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The word philosophy literally means a love of wisdom. This suggests that philosophy is not a collection of theories, but an emotional attitude toward a certain way of being. A philosopher is a person who is emotionally committed to becoming wise. The maxim Know Thyself! is regarded a main guiding principle in the philosopher's search for wisdom. It points us back towards ourselves, and presents our own personality as a subject to be studied and examined critically. Many have argued that this is not optional for those who wish to live well: as Socrates put it, the unexamined life is not worth living! Over the next ten weeks, we'll ask what it means to lead an examined life. We'll start by considering the opposite attitude, of the unthinking person who no longer cares to know truth from falsehood. We'll then ask how knowing oneself may differ from knowing others. Is there anything only you can know about yourself? Are there special, introspective means of coming to know yourself? If so, are they immune to error, or can you be mistaken about yourself? How can there be self-deception, where you're both the deceiver and the deceived? We cannot know ourselves fully without knowing our moral character, our virtues and vices, in addition to our thoughts and feelings and wishes. Knowing oneself is arguably a moral obligation, therefore, and thoughtlessness the hallmark of evil. Yet there is another pitfall to avoid, as self-reflection must not collapse into narcissistic self- preoccupation. This distinction will take us into the realm of the Unconscious, which by definition is not accessible to conscious reflection and thus limits how much we can know about ourselves. Despite our best efforts, it may be that we will ultimately remain a mystery to ourselves.

Human rights concepts through their emergence in literary form(s), using creative writing, including nonfiction, fiction and poetry, to explore empathy and the most effective ways of inducing it in readers.

The political system of the United Kingdom; contemporary scholarly debates about UK politics and the UK constitution; and critical analysis of these debates and of current issues in UK politics (including constitutional reform), using contemporary political science and political theory.

This course engages with the work of most prominent English feminist thinkers (including founders of British feminist thought who were pioneers of feminism in the English speaking world), and will stage 'conversations' between them and influential feminist thinkers in the U.S.

Rich history of Oxford, the place in which students are studying; skills to become aware of the profound influences the experience of living and studying abroad can have on self-conceptions. Appreciation of study in a town with such a marvelous tradition of scholarship through understanding of the history of learning in Oxford. How Oxford came to be the university town it is today.

The role of archaeological sites, expeditions and archaeologists in the intrigues of war from Britain's occupation of the Middle East, two world wars, through the Suez Crisis to the current conflicts involving ISIS and its destruction of heritage sites. Focus specifically on the historic Oxford connection using university archives and collections, as well as exploring current initiatives by Oxford scholars to document and preserve heritage during recent conflict in the Middle East. How have the British empire and British interests been served by archaeology, in the past and present, and how has that mission been entangled with struggles over religion, sovereignty, territory, oil, and antiquities.

Story of semiotic exploration, its contributions to literary critical theory, Marxist critique and feminist critique, in development of twentieth century thought. Close look at principle authors and circumstances that engendered their writings. Questions about the relationship between thought and environment, and between ideology and action raised by looking at the way twentieth century events influenced thinkers to consider the purposes of language in society, in identity , and in authority.

The generation of transgenic animals - including worms, fruit flies, mice, sheep, or humans - is celebrated cornerstone of modern biological research, and has revolutionized medicine. This course focuses on teaching the scientific principles enabling animal transgenesis, including genetics, molecular and cell biology and animal husbandry, through directed reading - including primary scientific papers discussed in tutorials - and through lively in-class presentations and discussion. These activities will prepare students for hands-on activities in student-directed independent research projects in the latter half of the course, and enable students to produce and characterize transgenic fruit flies. The course will emphasize the ground-breaking contributions of scientists in the U.K., including those trained or currently at Oxford, to the principles and practice of animal genetics. These contributions will be highlighted through field trips to the Oxford Natural History Museum and British Natural History Museum. We will also discuss important ethical issues raised by transgenesis in animals, and recent controversial examples in humans. This course has no prerequisites.

After the Second World War, certain Oxford philosophers resolved to reflect on our ordinary talk and ordinary conduct as the key to philosophical reflection. They rejected the grand programmatic efforts of prewar philosophy - utilitarianism, existentialism, logical positivism - to purge philosophy of metaphysical excess, arguing that these "isms" misrepresented the real logic of our language and conduct just as badly as the older metaphysical systems did. Three things contributed to this reorientation of philosophical ambition: the wartime experience of men returning to philosophy from life-changing forms of military and public service, the entry of substantial numbers of women into academic philosophy for the first during the war, and the broadly therapeutic approach to philosophical difficulties practiced at Cambridge since the 1930s by Ludwig Wittgenstein. This course examines two important efforts to resume work on the grand prewar philosophical programs at Oxford and to explore two enduringly important products of Oxford ordinary language philosophy: (i) J.L. Austin's account of speech acts, and (ii) the effort to free modern moral philosophy from its preoccupation with moral laws, in postwar work by Elizabeth Anscombe, Iris Murdoch, and Philippa Foot. We will read works by these philosophers and gain an understanding of this revolution in analytical philosophy.