This course is the first in our new series, Introductions to Contemporary Philosophy. Each course takes a concept or problem as a way into contemporary philosophy, while also asking why it might matter now. 

The first course looks at structure and system.

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We are surrounded by systems: languages, institutions, markets, cities, technologies, social networks and forms of knowledge. Yet we often think about things as if they existed on their own first, and only afterwards entered into relationships with other things.

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A great deal of contemporary philosophy begins by questioning this presupposition. A word, for example, does not carry its meaning in isolation. It means what it does because of its place within a language. A social role makes sense within an institution. Rules depend on other rules, practices and expectations. Even the way we understand ourselves is shaped by structures that were already there before us.

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This leads to a different style of philosophical question. Rather than beginning with what something is in itself, we can begin with the relations that make it possible. We can ask how something is organised, what position it occupies, what holds it in place and what might allow it to change.

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During the twentieth century, this way of thinking became inescapable. Philosophers began to ask whether every structure really needs a centre, origin or foundation. Perhaps a system can hold together without everything referring back to a single point? 

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The course will follow some of the consequences of this shift. We will look at the move from relatively stable structures to more open systems, where elements can change position, form new connections and produce unexpected effects.

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We will see how thinking in terms of systems changes how we think about power, responsibility and freedom. A decentralised system is not necessarily a freer one, just as an open system is not necessarily a good one. The question is what a particular arrangement allows, what it restricts and how it can be transformed.

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Across six sessions, we will use ideas such as structure, relation, difference, centre, play, network and open system as an introduction to some of the major problems of contemporary philosophy.