philosophy like existentialism, existential phenomenology, deconstruction, absurdism and post-structuralism. With new methods, art, language, literature, theology, history and politics were all disciplines to be considered afresh in the works of these thinkers. This course seeks to examine the contributions made by a number of the key French philosophers of this period and their peers and ask how far they transformed contemporary philosophical thought.
Book this course
Book your place online using the button below.
Contact the team
Phone: +44 (0)1865 280900
Course starts Tuesday 13 April 2027
This is an in-person course which requires your attendance at the weekly meetings in Oxford on Tuesdays, 7.00-9.00pm.
Week 1: Introduction and influences on 20th Century French Philosophy
Week 2: Henri Bergson
Week 3: Wahl and Kojeve
Week 4: Marcel and Ricoeur
Week 5: Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Week 6: Jean-Paul Sartre
Week 7: Simone de Beauvoir
Week 8: Emmanuel Levinas
Week 9: Albert Camus
Week 10: Foucault and Derrida
Course aims
This course aims to enable participants to develop an understanding of key ideas in twentieth-century French philosophy and to explore their historical context and continuining significance.
Course objectives
By the end of the course, participants will have been given the opportunity to:
- explore the historical and cultural context in which twentieth-century French philosophy developed
- develop an understanding of the central themes, concepts and arguments associated with twentieth-century French philosophers and their works
- examine the contribution of twentieth-century French philosophy to the development of philosophical thought
Learning outcomes
- Provide the students with a sound grasp of the key philosophical insights of the thinkers concerned.
- Enable students to develop an appreciation of key philosophical movements like phenomenology and existentialism.
- Encourage students to improve their critical thinking skills.
Level and demands
The Department’s Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, ie first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Teaching methods
The classes will be a combination of lecture-style and teaching and seminar-based discussion which will develop partly out of the short weekly readings which the students will complete.
Assessment methods
Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation, in advance of the course start date, can submit coursework/assignments for assessment.
Assessment
You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.
Dr Magnus Moar
Magnus Moar is a graduate of Oxford and Sussex Universities with a doctoral thesis focussing on the work of Kierkegaard. Magnus has a published article on Kierkegaard and Levinas and has been teaching undergraduates for fifteen years.
Academic credit
Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS Points)
Please note, students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you wish to gain credit from completing this course you must register to do so before the course starts.
Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
Learn more about the Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee for assessment and accreditation.
Digital certificate of completion
Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course fee (with no assessment) | £315.00 |
| Assessment and Accreditation fee | £60.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, or are a care-leaver in the UK, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Concessionary fees for short courses
Recommended reading
Recommended reading is optional and you are not required to purchase these books to study this course.
Library facilities
All short course students (online and in-person) may register to borrow from the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library, for the duration of their course.
Further information about the Oxford Lifelong Learning Library can be found on the library website.
Preparatory reading
- A History of Philosophy: 19th and 20th Century French Philosophy / Copleston, F.
- Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction / Critchley, S.
- Modern French Philosophy: From Existentialism to Postmodernism / Wicks, R.
Module code: O26P450PHW
How to enrol
Please use the ‘Book now’ button on this page.
How to register for accreditation and assessment
To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for this course, if you wish to do so, you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.
If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education at the Department you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.