Reason

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

Standard

Total Time Commitment: 3 contact hours/week, 5 additional hours/week. Total of 8 hours per week.

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

There are many ways to make sense of the world: Reason is one of the ways that humans attempt to describe, explain, predict and imagine things. How we reason can range from methodical procedures of analytical thinking through to imaginative and intuitive constructions of possibilities; we can also reason alone as we attempt to figure things out by ourselves, and together, in dialogue and in dispute.

This subject considers these variations in the human use of reason. It examines the historical origins and philosophical debates over the idea of reason and its relationship to imagination, and the way that different forms and styles of reasoning have arisen to take account of different phenomena, such as the rise of science and its method, debates in ethics and over human identity, and the relationship between reason and the passions.

A key aim of the subject is to highlight how these ongoing controversies influence current issues in the humanities and social sciences.

Students who complete this subject should be able to:

• identify different kinds of reasoning, when presented in texts, dialogues and other media.
• understand and interpret a wide range of source materials from different historical periods and genres.
• construct reasoning appropriate to a variety of different settings and goals.
• critically analyse arguments and other forms of reasoning, using a number of different tools.
• comprehend the historical and disciplinary development of forms and techniques of reasoning.
• appreciate the varied roles of different forms of reasoning in different debates and discussions in the humanities and social sciences
• understand and evaluate the power and the limitations of different forms of reasoning.

A Bibliographic Exercise due in Week 4 (250 words, 10%), a Critical Analysis Exercise due in Week 6 (750 words, 20%) an Essay due in week 9 (1500 words, 35%) and an Exam during the Examination Period (1.5 hours, 35%).

This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 75% tutorial attendance and 75% skills workshop attendance. Regular participation in tutorials is required. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be available.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• Critical thinking and analysis through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion.
• Research through competent use of the library and other information sources, and the definition of areas of inquiry and methods of research.
• Engagement with the methodologies of the humanities and social sciences.
• Critical self-awareness, being open to new ideas and possibilities through learning how to construct an argument.
• Communicating knowledge and arguments intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion.
• Ability to assess the strength of an argument through recommended reading, essay writing and tutorial discussion.
• Time management and planning through managing and organising workloads for recommended reading, essay and assignment completion.