David Worrall

What you are looking at now is composed of symbols on a screen, but you can understand them because this sentence has meaning. In French, or Chinese there would be a different set of symbols, but the meaning would stay the same. We could arrange these same symbols in a different way and the meaning would be lost. So what is it that makes some symbols meaningful whilst others are without meaning? Is meaning an idea in the mind, or some mysterious object that a word references, or is there another explanation? This course will take as a starting point, the chapter entitled “The Meaning Mystery” from Stephen Law’s book The Philosophy Gym. We will then examine the theories of several other philosophers of language in an attempt to clarify the concepts of meaning and understanding.

We are normally quite quick to claim that certain actions or attitudes are morally right or wrong, but how do we arrive at this opinion? Are we applying a universal principle that underpins our ethical judgments and distinguishes good actions from bad? If so, what is this principle? Or are we simply following accepted practices that only apply within our own culture? This course will explore the attempts made by philosophers to provide some justification for saying something is morally right or morally wrong.

Over the last few years a number of books have been published questioning the belief in the existence of a God, and there has been an ongoing debate between Darwinism and Creationism. Several theologians and philosophers have proposed "proofs" for the existence of a God and many people find them convincing. But do these “proofs” and arguments stand up to close scrutiny? Are believers, as Dawkins says, simply deluded? This course will examine the philosophical arguments for the existence of a God and ask if they succeed or fail.

We are all conscious of making choices between courses of action and assume, without reflection, that we have free will. But is this a convenient illusion? How, for example, do we reconcile this belief with those laws of nature that tell us, every event has a cause and therefore our actions are actually predetermined? This course will explore the philosophical notions of free will, cause and effect, natural laws and determinism to see if we really are free to do what we want.

Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein were two of the most influential figures in 20th Century philosophy; influencing many other philosophers but also profoundly influencing each other. They both deserve the title “genius” and although they were very different in character, the originality and intensity that they brought to their academic work carried through to their private lives. At times this produced fractured relationships, at other times unexpected benefits, but they were always thought-provoking, colourful and intriguing. This course will chart the lives of these two great thinkers, placing their works in a biographical context that will help to explain their philosophical positions.