BA (Honours) Philosophy for 2018-19 Intake

INTRODUCTION
The word ‘philosophy’ comes from ancient Greece, where it meant ‘the love of wisdom’. Philosophy investigates the world and our knowledge of it, and approaches these issues systematically and at a high level of generality and abstraction, The characteristic, though not exclusive, methods that philosophers use in such investigations include reasoning and conceptual clarification as well as careful attention to examples, whether actual or imagined, that may be relevant in particular debates. Many problems discussed in philosophy have a close connection with everyday moral problems or topics discussed in science, which shows that the widespread picture of philosophy as an abstract, dry and irrelevant is misleading.
AIMS
The Honours Degree Programme in Philosophy at Lingnan is designed to provide students with an introduction to contemporary philosophy and to acquaint them with the history of the discipline. Lingnan’s philosophy programme places an emphasis on training students to do philosophy, that is, to become skilled at understanding, responding to, and developing philosophical arguments. Lingnan philosophy students learn about both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions and become familiar with the topics that define central areas in philosophy, such as logic, philosophy of language, ethics, and the theory of knowledge. The programme trains students to engage in informed reflection and argumentation on a wide range of philosophical questions.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The BA (Hons) Philosophy targets two main outcomes:

  1. Students who study philosophy successfully will have a foundational knowledge of philosophical traditions, arguments, and problems that will enable them to pursue further studies in philosophy in Hong Kong or overseas;
  2. The study of philosophy enhances a variety of skills having applications both within and outside of the university or other educational institutions. These skills fall into three broad types:
    1. analytic and critical thinking abilities, such as the ability to recognize assumptions and conceptual relations, and the ability to gather and organize information; critical thinking involves the ability to detect ambiguity, vagueness, inconsistency, and argumentative fallacies;
    2. interpretative and comprehension skills, such as the ability to understand difficult texts and extract key arguments and issues; and
    3. communicative skills, including the ability to write and speak on complex topics with clarity and precision.
PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
The philosophy major requires 9 required courses and either 7 elective courses (21 credits) or 5 electives (15 credits) in conjunction with a final year project (6 credits). The 9 required courses are ethics: east and west, introduction to philosophy, deductive logic, 2 courses in the history of philosophy, 2 courses to be chosen from a list of core philosophy courses, and 2 courses in ethics and political philosophy. Regarding electives, the department has identified five elective profiles. Students are free to either specialize in a single profile or choose courses from multiple profiles. These profiles are: Aesthetics, Chinese Philosophy, Continental Philosophy, Ethics and Practical Philosophy, Philosophy of Natural and Human Sciences, and Special Topics.
CAREER POTENTIAL
Traditionally philosophy graduates go into education or the media as specialised cultural workers valued for their knowledge of central cultural traditions. However, there has been an increasing trend in the last fifteen years in the United States and Europe for corporations to hire philosophy graduates for fast track positions as problem solvers. In addition to giving students the knowledge they need to fill relevant positions in publishing, journalism, or teaching, the present programme emphasises the development of analytical ability and critical and creative thinking, preparing students to fulfil with distinction such positions as problem solvers.
ENTRANCE REQUIREMENT
English Language: Level 3
Chinese Language: Level 3
Mathemathics: Level 2
Liberal Studies: Level 2
One Elective Subject: Level 2
ALLOCATION OF PHILOSOPHY PROGRAMME
Please visit this link for the major allocation criteria: http://www.ln.edu.hk/arts/ug_4-year/allocation_2014.php
OVERALL PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
FIRST YEAR
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
1st Term 1st/ 2nd Term 2nd Term Total
CCC8011 Critical Thinking: Analysis and Argumentation (R)* 3 3
CCC8012 The Making of Hong Kong (R)* 3 3
LCC1010 Practical Chinese I (R) 3 3
LCE1010 English for Communication I (R) 3 3
LCE1020 English for Communication II (R) 3 3
PHI1002 Introduction to Philosophy (R) # 3 3
PHI1003 Ethics: East and West (R) # 3 3
^ 2 Cluster Courses 6 6
1 Free Elective # 3 3
Total number of credits in first year: 30
SECOND YEAR
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
1st Term 1st/ 2nd Term 2nd Term Total
CCC8013 The Process of Science (R)* 3 3
CCC8014 China in World History (R)* 3 3
ENG2020 Varieties of English (R) 3 3
LCC2010 Practical Chinese II (R) 3 3
LCE2010 English for Communication III (R) 3 3
PHI3101 Deductive Logic (R) # 3 3
Total number of credits in second year: 18
SECOND TO THIRD YEARS
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
1st Term 1st/ 2nd Term 2nd Term Total
2 History of Philosophy Courses 6 6
2 Core Philosophy Courses 6 6
2 Ethics and Political Philosophy Courses 6 6
Total number of credits in second to third years: 18
SECOND TO FOURTH YEARS
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
1st Term 1st/ 2nd Term 2nd Term Total
^ 3 Cluster Courses 9 9
8 Free Electives # 24 24
5 Programme Electives 15 15
Total number of credits in second to fourth years: 48
FOURTH YEAR
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
1st Term 1st/ 2nd Term 2nd Term Total
PHI4301 Directed Research Project or 2 Programme Electives 6 6
Total number of credits in fourth year: 6
Minimum credits for Honours Degree: 120

(R) denotes required course(s).
* Students are assigned to take CCC8011 Critical Thinking: Analysis and Argumentation and CCC8012 The Making of Hong Kong in the first year, and CCC8013 The Process of Science and CCC8014 China in World History in the second year (or the third year for those designated as Year 3 students upon admission). Unless with the approval of the Director of Core Curriculum and General Education, students are not allowed to drop these assigned courses in the designated year.
# For students admitted via faculty-based admission, they will study 3 free electives in Year 1 and PHI1002 Introduction to Philosophy, PHI1003 Ethics: East and West, and PHI3101 Deductive Logic in Year 2 (unless they have already completed these subjects); and 6 free electives from Year 2 to Year 4.
^ Students are required to complete 5 Clusters courses in total. For details, please see the Core Curriculum Section.

REQUIRED COURSES (Total 9 courses, 27 credits)
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
Major Programme
PHI1002 Introduction to Philosophy 3
PHI1003 Ethics: East and West 3
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY (must take two courses from the following, with one course in each tradition)
PHI2112 History of Chinese Philosophy : From Pre-Qin to Han (Chinese Tradition)* 3
PHI2113 History of Western Philosophy : Ancient Greek Philosophy (Western Tradition) 3
PHI2116 History of Chinese Philosophy : From Wei Jin to Ming (Chinese Tradition)* 3
PHI2117 History of Western Philosophy : From Descartes to Kant (Westerm Tradition) 3
CORE PHILOSOPHY COURSES (must take two courses from the following)
PHI3231 Epistemology 3
PHI3265 Philosophy of Mind 3
PHI4366 Philosophy of Language 3
ETHICS AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (must take two courses from the following, with one course in each tradition)
PHI3102 Chinese Political Philosophy (Chinese Tradition)** 3
PHI3103 Advanced Western Ethics (Western Tradition) 3
PHI3104 Western Political Philosophy (Western Tradition) 3
PHI3232 Ethics: The Chinese Tradition (Chinese Tradition)** 3
LOGIC
PHI3101 Deductive Logic (R) 3

* International students or non-Cantonese speakers can choose one course among the Core Philosophy Courses, Ethics and Political Philosophy, or other programme elective courses to substitute PHI2112/PHI2116. The course chosen from the Core Philosophy Courses and the Ethics and Political Philosophy courses in this way do not count to fulfill the other requirements below. Approval of Academic Advisor is required.

** International students or non-Cantonese speakers can choose one course from those Programme Elective courses profiled as Ethics and Practical Philosophy, or from the relevant Special Topics courses to substitute PHI3102/PHI3232. Approval of Academic Advisor is required for choice of courses in the Special Topics list as substitutes for the required course in the tradition.

PROGRAMME ELECTIVE COURSES (Total 7 courses, 21 credits or 5 courses, 15 credits in conjunction with a 6-credit Directed Research Project)
Students are required to select courses either from the list of electives given below or from the list of required courses (presented under Required Courses Section of this programme structure) that are not yet taken as their required courses.
Course Code Course Title No. of Credits
Major Programme
AESTHETICS
PHI3264 Philosophy and Literature 3
PHI3271 History of Aesthetics 3
PHI3281 Philosophy of Photography 3
PHI4273 Philosophy of Architecture 3
PHI4363 Analytic Philosophy of Art 3
PHI4373 Cinema and Philosophy 3
CHINESE PHILOSOPHY
CHI4308 Confucianism and Chinese Literature 3
CHI4345 Buddhism and Chinese Literature 3
CHI4346 Daoism and Chinese Literature 3
PHI2001 The Philosophy of Zhuangzi 3
PHI3285 The Philosophy of Mozi 3
PHI4266 Pre-Qin Taoism 3
PHI4334 Contemporary Neo-Confucianism 3
PHI4361 Confucianism and the Modern World 3
PHI4364 Man and Heaven in Chinese Philosophy 3
CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY
PHI3270 Continental Aesthetic Theories 3
PHI4261 Contemporary Continental Philosophy 3
PHI4275 Schopenhauer and Nietzsche 3
PHI4369 Post-Modern Philosophy 3
ETHICS AND PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY
PHI3105 Philosophy of Happiness 3
PHI3201 Applied Ethics 3
PHI3222 Life and Death 3
PHI3223 Bioethics 3
PHI3236 Contingencies and Necessities in Life 3
PHI3263 Philosophical Perspectives on Human Rights 3
PHI3278 Metaethics 3
PHI3280 Philosophy of Religion 3
PHI4324 Utopia 3
PHI4367 Philosophy of Law 3
PHI4372 Theories of Justice 3
PHI4374 Value Theory 3
PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES
PHI3001 Causation, Explanation and Causal Inference 3
PHI3279 Philosophy of Technology 3
PHI3282 Philosophy of History 3
PHI3283 Philosophy of Social Science 3
PHI3368 Philosophy of Science 3
PHI3370 Probability and Scientific Method 3
PHI3371 Personal Identity 3
PHI4101 Modal Logic 3
PHI4365 Philosophy of Action 3
PHI4375 Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence 3
SPECIAL TOPICS
PHI4399 Special Topics 3
PHI4399A Existence and Being 3
PHI4399C Freedom, Commitment, and the Self 3
PHI4399D Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art 3
PHI4399F Philosophical Writing 3
PHI4399G Aesthetic Properties 3
PHI4399H Philosophical Methodology 3
PHI4399J Philosophy of Psychology 3
PHI4399K Scientific Realism 3
PHI4399M Contemporary Metaethics 3
PHI4399P The Nature of Truth 3
PHI4399R The Theory and Practice of Autonomy 3
PHI4399S Buddhism in the Contemporary World 3
PHI4399T Philosophy of Probability 3
Last updated: 20.09.2018