Subject benchmark statements
Philosophy

Subject benchmark statements

Subject benchmark statements provide a means for the academic community to describe the nature and characteristics of programmes in a specific subject. They also represent general expectations about the standards for the award of qualifications at a given level and articulate the attributes and capabilities that those possessing such qualifications should be able to demonstrate.

This subject benchmark statement, together with the others published concurrently, refers to the bachelors degree with honours.

Subject benchmark statements are used for a variety of purposes. Primarily, they are an important external source of reference for higher education institutions when new programmes are being designed and developed in a subject area. They provide general guidance for articulating the learning outcomes associated with the programme but are not a specification of a detailed curriculum in the subject. Benchmark statements provide for variety and flexibility in the design of programmes and encourage innovation within an agreed overall framework.

Subject benchmark statements also provide support to institutions in pursuit of internal quality assurance. They enable the learning outcomes specified for a particular programme to be reviewed and evaluated against agreed general expectations about standards.

Finally, subject benchmark statements are one of a number of external sources of information that are drawn upon for the purposes of academic review* and for making judgements about threshold standards being met. Reviewers do not use subject benchmark statements as a crude checklist for these purposes however. Rather, they are used in conjunction with the relevant programme specifications, the institution's own internal evaluation documentation, together with primary data in order to enable reviewers to come to a rounded judgement based on a broad range of evidence.

The benchmarking of academic standards for this subject area has been undertaken by a group of subject specialists drawn from and acting on behalf of the subject community. The group's work was facilitated by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, which publishes and distributes this statement and other benchmarking statements developed by similar subject-specific groups.

The statement represents the first attempt to make explicit the general academic characteristics and standards of an honours degree in this subject area, in the UK.

In due course, but not before July 2003, the statement will be revised to reflect developments in the subject and the experiences of institutions and academic reviewers who are working with it. The Agency will initiate revision and, in collaboration with the subject community, will establish a group to consider and make any necessary modifications to the statement.

This statement is © The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education 2000.

It may be reproduced by educational institutions solely for educational purposes, without permission. Excerpts may be reproduced for the purpose of research, private study, or review without permission, provided full acknowledgement is given to the subject benchmarking group for this subject area and to the copyright of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Electronic storage, adaptation or translation of the statement is prohibited without prior written agreement from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

* academic review in this context refers to the Agency's new arrangements for external assurance of quality and standards. Further information regarding these may be found in the Handbook for Academic Review, which can be found on the Agency's web site.

Academic standards - Philosophy

Preface

1. This statement about standards for the award of honours degrees in Philosophy is part of a more widespread process, under the aegis of the Quality Assurance Agency, to provide benchmark standards that can be used particularly in the course of subject reviews, and as an aid to external examiners. The new methodology will apply in Scotland and Wales from October 2000 and in England and Northern Ireland from 2002.

2. The statement has been drawn up by a group of 15 philosophers drawn from a wide variety of Universities and philosophical interests, and representing all four countries of the United Kingdom. The group was formed, at the request of the QAA., by the National Committee for Philosophy, the subject association, after consultation with the profession at large.

3. We have considered not only single and joint honours courses but also individual modules that contribute to an honours degree in whatever subject. We are conscious that Philosophy modules can be taken before embarking on an honours programme, or within a different three-year programme, for example in a Scottish ordinary degree. Consideration of benchmarks for such study, however beneficial, lies beyond the remit of this statement.

4. Universities in the United Kingdom have traditionally included a Philosophy department, or other unit, usually teaching its own single honours degrees. It is also fruitful to combine Philosophy with other disciplines. A reflective understanding of the underlying presuppositions of any subject is immensely valuable. One striking feature of the teaching of Philosophy at undergraduate level in the United Kingdom is the very wide range of honours degrees in which it may properly figure. A student may take one or more Philosophy modules as an outside subject within a degree programme, whose title makes no reference to Philosophy. In addition there are combined studies degrees including a Philosophy component, as well as joint honours programmes, whether equally balanced or major/minor. There are in 1999-2000 44 institutions of higher education in the United Kingdom offering programmes for both single honours degrees in Philosophy and joint degrees including Philosophy, and a further ten offering just joint degrees. Four institutions also offer programmes for honours degrees in History and Philosophy of Science. This document takes into account the role that Philosophy plays in combination with other subjects, as well as its function as a single honours degree.

5. Philosophy is not a rare specialism or 'minority subject', to be fostered in only a few centres, but is at the core of our intellectual understanding of the world and our place in it. It is a part of the Humanities, and is also vital for an investigation into the foundations of the Sciences. Subjects such as the philosophy of physics and of biology are increasingly important. The philosophy of social science is relevant for social theory. The connection between logic and the development of computing is well-known. Because of its pivotal role, Philosophy ought to be at the heart of the work of any University worthy of its name. In fact a University without any philosophical work being done in it has devalued itself as a place of learning. Whilst some areas of Philosophy have become highly formalised and technical, philosophers have shown themselves very ready in recent years to tackle practical issues, for example in such areas as applied and professional ethics. Philosophy is both analytical and systematic, taking its own history seriously. Through international links of many kinds, the study of Philosophy in the United Kingdom connects fruitfully with its study throughout the world.

6. Philosophy nurtures a wide variety of skills. However, the skills that can be reasonably expected as the outcome of a full single honours degree can obviously not all be produced by one Philosophy module on its own.

7. The heart of Philosophy is a set of modes of thinking acquired through rigorous training. Of its nature, with its stress on independent thought, Philosophy is an open-ended subject, constantly being revised and extended in the light of new insights and new problems. Yet its history, at least in the Western world, stretches back for 2,500 years. There is a balance to be drawn in a statement such as this between being excessively prescriptive about the content of a Philosophy course and writing banal platitudes. The dilemma is encapsulated by the fact that great philosophers such as Socrates or Wittgenstein resisted the idea that Philosophy is simply a body of knowledge to be taught. Yet at the same time it is surely usual for someone fully trained in Philosophy to know something about some figures such as Socrates or Wittgenstein.

Defining principles

8. The purpose of this section is to outline the framework for Philosophy as a discipline within universities in the United Kingdom at the present time. The basic principles of this framework, which are set out in this section, concern subject matter, method and aim of study.

9. Philosophy seeks to understand, and critically to question, ideas concerning the nature of reality, value and experience that play a pervasive role in understanding the world and ourselves. Problematic concepts, such as existence, reason and truth, occur in every sphere of human enquiry. Others belong to particular areas of thought and practice, such as art and politics.

10. Philosophy has been practised for thousands of years, and in many different cultures, giving rise to a diversity of traditions. Students of Philosophy may be, and in single-honours courses usually are, introduced to works originally written in different languages, in different historical periods. This gives the subject great intellectual breadth.

11. The vitality of Philosophy is enhanced by the existence of a plurality of approaches, and the maintenance and development of distinct (though overlapping) traditions.

12. Philosophy is open-ended, changing and extending its range both by its own internal dynamic and also by encompassing new problems generated from outside itself.

13. No one method suits all philosophical problems, but philosophy is characteristically done by such means as: asking questions, trying out and critically engaging with ideas, making and sharpening distinctions, inventing new vocabularies, criticising and reinterpreting major texts, examining issues that arise in the history of Philosophy, using the techniques of formal logic, constructing and assessing reasoned arguments, conducting thought experiments, or marshalling evidence from relevant sources.

14. The study of Philosophy may make up any proportion of a degree course, and the specific objectives of study properly vary accordingly, and may vary also depending upon what other subjects if any are in the student's course. But the overall aim is to gain a deep understanding of some pervasive and problematic features of the world and of ourselves.

The nature and extent of the subject

15. The following rough mapping of characteristic areas of study in Philosophy can be given. It is not intended to be complete or final.

General Philosophy, comprising enquiry into ideas of the widest scope. Under this heading fall such topics as existence, truth, time, causality, free will, mind and body, God, knowledge, rationality, logic, meaning, duty, goodness, beauty, interpretation, historicity.
Philosophical study of particular areas of human practice and enquiry, such as language, science, social science, politics, law, education, religion, literature and the arts, mathematics, and applied ethics.
The study of Philosophy's own history, including the investigation of its diverse traditions. In the United Kingdom the main focus of study is Western philosophy. This has its own canon in the study of the classics of Western Philosophy from the Presocratics onwards, but the membership of this canon is not fixed. Philosophy can include study of texts and traditions from outside the Western world, such as Indian and Buddhist Philosophy. It is characteristic of Philosophy that it engages with past thought as living argument and as a challenge to contemporary modes of thinking.

16. Philosophical schools differ in their style, approach, characteristic concerns and emphases. Examples include analytic philosophy, hermeneutics and phenomenology.

Philosophical knowledge and understanding

17. The range of philosophical material suited to study in an academic fashion is so wide that any student's studies must necessarily be highly selective. Students can acquire an appropriate grasp of Philosophy from very different courses of study.

18. A single honours course typically includes, among other studies:

the ideas and arguments of some of the major philosophers in the history of the subject, encountered in their own writings,
some central theories and arguments in the fields of Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology, or Philosophy of Mind, broadly understood,
some central theories and arguments in the fields of Moral, Political, or Social Philosophy, broadly understood,
awareness of major issues currently at the frontiers of philosophical debate and research.

It is valuable when a single honours programme that is primarily in one particular philosophical tradition affords students some acquaintance with some other tradition or traditions. Students for whom contemporary analytic Philosophy is a major part of their study should have the opportunity to study elementary logic.

19. Joint honours may include more or less of these elements, reflecting the overall aims of the degree course. In addition, the content of more specialist courses, for example those in the History and Philosophy of Science will be shaped by their own distinctive aims. A student taking one or more modules would typically acquire knowledge of at least one of the above kinds.

Student skills and personal attributes

20. Although the doctrines and techniques of Philosophy may be usefully applied to practical questions - including notably those arising in ethics and political life - they are most distinctively employed in the discussion of problems of a fundamental and recognisably abstract nature. Tackling such problems demands a range of philosophical skills.

21. All Philosophy graduates should acquire a measure of the skills required by the discipline, though the range of skills demonstrated and the degree of competence exhibited will vary depending on whether students take single honours, joint honours, or Philosophy units within a modular honours degree.

22. Although some skills are specific to particular modules, others are pervasive through the discipline. It would therefore be inappropriate for each Philosophy degree course, let alone each module, to have to demonstrate how each skill is separately acquired.

General philosophical skills

23. Graduates will be expected to have acquired the following intellectual abilities, most of which are readily transferable to other contexts.

Articulacy in identifying underlying issues in all kinds of debate.
Precision of thought and expression in the analysis and formulation of complex and controversial problems.
Sensitivity in interpretation of texts drawn from a variety of ages and/or traditions.
Clarity and rigour in the critical assessment of arguments presented in such texts.
Ability to use and criticise specialised philosophical terminology.
Ability to abstract, analyse and construct sound arguments and to identify logical fallacies.
Ability to recognise methodological errors, rhetorical devices, unexamined conventional wisdom, unnoticed assumptions, vagueness and superficiality.
Ability to move between generalisation and appropriately detailed discussion, inventing or discovering examples to support or challenge a position, and distinguishing relevant and irrelevant considerations.
Ability to consider unfamiliar ideas and ways of thinking, and to examine critically pre-suppositions and methods within the discipline itself.

Engaging in philosophical debate.

Ability to conduct arguments about matters of the highest moment without recourse to insult or susceptibility to take offence.
Willingness to evaluate opposing arguments, to formulate and consider the best arguments for different views and to identify the weakest elements of the most persuasive view.
Honesty in recognising the force of the conclusions warranted by a careful assessment of pertinent arguments.

Breadth of view.

25.

Ability to cross traditional subject boundaries, examining the limitations and virtues of other disciplines and practices, and recognising philosophical doctrines in unfamiliar places
Ability to apply philosophical skills and techniques to issues arising outside the academy.

Generic skills.

26. Graduates will have developed skills that are generic to study in the humanities. They should learn:

to listen attentively to complex presentations;
to read carefully a variety of technical and non-technical material;
to use libraries effectively;
to reflect clearly and critically on oral and written sources, employing powers of imagination as well as analysis;
to remember relevant material and bring it to mind when the moment of its relevance arises;
to marshal a complex body of information;
to construct cogent arguments in the evaluation of this material;
to present, in both oral and written forms, a clear and well-structured assessment of relevant considerations.

Students should have the opportunity, through institutional provision, to develop skills in the following areas:

information Technology - word-processing, e-mail and WWW,
information search and retrieval, using online computer resources to access bibliographic material.

Personal attributes

27. The study of Philosophy fosters the development of a range of personal attributes that are important in the world of work that will strengthen the graduate's ability to engage in lifelong learning, and that will contribute to the wider community. These will include:

ability to motivate oneself;
ability to work autonomously;
general management of one's own work to time limits;
a flexible and adaptable mind able to face new situations;
ability to think creatively, self-critically and independently.

Teaching and learning

28. Successful forms of teaching and learning may vary widely, including:

lectures;
tutorials;
seminars, including those in which students are responsible in turn for introducing topics;
courses of guided reading coupled with submission of essays for discussion with a tutor;
the writing of a substantial dissertation, under a greater or less degree of supervision;
e-mail discussion groups; and,
other student-led discussion groups.

Provision for students of the Open University, or in other distance learning programmes, will of course employ yet other modes of teaching and student learning.

29. Two general principles should govern the shape of any provision, whether it is a single module that can be taken as an outside subject or a whole single honours programme, or anything in between. How these principles apply will of course vary from case to case, and in particular they will apply differently to Open University and distance learning programmes.

(1) Learning in Philosophy has to be an active process

Given the nature of Philosophy the provision in any module should include a substantial element of learning through:

the student's own thoughtful reading, starting from an appropriate reading list
discussion, whether in tutorials, seminars, or in some other format, including live presentations by students; and,
considered presentation in writing by students of their understanding and critical appraisal of material they have studied, with provision of feedback on what they have written.

In the case of Formal Logic, students need equally to learn by doing, though the form of activity will obviously be different, principally involving the tackling of suitably varied tutorial exercises graded in order of difficulty, with provision of appropriate feedback on their efforts. Formal Logic is an area in which Computer Assisted Learning can very naturally be employed, and there is a range of programmes available for this purpose.

(2) Learning in Philosophy should be progressive

The philosophical component of any honours programme of more than a minimum size should overall be ordered:

to allow students to progress incrementally in the development of their philosophical understanding and capacities; and,
in a progression from study with a greater degree of support and assistance to more independent and self-directed study.

It is recognised that many departments teach a variety of subjects in a two year cycle in order to allow greater breadth of provision in the two final years. In such programmes there will be a progression in difficulty from the first year of study to the two final years.

Assessment

30. Assessment in Philosophy aims to test both:

knowledge and understanding of a corpus of material; and,
ability to reason rigorously, critically, creatively and autonomously.

31. Various methods and combinations of methods can be used for this purpose, the principal ones being:

formal examinations, whether seen, unseen or open-book;
assessed essays;
portfolios of coursework;
dissertations; and,
formal assessment of performance in live presentations and debates, ranging from seminar presentations to formal viva voce examinations.

Once again, very different overall patterns of assessment may be equally effective in measuring performance under 30 (i) and (ii). Whatever pattern is adopted, departments need to assure themselves that it embodies safeguards against plagiarism.

32. In acquiring the knowledge, understanding and abilities mentioned, a Philosophy graduate will typically also have acquired a range of further skills. Some of these skills, particularly skills of live presentation, are commonly not directly tested in summative assessment. However it is desirable that departments be able to comment on students' performances in live presentations, for careers liaison and other purposes.

33. A dissertation will often form part of the overall assessment, at least for single honours students. There are arguments both for and against making it compulsory. This is an appropriate area for differences in departmental policy.

34. Whatever system of summative assessment is employed, it should mesh appropriately with the teaching and learning provision, and wherever possible form part of the overall learning process. It may employ various modes of assessment to allow students to display a range of strengths, and to accommodate students who respond differently to different kinds of testing. Students should be told what they are expected to achieve, and about how the assessment process is intended to measure their success in working towards these achievements.

Standards and levels of achievement

35. The standards of student achievement reflect the knowledge and understanding of Philosophy and its various techniques and methods, together with a profile of skills, which students should attain.

36. The benchmark statement documents these standards in the broadest of terms, recognising the variety of course content and the different emphases that may legitimately be placed on specific elements of the skills profile. The statement is not intended to stifle experimentation and innovation in the development of new courses or the introduction of novel methods of assessment.

37. Not everything that is valuable can be separately tested, measured or quantified. It should not be assumed that all of the skills specified as learning outcomes are examined in a manner which contributes directly to the summative assessment. It is widely recognised, for example, that one of the distinctive benefits of a university education is the development of qualities of personal organisation and time-management which follow from the attribution to students of considerable responsibility in directing their own learning. Independence and self-motivation can be fostered but not taught in academic departments. The depth or extent of such personal qualities cannot be directly examined, though successful acquisition of them is expected to show through in the application of other skills - which are explicitly assessed. Difficulties such as these should not inhibit attempts to inculcate or formatively assess such skills as part of a degree programme.

The section following Paragraph 38 describes two levels of achievement: threshold and typical. These may be briefly characterised as follows:

Threshold: The threshold level of achievement marks the minimally acceptable repertoire of honours graduates in Philosophy, generally the bottom of the Third class of honours degree classifications.

Typical: A typical level of achievement marks work of the standard attained by the majority of graduates. The list of standards is especially appropriate for single honours students taking a wide range of modules inducing a variety of skills which reinforce each other. The standards, as described, permit examiners to distinguish different degrees of accomplishment. Work in the middle or higher reaches of the Upper Second Class will consistently display confident and well-judged applications of the typical skills.

38. The best Philosophy graduates achieve excellence beyond the typical standard in work that may merit First class honours degrees. Such students may demonstrate, for example, acuity and sensitivity in the interpretation of texts and wide reading beyond the standard course material. They may show an ability to apply it constructively with unusual analytical ability and rigour and a marked independence of thought.

Illustration of threshold and typical levels of attainment in Philosophy

Any statement of levels of attainment should be read in the light of paragraph 37 above: not everything that is valuable can be separately tested, measured or quantified.

Students take Philosophy classes in single and joint honours degree courses and as units in modular degrees with other subject components. The descriptions given below of threshold and typical levels are intended to apply to single honours courses. The range of knowledge expected and the scope and measure of skills achieved by students studying philosophy in lower proportions will vary correspondingly. Students completing any philosophical module should be expected to have competence in some general philosophical skills, and have knowledge of texts and topics identified in the description of the module. No single module can achieve everything.

Threshold level of attainment

On completion of an honours degree course, students should be able to show to some extent most of the following:

Knowledge and understanding

Familiarity with the writings of some of the major philosophers.
Familiarity with some central theories and arguments in the fields of Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology or Philosophy of Mind, broadly understood.
Familiarity with some central theories and arguments in the fields of Moral, Political, or Social Philosophy, broadly understood.
Some appreciation of the wide range of techniques of philosophical reasoning.

General philosophical skills

An ability to identify underlying issues in various debates.
Grasp of some philosophical problems, mentioning arguments for or against proposed solutions.
Understanding of the importance of careful interpretation of a variety of texts.
Views on the success of standard arguments.
Familiarity with the use of specialised philosophical terminology.
Awareness of the nature of sound arguments and logical fallacies.
Appreciation of how generalisations can be supported or weakened by detailed discussion.
Recognition of arguments on both sides of a philosophical question.

In general, work at the threshold level of attainment shows weak understanding of the material and contains elementary errors.

Typical level of attainment

On completion of an honours degree course, students should be able to show to an adequate degree most of the following:

Knowledge and understanding

Knowledge of the theories and arguments of some of the major philosophers, encountered in their own writings, and some awareness of important areas of interpretative controversy concerning the major philosophers.
Alertness to opportunities for employing historical doctrines to illuminate contemporary debates.
A clear grasp of some central theories and arguments in the fields of Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology, or Philosophy of Mind, broadly understood.
A clear grasp of some central theories and arguments in the fields of Moral, Political, or Social Philosophy, broadly understood.
An awareness of major issues currently at the frontiers of philosophical debate and research.
Appreciation of the wide range of application of techniques of philosophical reasoning.

General philosophical skills

Ability to identify the underlying issues in different kinds of debate.
Ability to analyse the structure of complex and controversial problems, with an understanding of major strategies of reasoning designed to resolve such problems.
Ability to read carefully and interpret texts drawn from a variety of ages and/or traditions with a sensitivity to context.
Ability to judge the success of standard arguments.
Ability to identify textually-based arguments and subject their structure and implications to rigorous assessment.
Ability to use and understand properly specialised philosophical terminology.
Ability to abstract, analyse and construct logical argument, employing the techniques of formal and informal methods of reasoning as appropriate, together with an ability to recognise any relevant fallacies.
Ability to identify common persuasive stratagems that cannot withstand philosophical scrutiny and demonstrate how they weaken the arguments that employ them.
Ability to employ detailed argument to support or criticise generalisations in the light of specific implications.
Readiness to review unfamiliar ideas with an open mind and a willingness to change one's mind when appropriate.

Engaging in philosophical debate

Ability to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of arguments on both sides of a philosophical question.
Readiness to assess arguments carefully and scrupulously, drawing only warranted conclusions.

Breadth of view

Readiness to cross traditional subject boundaries, so as to examine the limitations and virtues of other disciplines and practices, and ability to identify philosophical doctrines outside the academy.
Readiness to engage with the concerns of ordinary life, examining characteristic problems of practical reason (eg the subjects of ethical and political debate) whilst being sensitive to a variety of opinions, practices and ways of life.

Philosophy benchmarking group members

Dr JEJ Altham Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge

Professor AS Bowie Anglia Polytechnic University

Professor JR Cameron University of Aberdeen

Professor R Chadwick University of Central Lancashire

Professor SRL Clark University of Liverpool

Professor JDG Evans Queen's University of Belfast

Dr B Hooker University of Reading

Dr R Hursthouse Open University

Mr DR Knowles University of Glasgow

Dr I Lloyd University of Wales, Swansea

Professor R Monk University of Southampton

Professor J Ree Middlesex University

Professor T Sorell University of Essex

Professor RH Trigg (Chair) University of Warwick

Mr J Wolff University College London, University of London

Dr D Horton (Secretary) University of Warwick

Subject benchmark statements Philosophy

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