Society, State and Humanity (V7064EB)

15 credits, Level 4

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll focus on the nature of and relations between individuals, society and the state. You’ll focus on the question of what makes for a good society rather than a bad one.

You’ll engage with the tradition of social theory and social criticism that concerns itself with the diagnosis of social pathologies.

Figures considered may include:

• Aristotle
• Hobbes
• Rousseau
• Hegel
• Marx
• Durkheim
• Freud
• Marcuse
• Adorno.

This module equips you with the ability to engage with and evaluate the work of major social and political philosophers throughout the ages and to discuss their ideas critically.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.