Disciplines and areas of study
Philosophy
Program Coordinator: Professor Andrew Brennan.
Philosophy is fun, useful, and as unavoidable as falling in love. It explores the fundamental questions that everyone asks some time or other. If you have ever been puzzled about why some actions are right and others are wrong, or about what makes belief in gravity more sensible than belief in Santa Claus, then you have already asked philosophical questions. Because complex and big questions often have more than one answer, philosophy is helpful to you no matter what your main area of study is. Whether your interests lie in history, psychology, biology, politics, literature, drama, computing, religion, media studies, or health sciences, you will find something in philosophy that is relevant, useful, and challenging.
By taking philosophy, you learn to think rationally, creatively and fairly about the problems that face human beings and the contemporary world. If you think your writing and analytical skills need to be improved, then there are units in critical thinking and logic that will develop your abilities in these areas. If you are interested in how the modern scientific worldview emerged, you can take introductory units in astronomy, biology, and philosophy. If you want to learn about human freedom, values, and God, then there are comprehensive introductory units on these topics. All these areas are also studies in detail at second and third year levels.
Programs of study
Students in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and in the disciplines of biological sciences and mathematical and statistical sciences may take a major in philosophy. In humanities and social sciences, philosophy units totalling up to 205 credit points may be taken. Students in other faculties should consult their own faculty’s entry requirements, or their advisers of studies, to discover which units are available to them and in what degree combinations. It is possible to take some philosophy units in the third year of a course without having taken any in the second year. Students qualifying for a degree by taking a major in philosophy must take at least 130 credit points, 40 credit points of which must be at second year level and 60 credit points of which must be at third year level or creditable as such. Up to 60 credit points of logic, units can be credited towards such a major. Certain other non-philosophy units, listed at the end of this section, may be credited up to a total of 40 credit points in a major. Enquiries concerning the crediting of such units should be made to the Philosophy Program Coordinator.
| Teaching period | Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|---|
| First year units (15 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | Astronomy and Philosophy | PHI1AAP |
| TE-SEM-1 | Critical Thinking | PHI1CRT |
| TE-SEM-1 | Freedom, Mind and Human Nature | PHI1FMV |
| TE-SEM-2 | Biology and Philosophy | PHI1BAP |
| TE-SEM-2 | Critical Thinking2 | PHI1CRT |
| TE-SEM-2 | Existence, Value and God | PHI1TAS |
| Second year units (20 credit points) Only available to students not enrolled in a BA. | ||
| TE-SEM-1 | History and Philosophy of Science A | PHI2HPA |
| TE-SEM-2 | History and Philosophy of Science B | PHI2HPB |
| Teaching period | Second or third year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | Being and World1 | PHI2BAW/PHI3BAW |
| TE-SEM-1 | Freud1 | PHI2FRD/PHI3FRD |
| TE-SEM-1 | Human Rights: fundamental issues | PHI2HUR/PHI3HUR |
| TE-SEM-1 | Language, Meaning and Understanding | PHI2LMU/PHI3LMU |
| TE-SEM-1 | Love, Desire and the Master-Slave Dialectic | PHI2LDM/PHI3LDM |
| TE-SEM-1 | Making of the Modern Worldview1 | PHI2MMW/PHI3MMW |
| TE-SEM-1 | Philosophy of Science A | PHI2PSA/PHI3PSA |
| TE-SEM-1 | Professional Ethics1 | PHI2PET/PHI3PET |
| TE-SEM-1 | The Ways of Paradox1 | PHI2TWP/PHI3TWP |
| TE-SEM-2 | Certainty and Subjectivity1 | PHI2CAS/PHI3CAS |
| TE-SEM-2 | Discourse, Body, Knowledge1 | PHI2DBK/PHI3DBK |
| TE-SEM-2 | Ecological Philosophies | PHI2ECP/PHI3ECP |
| TE-SEM-2 | Ecology, Democracy and Utopia1 | PHI2EDU/PHI3EDU |
| TE-SEM-2 | Ethics1 | PHI2ETH/PHI3ETH |
| TE-SEM-2 | Media Ethics1 | PHI2MET/PHI3MET |
| TE-SEM-2 | Plato and the Meaning of Being | PHI2PAM/PHI3PAM |
| TE-SEM-2 | Post-Modernism: metaphysics, politics | PHI2PMP/PHI3PMP |
| TE-SEM-2 | Values and Meaning of Life1 | PHI2VML/PHI3VML |
| TE-SEM-2 | War and Peace | PHI2WAP/PHI3WAP |
| Teaching period | Third year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | Reading Course A | PHI3RCA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Reading Course B | PHI3RCB |
- Key: 1 Not available in 2008.
- 2 Online unit.
Other units approved for a major in Philosophy
Students qualifying for a degree by taking a major in philosophy should note that no more than 60 credit points of logic units might be credited towards a philosophy major without the specific approval of the Philosophy Program Coordinator.
| Teaching period | Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|---|
| First year unit (15 credit points) | ||
| TE-SEM-2 | Beginning Logic | LOG1BEL |
| Teaching period | Second or third year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | Automated Reasoning1 | LOG2AUR/LOG3AUR |
| TE-SEM-2 | Deductive Logic | LOG2DLO/LOG3DLO |
| TE-SEM-2 | Frontiers of Logic1 | LOG2FOL/LOG3FOL |
| Teaching period | Third year units (20 credit points) | Unit code |
| TE-SEM-1 | Reading Course A | LOG3RCA |
| TE-SEM-2 | Reading Course B | LOG3RCB |
- Key: 1 Not available in 2008.
Important notice: Students qualifying for a degree by taking a major in philosophy should note that no more than 40 credit points from the units listed below might be credited towards a major without the specific approval of the Philosophy Program Coordinator. Not all of the units listed below will be available every year. See the unit descriptions for availability and semester of offer.
| Unit title | Unit code |
|---|---|
| Second or third year units (20 credit points) | |
| Contemporary Feminist Thought | ENG2CFT/ENG3CFT |
| Introduction to Buddhism | AST2INB/AST3INB |
| Semantics | LIN2SEM/LIN3SEM |
| Syntax | LIN2SYN/LIN3SYN |
Honours
Enquiries regarding the honours program are welcome from students at any time after completion of their first year. Students considering honours are strongly advised to consult the coordinator to plan a suitable major. Information about honours is available from the program office and the program website.
To be admitted to the honours year in philosophy, students are normally required to have taken at least a 130-credit point major in philosophy, have obtained at least a B average in their philosophy units (students who do not have a B average should consult the Honours Coordinator and may still be considered for admission) and have taken such units in their second and third years as will enable them to fulfil the prerequisites of at least three of the honours components offered. In addition to these requirements, students are strongly advised to have included in their second and third year units at least 20 credit points in each of the following areas: logic, ethics or political philosophy, epistemology and metaphysics, and philosophy of science. Any difficulties or queries should be referred to the Honours Coordinator.
Philosophy 4
Honours students enrol in Philosophy 4, which consists of three of the fourth year components plus an honours seminar and a research essay on an approved topic.
Information about the fourth year components is available from the Honours Coordinator. Students who are especially keen to take a given component and who have not fulfilled the prerequisites should consult the lecturer who may in certain circumstances waive the prerequisite, possibly setting additional vacation work in its place.
Class requirements
Classes in each component run as two hour weekly semester-length seminars.
Assessment
In general, students have the option of being assessed by examination, by essays and/or exercises, or by a combination of these. Compulsory examinations may sometimes be introduced and students concerned about this should consult the Honours Coordinator at the time of enrolment.
Research essay
An honours student is required to write a research essay on an approved topic. Students are encouraged to commence work on this topic during the long vacation. The research essay must be of 12500 to 15000 words and it is worth 50% of the final assessment. Full details regarding final deadlines for submission, presentation requirements, etc. are available from the Honours Coordinator.
Honours seminar
Honours students are required to attend a regular honours seminar to discuss questions related to long essay topics and articles and papers of general philosophical interest.
Selection of components and approval of thesis topic
Students enrolling for fourth year must see the Honours Coordinator to arrange the selection of their course components, to have their thesis topic approved, and to be assigned to a supervisor. The coordinator is available as an adviser of studies to honours (and potential honours) students. Any student at any level who is considering an honours course will find it useful to consult with the Honours Coordinator.
A full description of these units (including the unit name, unit code, credit points, campus/location, unit coordinator, class requirements, assessment, prerequisites, and readings) appears at the end of each discipline entry. A full description of PHI units appears below. For the most recent descriptions of all units, please access the unit database at www.latrobe.edu.au/udb_public.