Philosophical Issues

Subject 161-108 (2009)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2009. Search for this in the current handbook

Credit Points: 12.50
Level: 1 (Undergraduate)
Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

Semester 1, - Taught on campus.
Pre-teaching Period Start not applicable
Teaching Period not applicable
Assessment Period End not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol not applicable
Census Date not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail not applicable


Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.
Time Commitment: Contact Hours: Thirty-five contact hours per semester: two 1-hour lectures per week for the whole semester and a 1-hour tutorial per week beginning the second week of semester
Total Time Commitment: 3 contact hours/week, 5.5 additional hours/week. Total of 8.5 hours per week.
Prerequisites: None
Corequisites: None
Recommended Background Knowledge: None
Non Allowed Subjects: None
Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Coordinator

Dr Karen Jones

Contact

Dr Karen Jones - jonek@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Fncois Schroeter - fschro@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview: This subject provides a general introduction to philosophy through an examination of four central questions: (1) Knowledge and scepticism. What is knowledge and do we actually know what we take ourselves to know? Can we rule out the hypothesis that we occupy some kind of Matrix world in which all our apparent perceptions are the result of brain manipulation? And if we cannot, can we know anything at all? (2) Personal identity. What kind of a thing is a person? What makes you the same person now as you were when you were a baby despite all the enormous physical and psychological changes that have happened to you? What sorts of changes can you undergo and still survive? (3) Morality. Does the rightness of an action depend solely on its consequences? Or are there some actions, like torture, which are morally wrong no matter how desirable the consequences? (4) Personal responsibility in a non-ideal world. What is the responsibility of members of developed countries for global poverty? Is it morally permissible to spend money on non-essentials while children die of preventable poverty-related causes?
Objectives: Students who successfully complete this subject will
  • have a familiarity with a variety of important philosophical problems and the theoretical tools used to address them
  • be able to present accurate and well-expressed exposition of philosophical problems and positions.
  • be able to present informed and fair-minded philosophical evaluation of them.
Assessment: Best 5 (of 9) short tutorial assignments 25%, a written assignment of 1000 words 25% (due mid semester), and a 2-hour written examination (not open-book) 50% at the end of semester.
Prescribed Texts: A subject reader will be available.
Breadth Options:

This subject potentially can be taken as a breadth subject component for the following courses:

You should visit learn more about breadth subjects and read the breadth requirements for your degree, and should discuss your choice with your student adviser, before deciding on your subjects.

Fees Information: Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:
  • develop the ability to read texts analytically;
  • develop skills in critical and theoretical thinking;
  • be able to apply the analytic and critical skills developed in this subject to other philosophical and non-philosophical studies.
Related Course(s): Diploma in Arts (Philosophy)
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations: Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy Major

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