M. A Final

Department of Philosophy

Chittagong University

 

Session – 2002-2003 & 2003-2004

Year of Examination 2003 & 2004

 

 

There will be ten courses of 50 marks each. In addition to these there will be 100 marks for regular students as follows:

 

            1.         Class Test / Tutorial            50

            2.         Terminal                               25

            3.         Viva Voce                              25

 

 

For irregular Candidates:

Philosophical Essay                                    75   marks

Viva-Voce                                                     25      ,,

 

Students are required to choose any four Courses from group A and any  two courses from each remaining groups.

 

Group  A   (Any four)

501            Epistemology and Metaphysics

502            Pragmatism & Humanism.

503            Philosophy of Moore & Russell

504            Phenomenology and Existentialism

505            Logical Positivism & Analytic Philosophy

506            Philosophical Logic

 

Group B.  (Any two)

507            Recent Trends in Islamic Thought

508            Philosophy of Al-Ghazali & Ibn Rushd

509            Sufism  upto 15th century

or

          Sufism – from 16th to 20th century

510            Contemporary Indian Philosophy

511            Bangladesh Philosophy

 

Group C.  (Any two)

512            Environmental Ethics and Business Ethics

513            Moral Philosophy of Moore & Hare

514            Applied Philosophy

515            Philosophy of Law

516            Philosophical Aspects of Artificial Intelligence

 

Group D.  (Any two)

517            Religion and Politics

518            Contemporary Political Philosophy

519            Theories of Justice

520            Social Psychology

521            Applied Psychology

522            Philosophy of Science

Group – A (Any four)

501     Epistemology and Metaphysics 

Prescribed Texts:

1.         P. F. Strawson            :         Individuals: Introduction & Part I & III.

2.         John L. Pollock :         Contemporary Theories of Knowledge

 

502    Pragmatism & Humanism.

The purpose of the course is to make the students acquainted with some salient features of pragmatism and humanism. Discussion will be based on the texts prescribed.

Texts Prescribed

1.                  James, W.                   : Pragmatism, New York, 1907.

2.                  Schiller, F.C.S            .           : Studies in Humanism, London, Macmillan & Co., 1907.

 

503    Philosophy of Moore & Russell

Texts:

Moore, G. E. –                      Some Main Problems of Philosophy

Russell, B. –                          Problems of Philosophy.

 

504     Phenomenology and Existentialism

Historical background of phenomenology, Husserl’s concept of phenomenology.

Existentialism and its relation to phenomenology.

Six Existentialist Philosophers: Kierkegard, Jaspers, Marcel, Heidegger, Nietzsche, Sartre.

 

505    Logical Positivism and Analytic Philosophy

Logical Positivism: Its nature origin. and development.

Method: Logical analysis of language, function of philosophy, meaning and verifiability with special reference to Schlick Ayer and Carnap.

Meaninglessness of metaphysics.

The nature, origin and development of Analytic philosophy.

                                   

506    Philosophical Logic

Text:

1.                  W. Quine                   : Philosophy of Logic

2.                  A.C. Grayling           :Philosophical Logic, 3rd Edition

 

Group - B (Any two)

 

507     Recent Trends in Islamic Thought

Students are expected to be aware of the most recent trends in Islamic thought and of the movements that are currently prevailing in the world, such as Revivalism, New-Revivalism, Fundamentalism, neo-Fundamentalism, classical Modernism, neo-Modernism, Post-Modernism Secularism, Westernism, These trends a are to be discussed in relations to their agenda of discourse such as religious education vs. western education, economics, politics, women rights, human rights, Jihad, Ijtihad, Law of inheritance, Zakat system, etc.

Books Recommended:

1.      Ahmad, Akbar S.,           Post-Modernism and Islam, London: Routledge, 1992.

2.      Gelluer, Ernest,               Post-modernism, Reason and Religion, London, Routladge, 1992.

3.      Rahman, Fazlur, Islam and Modernity, Transformation of an  Intellectual Tradition, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1982.

4.      Welch, Alfred and Pierre Caches. (ed.) : Islamic Post-Jufluence   and the Present Challenge. New York: State University of New York, 1979. 

5.      Hadden, J.K. and Shepe A. Anson (eds.) Prophetic Religions and Politics, New York: Paragon House, 1986.

6.      Sayed, Edward W. Orientalism: New York and London, 1978.

7.      Levtzion, N. (ed.):  Eighteenth Century Renewal and Reform in Islam, Syracus: 1987.

8.      Esposito, John L. (ed.): Voices of Resurgent Islam, N. Y, Oxford  University Press, 1983.

 

508     Philosophy of Al-Ghazali and Ibn Rushd

Text- Tahafut al-Falasifa and Tahaful al-Tahafut-(Selected chapters)

 

Students will be required to study the prescribed texts in detail and to have a thorough knowledge of the problems discussed in the texts.

Texts Prescribed

Al-Ghazali: Tahafut-al-Falasifa, English tr. S.A. Kamali, Lahore, 1958.

evsjv Abyev`, gyn¤§` Av`gyÏxb, ZvnvdvZzj dvjvwmdv, XvKvt Bmjvgx dvD‡Ûkb, 1980|

Ibn Rushd: Tahafut-al-Tahafut, English tr. Simon Van-den-Bergh, London, 1954.

 

509    Sufism -  upto 15th century

            or

          Sufism – from 16th to 20th century

Students will be required to study the following topics:

Historical development of Sufism from the Early Islam.

Doctrines and Practices of the great Sufis.

The false Sufis of different ages.

 

Or Sufism (from 16th to 20th century)

Development of Sufism from 16th to 20th century

Fundamental doctrines and practices of the great Sufis of the period.

Sufism and the modern world.

 

 

510     Contemporary Indian Philosophy 

A study of the contemporary developments in Indian Philosophy since the second half of the 19th century philosophy and their effects upon present day philosophical thinking. Special attention will be paid to the work of Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya.

 

511    Bangladesh Philosophy

An analysis and evaluation of the main concepts regarding the philosophy of life, materialistic philosophy, Religion and civilization, life and divine world, synthetic philosophy, theory of aesthetics, and rabbaniath philosophy --- of Barkatullah, G.C. Dev, Abul Hashem, & Ramendrasunder Tribedi.

Texts:

1.      gvby‡li ag© -- †gvnv¤§` eiKZzj­vn (Selected topics)

2.      Aspirations of the Common Man – G. C. Dev.

3.      The Creed of Islam –Abul Hashem

4.      wRÁvmv --- iv‡g›`ªmy›`i w·e`x, KjKvZv-1914

 

 

Group - C (Any two)

512    Environmental Ethics and Business Ethics

Nature and scope of environmental ethics. Different theories of environmental ethics. Respect for nature. Duties towards higher and lower animal, Deep ecology. Value in nature. Land ethics. Environmental pollution moral issues. Environmental policy making. Globalization and its impact on environmentry.

 

            Nature and scope of business ethics; Utility of studying business ethics. Arguments for and against business ethics. Stakeholder theory. Ethics of consumer production and marketing; Employees obligations to the farm and farm’s duties to the employees. Employees rights, Advertising ethics, Ethics of job discrimination.

 

513    Moral Philosophy of Moore and Hare 

Texts:

1.                  Moore, G.E., Principia Ethica, Cambridge, 1903.

2.                  Hare, R.M. The Language of Morals, Oxford, 1952.

 

514    Applied Philosophy

I.                   Applied Philosophy: Nature and Scope–Theory and practice– Perspective/Holistic approach.

II.                Relationships: Human bonds – Natural, legal and Social-Duties and obligations towards each other – Material and family bonds – Gender questions – Moral and cultural value.

III.             Family and Parenthood: Philosophical foundations – Parental rights – Concept of generation – authenticity of parenthood – Caring children.

IV.             Freedom and Self Respect: Freedom and rights – Autonomy and obstacles to freedom – Individualism and community – Authority and self-respect -  Leadership – Prestige and self-respect.

V.                Human Rights: Meaning of Rights – Classification and morality of rights – Content of human rights – Human rights and cultural diversity.

VI.             Terrorism, Crime and Morality: Terrorism and conflict – Punishment – Moralistic terrorism – Revolutionary terrorism.

VII.          Philosophy and Law:  Status of legal theories – Legal positivism and reductionism – Austin’s Vs. Hart’s account of law – Philosophical analysis of legal doctrines.

VIII.       Business Philosophy: Paradigms of business philosophy – Epistemic status of market economy – Consumers and public rights –Corporate philosophy.

 

Books Recommended

1.      Almond, B. & Hill, D. (eds.): Applied Philosophy, London and New York, Routledge, 1991.

2.      Almond, B. (ed.) : Introducing Applied Ethics, Oxford U.K. and Cambridge USA, Blackwell              Publications, 1995.

3.      Ceadel, M.: Thinking About Peace and War, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1987.

4.      Dillon, R. : Dignity, Character and Self-Respect, London, 1995.

5.      Foot, P.: Virtues and Vices, Bukeley, California, University of California Press, 1978.

6.      Foucault, M. : Politics, Philosophy, Culture, 1977-84, London, and New York, Routledge,            1988.

7.      Goldberg, D.T. (ed.) : Multicultmalism : A Critical Reader, Oxford, Blackwell Publications,             1994.

8.      Lannore, A.P. (ed.) : Contemporary Moral Controversies in Business, New York, Oxford             University Press, 1989.

9.      Jenks, C. : Culture, London, Routledge, 1994.

10.  Laugford, G.: Human Action, London, Macmillan 1972.

11.  Popper, K.: The Open Society and Its Enemies, London, Hatchinson, 1982.

12.  Steiner, H.: An Essay on Rights, London and Boston, Routhledge, 1998.

13.  Titus, Harold, W.: Ethics for Today, American Book Company, New York, 1954.

14.  Turner, B., Orientalism, Postmodernism and Globalism, London and New York, Routledge,                    1994.

15.  Wittgenstein, L. : Culture and Value, trans, Petes Winch, Chicago, Chicago University Press,                    1980.

 

515     Philosophy of Law

Problems of the definition of law: Lexical definition and deviant cases; pragmatic definitions; structural problems; coersion and morality. Problems of legal reasoning: Legislation and precedent; descriptive and prescriptive theories. Methods of discovery and standards of appraisal: Criteria of evaluation; substantive law; procedural law; justice and morality.

 

516    Philosophical Aspects of Artificial Intelligence

Students are required to have summarized ideas in the following topics:

1 Introduction      

            1.1 What is AI

            1.2 Foundations of AI

            1.3 History of AI

            1.4 AI Application Areas

2 Intelligent Agents

            2.1 Agents & Environments

            2.2 Good Behavior

            2.3 The Nature of Environments

            2.4 The Structure of Agents

3 New Approaches to define AI

            3.1 Intelligence and the Physical System Hypothesis

            3.2 Neural Computing

            3.3 Agents, Emergence and Intelligence.

4 The Science of Intelligent Systems

            4.1 Psychological Constraints

            4.2 Epistemological Issues

            4.3 Situated Actors and the Existential Mind

5 Weak & Strong AI

            5.1 Can Machines Act Intelligently?

            5.2 Can Machines really Think?

6 AI: Current Issues and Future Directions

7 Ethics & Risks of Developing AI

8 Men and Machines

            8.1 Cybernetics

            8.2 The Identity of the Person: Cyber Men

            8.3 The Ultimate Difference: Emotion and Faith

 

 

Group - D (Any two)

517    Religion and Politics

Students are supposed to know the basic features of both Religion and Politics and how they are related in different political systems of the world especially Asia, Africa and Europe.

Books Recommended

1.       Smith, Donald Eugene, South Asian Politics and Religion, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.

2.       Moyser, George, Religion and Politics in the Modern World, London: Routledge, 1991.

3.       Smith, D.E., Religion and Political Development, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1970.

4.       Haught, J.F., Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversation, New York and Mahwah, J.J: Panelist Press, 1995.

5.      Halliday,  Fred, Islam and the Myth of Conformation: Religion and Politics in the Middle East, London, New York: 1996.

 

518    Contemporary Political Philosophy 

1. A brief discussion of the political idea of the following thinkers: Marx. Lenin

2. An Analysis of recent political ideas: Nationalism, democracy, socialism, totalitarianism,      liberalism, Fascism, Individualism.

 

519    Theories of Justice

Students are required to study the different Theories of justice from Plato to the present time with special emphasise on John Rawl’s Theory of Justice.

 

Text: John Rawls:  A Theory of Justice

 

520    Social Psychology

1.      Introduction--Subject-matter, Scope and its relation to other Social Sciences

2.      Methods of Social Psychology: Observation Method, Survey Method, Field Study & Experimental Method

3.      Socialization: Nature, Process and Agents of Socialization and their Roles. Culture and Personality

4.      Attitude: Nature, Formation, Change, Measurement of Attitude, Individual and Group Norms

5.      Individual and Group: Types of Group—Primary, Secondary and Multiple Group Membership--G roup Dynamics, Pressure, Leadership: Nature, Types and Function.

6.      Nature of Crowd Behaviour: Rumour, Propaganda & Public Opinion-- Its Formation and Measurement.

 

521    Applied Psychology   

1.      Psychology applied in Education: Relation of Psychology with Education-- Teacher-student Relationship-- Influence of Social Environmental Learning

2.      Psychology applied in Working Situation:Employment Psychology-- Training of Personnel-- Human Relation in Working Situation.

3.      Psychology applied in Mental Health: Psychology and Psychiatry-- Diagnosis of Mental Illness-- Treatment of Mental Illness – Counselliry & Psychotherapy.

 

522    Philosophy of Science

The purpose of this course is to make the students acquainted with the nature and the main issues of philosophy of science. The content of the course will include the following topics: Historical development of philosophy of science. A historical survey of the works of J.S. Mill, Wheel, Brodie and Duhem, Mach and the development of the Vienna Circle. A unified view of the nature of philosophy of science, Verificationism, Testability and Falsificationism. Is science inductive or deductive? Science, method and decision; science and justification with reference to karl Popper. Kuhn’s views regarding the structure of scientific revolutions; Feyerabend’s epistemological anarchism; Lakatos and the methodology of scientific research programme. Uniformity of nature and the cause-effect relationship in science.

 Books Recommended

1.      Ayer, A.J.: Language, Truth and Logic, New York, 1952.

2.      Brodie, B.: The Calculus of Chemical Operations, London, 1976.

3.      Cohen R.S. and Wartofsky, M.W. (ed.): Logical and Epistemological Studies in Contemporary                    Physics, Boston, 1974.

4.      Dampier, W.C.: A History of Science, Cambridge University Press, 1987.

5.      Feyerabend, P.: Against Method, London, 1975.

6.      Feigl, H. and Brodbeck, M. (ed.): Readings in the Philosophy of Science, New York, 1953.

7.      Hesse M.: The Revolutions and Reconstructions in the Philosophy of Science, Sussex, 1980.

8.      Hull, L.W.H.: History and Philosophy of Science, Longmans, 1959.

9.      Khan, G.A. : Epistemological Negativism and Scientific Knowledge, Dhaka: Jatiya Grantha                         Prakashan, 2002.

10.  Lijm. T.S.: The Structure of Scientific Revolution, Chicago University Press, 1970.

11.  Lakatos, I.: Proofs and Refutations, Cambridge, 1976.

12.  Mach, E.: The Analysis of Sensations, tr. C.M. Williams, New York, 1969.

13.  ________ : Popular Scientific Lectures, tr. T.J. McCormack, Chicago, 1898.

14.  Mill, J.S.: A System of Logic, London, 1872.

15.  Popper, K. : Conjectures and Refutations, New York, 1963.

16.  _______ : The Logic of Scientific Discovery, London, 1959.

17.  Whewell, W.: The Philosophy of Inductive Sciences, London, 1840.

18.  Mvwje Avnmvb Lvb, weÁvb, c×wZ I cÖMwZ, XvKvt RvZxh MÖšcÖKvkb,             2001|

19.  ----------, weÁv‡bi `k©b, XvKvt RvZxq MÖšcÖKvkb, 2002|

 

 

Compulsory  - 100

523      Class Test / Tutorial            50

524      Terminal                   25

525      Viva Voce                  25

or

for Irregular Students

526      Eassy Paper              75

525      Viva Voce                  25

 

 

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