Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
Philosophy 1A
Enrolment code: HPA101
Offered: Hbt, sem 1;s-sch
Unit description: Introduces philosophy by examining some of the most
intriguing and exciting philosophical writings of the modern period. Issues
raised include: what is the mind? how do we know anything? do we have free
will? what makes things right and wrong? what kind of society do we want?
who am I and where do I fit in? and what is truth anyway?
Staff: Dr P Dowe
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: sem 1: 5 hrs fortnightly; sem 3: 8 hrs weekly (4 wks)
Mutual excl: HPA100, HPA181 HPS101, HPS181
Assess: 1,000-word essay (30%), continuous assessment (30%), 2-hr test (40%)
Required texts, etc:
Dowe, Highlights in Modern Philosophy, ISBN 0859017699
Courses: R3A S3T +OC
Philosophy 1B
Enrolment code: HPA102
Offered: Hbt, sem 2/s-sch (sem 2/contact School for detailscontact School for
detailssem 2/)
Unit description: Examines four issues that contemporary philosophers find
challenging, including existentialism, feminist ethics, practical ethics, time.
Staff: Dr P Dowe (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: sem 2: 5 hrs fortnightly; sem 3: 8 hrs weekly (4 wks)
Mutual excl: HPA100, HPA182, HPS102, HPS182
Assess: 1,200-word essay (40%), exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Book of readings to be available from School
Courses: R3A S3T +OC
Introduction to Philosophy 1A
Enrolment code: HPA181
Offered: Ltn, sem 1; dist.ed, sem 1;
Unit description: Introduces some major philosophical issues and the
methods of philosophising. The unit involves the study of the following issues:
1
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
2
the justification of punishment; the problem of freewill and determinism; and a
study of Mill’s On Liberty with reference to some contemporary issues such as
censorship, freedom of speech and drug taking, and the problem of personal
identity.
Staff: Dr JA Norris
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly; dist.ed: weekend study schools
Mutual excl: HPA100, HPA101, HPS181, HPS101
Assess: 1,500-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Course Reader, and
Either Morton, Philosophy in Practice, ISBN 0631188657
or Hospers, Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, ISBN 0415157935
Courses: R3A S3T +OC
Introduction to Philosophy 1B
Enrolment code: HPA182
Offered: Ltn, sem 2; dist.ed, sem 2
Unit description: Introduces students to the basics of philosophy, with
methods of conceptual analysis covering the following important areas: mind
and body, critical thinking, perception, issues in religion and science.
Staff: Dr J Watkin
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly; dist.ed: weekend study schools
Mutual excl: HPA100, HPA102 HPS182, HPS102
Assess: 1,500-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Course Reader, and
Either Morton, Philosophy in Practice, ISBN 0631188657
or Hospers, Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, ISBN 0415157935
Courses: R3A S3T +OC
Philosophy and Literature
Enrolment code: HPA201/301
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Examines classical and contemporary views concerning the
relation between philosophy and literature. A study is made of the writings of a
number of philosophers, paying particular attention to issues concerning the
nature of moral knowledge, its forms and the manner in which literature
supplements and extends moral inquiry. The scope of moral principles and
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
3
reasoning is examined in relation to questions concerned with the nature of the
self and the place of subjective knowledge.
Staff: Dr JA Norris
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or English Literature
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
The Philosophy of Kierkegaard
Enrolment code: HPA202/302
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Introduces students to the thought of one of the most
exciting and important figures in modern philosophy. The unit explores
important themes in Kierkegaard’s work such as the nature of truth, the self
and its goals, the nature and scope of human freedom, and the nature and
significance of religious belief and commitment.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy (exemptions with the permission of the HoS)
Mutual excl: HHP221/321, HPA231/331
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (40%), tutorial participation (20%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Philosophical Psychology
Enrolment code: HPA203/303
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Introduces students to philosophical analysis of
psychological concepts and problems relevant to human self-understanding.
The curriculum includes examination of philosophical theories of the emotions,
analysis of specific emotions, an understanding of self-deception and akrasia,
and philosophical reflection on psychological theories, such as psychoanalysis
and existentialism.
Staff: Dr M La Caze
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
4
Assess: tutorial participation and seminar (20%), 2,000-word essay (40%), 2-hr
exam (40%)
Required texts, etc:
Course Reader
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Place and Environment
Enrolment code: HPA204/304
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Problems of place and space have become increasingly
important in many areas of contemporary thought. Very little attention has
been given, however, to the philosophical analysis of these concepts or to any
detailed examination of their role and significance. The unit examines the
nature and significance of the concept of place and the role of topographic
notions in relation to concepts of spatiality and environment. The approach is
essentially philosophical, but will not presuppose any prior philosophical
expertise. A variety of sources will be drawn upon ranging from literature
(including writers such as Proust and Wordsworth) through to philosophy
(including thinkers from both Anglo-American and European traditions) and
psychology.
Staff: Professor J Malpas
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 from any faculty
Mutual excl: HAC212/312, FST297/397
Assess: 2,000-word assignments (40%), 3-hr end-of-sem exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Course Reader
Majors: Philosophy, Cultural Studies
Courses: R3A
Postmodernism and its Critics
Enrolment code: HPA206/306
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Introduces students to contemporary debates surrounding
postmodernism, in a philosophical context. The curriculum includes study of
the crisis of reason, knowledge, representation, truth, the issue of relativism,
and an exploration of postmodern ethics and politics. Theorists are drawn from
both the continental and analytic traditions.
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
Staff: Dr M La Caze
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
Mutual excl: HAC211/311, FST290/390
Assess: tutorial participation (20%), 2,000-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Majors: Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Art and Design Theory (Hobart)
Courses: R3A F3E +OC
Philosophy of Mind
Enrolment code: HPA207/307
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Examines a number of issues in the contemporary
philosophy of mind and action: the identity of actions and events; the
explanation of intentional behaviour; weakness of the will, self-deception and
wish fulfilment; and a number of related topics in the philosophy of
psychoanalysis and foundations of cognitive science.
Staff: Professor J Malpas
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Time Travel
Enrolment code: HPA208/308
Offered: Hbt, sem 1/s-sch (sem 2/contact School for detailscontact School for
detailssem 2/); dist.ed, 1; Ltnw, 1
Unit description: A study of the philosophical problems of time travel.
Questions addressed include: What is time travel? Is time travel possible? Can
you change the past? Topics include: time travel in physics; the grandfather
paradox; the bilking argument; causal loops; and the implications for broader
philosophical issues such as time, causation, agency and freewill. The unit
makes use of various contemporary videos to illustrate the different
philosophical positions.
Staff: Dr P Dowe
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or 25% 1st-year Science
5
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
6
Mutual excl: HPS204/304
Assess: 2x1,000-word assignments (30% ea), 2-hr end-of-unit exam (40%)
Required texts, etc:
Course Reader
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
The Meaning of Life
Enrolment code: HPA209/309
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Has life a meaning? What is that meaning? What is the
relevance of the fact that each of us will die? This unit is an examination of the
meaning of these questions and of attempts – both religious and philosophical –
to answer them.
Staff: Dr J Colman
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,500-word essay (60%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Required texts, etc:
Reader produced by School of Philosphy
The Bhagavad Gita, ISBN 0140441212
The Myth of Sisyphus, ISBN 0140180168
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Moral Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA210/310
Offered: Hbt, sem 2
Unit description: We are all constantly faced with moral questions, but what
are the foundations of morality? On what grounds do we, should we, base our
moral decisions? What is it that makes some actions right and others wrong?
What is moral goodness? This unit studies a number of issues in moral
philosophy such as the validity of deontological ethics, consequentialism and
moral relativism.
Staff: Dr J Colman
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 2,500-word (max) essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Professional Ethics
Enrolment code: HPA212/312
Offered: Hbt, sem 2; Ltnv, sem 2
Unit description: Ethical conduct within professionals – whether it be police
work, the law, commerce or some other area of professional activity – has
increasingly been a focus for community concern. Ethical questions have also
come to preoccupy many individuals working in a professional capacity. The
unit explores some of the issues at stake here including: the relation between
private beliefs and commitments and professional duties and obligations; the
limits of professional obligation; the relation between professional persons and
others (whether they be clients, criminals or simply members of the public); the
nature and role of professional codes or ethics. Emphasis is placed on the
discussion of issues in relation to specific professional contexts and cases.
Staff: Dr K Atkins
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 1st year of course in
any discipline
Mutual excl: HSP207/307
Assess: 2x1,000-word assignments (40%), 3-hr end-of-sem exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A R3K +OC
Topics in the History of Philosophy: The
Philosophy of Berkeley
Enrolment code: HPA214/314
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: To most people, Berkeley’s denial of material substance and
his view that everything exists in either a mind or the content of a mind seems
quite mad. He, however, saw himself as defending commonsense against the
‘mad’ philosophical theories of reality. This unit is a detailed examination of
Berkeley’s arguments for immaterialism. They will be considered both in
relation to the 18th-century intellectual background (especially Locke’s
epistemology and Newton’s physics) and modern theories of existence.
Berkeley’s influence on subsequent philosophy will also be outlined.
Staff: Dr J Colman
7
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
8
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Philosophy of Art
Enrolment code: HPA215/315
Offered: Hbt, sem 1
Unit description: Focuses on major theories about the arts. There is a special
emphasis on the issue of whether the arts have any unique values to contribute
to life, and if they do how this is possible. In addition, a range of issues from the
nature of aesthetic experience to objectivity of aesthetic values is considered.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 25% level 100 Arts
Required texts, etc:
Carroll, Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction, ISBN 0415159644
Majors: Philosophy, Art and Design Theory (Hobart)
Courses: R3A F3E
Epistemology
Enrolment code: HPA216/316
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description:
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
Paradoxes
Enrolment code: HPA217/317
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description:
Majors:
Logic and Philosophy of Science
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
Courses:
R3A
Philosophy of Biology
Enrolment code: HPA218/318
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description:
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA219/319
Offered: Hbt, sem 1
Special note: a Tasmania-Tibet Partnership Program course
Unit description: Introduces students to the principal traditions of Buddhist
philosophy. The unit begins with an examination of the discourses of the
Buddha in the Pali tradition and an examination of the common core of all
Buddhist philosophical schools. It then studies the Mahayana tradition, with
attention both to Buddhist analyses of the nature of phenomena and to
Buddhist moral theory.
Staff: Visiting scholar from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Mutual excl: HPA265/365, HMA240/340
Assess: 2,500-word essay (50%), 2,500-word take-home exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Santina, The Tree of Enlightenment, supplied by School at no charge
Walpado, What the Buddha Taught, ISBN 0802130313
Geshe Rabten, Echoes of Voidness
Recommended reading:
Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium, ISBN 1573220256
Dalai Lama and Cutler, The Art of Happiness, ISBN 0733608582
Majors: Philosophy, Asian Studies
Courses: R3A
Chinese Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA220/320
9
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
10
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Examines the major currents in Chinese Philosophy such as
Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, Legalism, the Logicians, the Yin-Yang School,
and Buddhism. The focus is on understanding the key doctrines, how they
differ from and relate to each other, and also, on how the issues and approaches
that typify Chinese Philosophy relate to central trends in Western Philosophy.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 2x1-hr lecture weekly (13 wks), 1-hr tutorial weekly (12 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Mutual excl: HMA251/351
Assess: 3,000-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Existentialism and Beyond
Enrolment code: HPA225/325
Offered: Hbt, sem 2
Unit description: Existentialism is a label used to refer to a group of
20th-century philosophers, mostly French and German, who take philosophy to
be essentially concerned with the problems of individual human existence –
with questions of life and death, meaning and value, hope and despair. Martin
Heidegger, Albert Camus, and Simone de Beauvoir are representative of such
‘existentialist’ thinkers. This unit explores 20th-century existentialist thought in
philosophy and literature, while also looking at the development of
philosophers such as Heidegger beyond the original existentialist frame.
Staff: Dr J Malpas (Coordinator), Dr M LaCaze
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly, lectures/tutorials
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy for major or, where appropriate, 25% 1st-year
Arts
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr end-of-sem exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
The Philosophy of Nietzsche
Enrolment code: HPA230/330
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
11
Unit description: Provides an introduction to one of the most important
German philosophers of the last two hundred years whose work is
fundamental to contemporary thinking across a wide range of disciplines.
Themes covered include perspectivism, the attack on morality, slave morality,
master morality, herd morality, the nature of value, the ‘death of God’, eternal
recurrence, the ‘superman’, the affirmation of life and others.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy (exemptions with the permission of the Head
of Philosophy)
Mutual excl: HPA231/331
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr end-of-sem exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Nietzsche F, The Will to Power, Random House
Schacht R (ed), Nietzsche: Selections, Macmillan
Sleinis EE, Nietzsche’s Revaluation of Values, Uni of Illinois Press.
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Self and Subjectivity
Enrolment code: HPA233/333
Offered: Ltn, sem 2;
Unit description: Introduces students to the work of a number of
contemporary thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Paul Ricoeur and others as it
relates to issues concerning the nature of subjectivity and the self. The unit
examines issues surrounding the so-called ‘death of the subject’ from a
philosophical perspective drawing on the work of both European and
Anglo-American philosophers, as well as questions concerning the relation
between subjectivity and freedom, subjectivity and ethics, subjectivity and
narrative.
Staff: Dr J Norris
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (2,500 words for level 300 students) (40%), 3-hr exam
(50%), tutorial participation (10%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Law, Society and Morality
Enrolment code: HPA242/342
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
12
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Examines issues concerned with the relationship between
the law and morality. The unit looks into various views concerning the role of
morality in law. A study is then made of issues such as obscenity, euthanasia,
pornography and various topics involving sexual morality, eg homosexuality,
prostitution and sado-masochism.
Staff: Dr J Norris
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 from any faculty
Mutual excl: HHP271/371, HSP212/312
Assess: 2,500-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A R3K +OC
Meaning and Understanding
Enrolment code: HPA245/345
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Questions of meaning and understanding have been central
to philosophical thinking in the European as well as Anglo-American traditions
for much of the past hundred years. This unit provides an introduction to some
of the range of problems at issue here as well as highlighting the work of some
of the most important philosophers of recent times from Heidegger and
Gadamer through to Frege, Wittgenstein, Davidson and Quine. Central topics
addressed include the nature of meaning, the nature and role of truth, the role
of conventions in linguistic understanding, the relation between language and
thought, and problems of understanding both within and across cultures.
Staff: Professor J Malpas
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 2x1-hr lectures weekly (12 wks), tutorial weekly (11 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts (exemptions with the permission of the HoS)
Mutual excl: HHP221/321, HPA231/331
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr end-of-sem exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A +OC
Philosophy of Mathematics
Enrolment code: HPA246/346
Offered: Hbt, sem 2
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
13
Unit description: Looks at some of the fascinating philosophical issues arising
out of the study of mathematics. These include the nature of mathematical
knowledge, the ontological status of mathematical entities and the implications
such philosophical issues have for the methodology of mathematics.
Staff: Dr M Colyvan
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or Mathematics
Mutual excl: HPS246/346
Assess: 2,000-word essay (60%), final exam (40%)
Required texts, etc:
Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
Contemporary Philosophy: Biotechnology
Enrolment code: HPA253/353
Offered: Ltn, sem 1
Unit description: Provides a detailed introduction to a major topic in
contemporary philosophy, the focus of this unit changes from year to year
depending on staff availability and interest. In 2001, the unit focuses on
biotechnology and examines the contemporary philosophical issues
surrounding developments in materials science, biology and biochemistry,
pharmacology and computing, and their impact on conceptions of ‘life’,
‘person’ and ‘nature’.
Staff: Dr K Atkins
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 25% level 100 of any
discipline
Assess: 2,500-word assignment (40%) take-home exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Chance, Coincidence and Chaos
Enrolment code: HPA256/356
Offered: Hbt, sem 1; Ltnw, sem 1; dist.ed, sem 1
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
14
Unit description: Is a study of the ‘chance’ world view and its implications for
the way we think of ourselves and the universe in which we live. The unit
examines the ideas of chance, coincidence and chaos; and the related ideas of
reason, probability and purpose. Students study the relevance to these of some
startling results of modern science, including Bell’s Theorem, The Anthropic
Principle and Chaos Theory; and the implications for the following: our place in
the universe, human free will, everyday decision-making and metaphysical
reasoning.
Staff: Dr P Dowe
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 25% 1st-year Science
Mutual excl: HPS256/356
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), tutorial contribution (20%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Required texts, etc:
Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
History of Philosophy 1: from Early Greece to the
Renaissance
Enrolment code: HPA266/366
Offered: Hbt, sem 1; dist.ed, sem 1
Special note: Strongly recommended for all students majoring in Philosophy,
especially those intending to undertake Honours in Philosophy
Unit description: Studies the development of philosophy from the period of
the early Greeks to the period of the Renaissance. Students are able to examine
the ideas of philosophers like Plato and Aristotle; see how those ideas took a
grip on the minds of theologians and other thinkers throughout the middle
ages; see how the same ideas came together in the doctrines of St Thomas
Aquinas and see how they laid the foundation for many philosophical beliefs of
our own day. The unit will be useful not only to students of philosophy but also
to students of history, literature, ancient civilisations, art, and religion.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam in June (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre, ISBN 0072347600
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
15
History of Philosophy 2: Modern Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA268/368
Offered: Hbt, sem 2; dist.ed, sem 2
Special note: Strongly recommended for all students majoring in Philosophy,
especially those intending to undertake Honours in Philosophy
Unit description: Studies the development of philosophical ideas in the
modern period, starting from the Renaissance and going through to the present
day. Students see where those ideas came from and how they gave rise to
traditions: how the ideas of Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza and others formed one
tradition; how the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and others formed a
second; and how these two traditions gave rise to a third, the tradition of Kant
and his followers. They will then be able to follow those traditions into the 20th
century, where they are vigorously alive in the thought and writings of
English-speaking philosophers and Continental philosophers alike. The unit
will be useful not only to students of philosophy but also to students of history,
literature, ancient civilisations, art, and religion.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam in Nov (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre, ISBN 0072347600
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Philosophy of Health Care
Enrolment code: HPA269/369
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Introduces students to the philosophical consideration of
some complex moral issues generated by contemporary health care. Topics to
be discussed will be selected from the following: abortion; neonatal intensive
care; ‘informed consent’; confidentiality; HIV/AIDS; euthanasia and palliative
care and justice in the distribution of health care resources. These issues will be
used as a starting point for reflection on various moral theories and concepts
which have been influential in recent philosophical discussion.
Staff: Mrs L Shotton (Hbt), tba (Ltn)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
16
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 from any faculty
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), participation (20%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: H3D R3A
Philosophy of Feminism
Enrolment code: HPA270/370
Offered: Hbt, sem 1; dist.ed, sem 1
Unit description: Feminists have investigated deep and controversial
questions about the status of women and relations between the sexes The unit
examines the important new questions feminist philosophers have raised and
the new perspectives they provide on traditional philosophical issues. Is there
only one ideal reason? Do men and women think about ethics differently? Is
freedom for women more important than happiness? Should women have
special rights? What’s wrong with prostitution? The unit, which is of special
interest to students of philosophy and women’s studies, focuses on
contemporary feminist thinkers such as Carole Pateman and Iris Marion Young
and on the work of earlier feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft and Simone
de Beauvoir.
Staff: Dr M La Caze
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Mutual excl: HAF204/304
Assess: 2,500-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%), 2-hr exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
A collection of important articles will be available for purchase
Majors: Philosophy, Women’s Studies
Courses: R3A
Philosophy and the Body
Enrolment code: HPA271/371
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Feminist philosophy, psychoanalysis, existential
phenomenology and queer theory have raised stimulating questions about
gender categories such as: Can I change my gender? Do men and women
experience the world differently? How important are our bodies to our
identity? Can there be an ethics of sexual difference? The unit examines how
gender is theorised, how it interacts with questions of culture and class, and
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
17
explores the implications of our understanding of gender for epistemology,
ethics and politics. Students of philosophy, women’s studies, fine arts and
psychology will find this an exciting unit.
Staff: Dr M La Caze
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Mutual excl: HAF264/364
Assess: 2,500-word essay (40%), tutorial participation and presentation (10%),
3-day take-home exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Donn Welton (ed), Body and Flesh: A Philosophical Reader.
Majors: Philosophy, Women’s Studies
Courses: R3A +OC
Science and Religion
Enrolment code: HPA274/374
Offered: Ltn, sem 2; dist.ed, sem 2
Unit description: Introduces students to important philosophical issues in the
history of the encounter between religion and science through study of the
major sources of conflict between them. Important themes to be explored
include the arguments surrounding opposed models of the universe and the
methods and theories underlying scientific and religious debate.
Staff: Dr J Watkin
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
Mutual excl: HPA283/383
Assess: 2,500-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required texts, etc:
Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Ways of Reasoning
Enrolment code: HPA275/375
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Contact the School for details.
Unit weight: 12.5%
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
18
Mutual excl: HPS275/375
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
Environmental Ethics
Enrolment code: HPA277/377
Offered: Hbt, sem 1;
Unit description: For students who want to study a specialised area of
applied ethics, and is a unit in the interdisciplinary environmental studies
course open to both humanities and science undergraduates. The unit
introduces students to the consideration of some philosophical problems in
environmental ethics. The following questions are posed in relation to the
environment: what are our duties to the environment, to other species, to future
generations? how can these duties be determined? are there intrinsic and/or
inherent values in nature? These questions are used as a basis for a critique of
traditional moral theories. Contemporary moral theories, which have been
suggested as plausible alternatives, are explored: is a universal ethic possible or
desirable? does postmodernist relativism offer more plausible solutions to the
environmental crisis? is the feminist ethic of care an alternative to a traditional
ethic based on justice and rational principles?
Staff: Dr L Shotton
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 any faculty (S3T: 25% from Schedule B)
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%), 2-hr exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Elliot R (ed), Environmental Ethics, ISBN 0198751443
Majors: Philosophy, Natural Environment and Wilderness Studies
Courses: R3A R3J C3C S3GD3 S3T
Ecophilosophy
Enrolment code: HPA278/378
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Introduces students to issues concerned with the
relationship between human beings and the environment. The unit examines
the place and development of ecological ethics and their relationship to general
ethical theories. An examination of the range and basis of environmental ethics
is undertaken including theories developed from traditional ethical theories to
the ethics of ‘deep ecology’. The unit then examines a selection of
environmental issues addressed by environmental ethicists, including questions
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
19
to do with resource allocation, the value of wilderness, population control and
conservation
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 2x1-hr lectures weekly (12 wks),1-hr tutorial weekly (11 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science (S3T: 25% from Schedule B)
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (20%), 3-hr exam (40%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A S3T
Political Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA289/389
Offered: dist.ed, sem 1
Unit description: Introduces Political Philosophy, including the political
thought of Locke and examines some contemporary views, such as Rawls and
Nozick, concerning justice, liberty, equality and democracy.
Staff: Dr J Norris
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: by distance, plus a weekend study school
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: written assignment (50%), 3-hr exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Book of readings available from School. For details of textbooks required,
please contact the School
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Introduction to Logic
Enrolment code: HPA291/391
Offered: Hbt, sem 1; dist.ed, sem 1; Ltnw, sem 1; NWC, sem 1
Unit description: Introduces students to symbolic logic, including proof
theory, semantics and elementary metatheory of the propositional calculus and
the first order predicate calculus, as well as the application of elementary
logical techniques to the formalisation of natural language reasoning. The unit
is suitable for students wishing to pursue logic further, as well as those wishing
to acquire some familiarity with logic for other purposes.
Staff: Dr M Colyvan
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or Science
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
20
Mutual excl: HPS291/391
Assess: 2 assignments (25% ea), final exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Colyvan & Beall, An Introduction to Logic, ISBN 0859018679
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A C3L C3S
Logic and Possibility
Enrolment code: HPA292/392
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Continues the study of logic begun in Introduction to Logic.
Topics include more advanced metatheory of first-order predicate calculus
(including completeness and incompleteness results) and an introduction to
modal logics. The latter are logics enriched with the operators ‘possibly’ and
‘necessarily’. Both the metatheory and modal logics covered in this unit have
many interesting applications and raise many philosophical issues, some of
which will be addressed.
Staff: Dr M Colyvan
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: HPA291/391
Mutual excl: HPS292/392
Assess: 2 assignments (25% ea), final exam (50%)
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
Philosophy of Religion
Enrolment code: HPA293/393
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Has religion any relevance for us today? This question
cannot be answered apart from an understanding of the nature and content of
religion. The unit concentrates on five main topics: religious experience –
mystical and non-mystical; the idea of the Religious ultimate, the self and
religion; Divine goodness and the existence of evil; faith and religious language.
Staff: Dr J Colman
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Mutual excl: HPA283/383
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
21
Required texts, etc:
Thompson M, Philosophy of Religion, ISBN 0340688378
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Choice, Risk and Decision
Enrolment code: HPA294/394
Offered: Hbt, sem 2
Unit description: Introduces students to the formal study of decision theory.
This is the theory of rational decision-making by individuals – taken alone, in
competition or in groups. Topics covered include decisions under ignorance,
decisions under risk and game theory. Throughout the unit, the various
applications of the theory are stressed. The unit is of use to a variety of
students, including students of: philosophy, logic, psychology, computer
science and information systems, social science, environmental science,
management and law.
Staff: Dr M Colyvan
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 in philosophy or, where appropriate 25% level 100 in any
discipline
Mutual excl: HPS294/394
Assess: 2 assignments (25% ea), final exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Resnick, Choices: An Introduction to Decision Theory, ISBN 0816614407
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A +OC
Deviant Logic
Enrolment code: HPA295/395
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Unit description: Continues the study of logic begun in Introduction to
Logic (HPA291/391). The main emphasis is on non-classical logics. These
include multi-valued logics (such as fuzzy logic), non-monotonic logics, and
relevant logics. The unit looks at both the technical aspects of these logics and
their many interesting applications. Some of the philosophical issues raised by
these alternative logics are also considered.
Staff: Dr M Colyvan
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
22
Prereq: HPA291/391
Mutual excl: HPS295/395
Assess: 2 assignments (25% ea), exam (50%)
Majors: Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: R3A
Advanced Buddhist Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA297/397
Offered: Not offered in 2001
Special note: a Tasmania-Tibet Partnership Program course
Unit description: Involves an intensive study of Aryadeva’s 400 stanzas, a
principal Mahayana Buddhist text of the 3rd-century. This text expands on
Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarika and explores the relation of Buddhist
metaphysics and ethics. It inspires a large commentarial literature. Studying the
text and its allied written and oral literature will also introduce students to
Tibetan hermeneutical theory and practice.
Staff: Visiting scholar from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: HPA219/319 or HPA276/376
Mutual excl: HMA242/342
Assess: 3,000-word essay (50%), 3,000-word take-home exam (50%)
Required texts, etc:
Garfield, The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, ISBN 0195093364
Gyel-Tsap, Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas, ISBN 1559390190
Recommended reading:
Huntingdon, The Emptiness of Emptiness, ISBN 0824811658
Atish, Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, ISBN 1559390824
Majors: Philosophy, Asian Studies
Courses: R3A
Philosophy 2001
Enrolment code: HPA398
Offered: Hbt, sem 2
Unit description: Is designed for students intending to do honours in
philosophy. The staff of the School of Philosophy will join in presenting to
students the most important philosophical work published in the past year in a
variety of philosophical specialities. In this way, students will gain an
appreciation of the kinds of philosophical research now being undertaken
Unit details (Course and Unit Handbook 2002)
23
around the world, and the most important philosophical questions being asked
today.
Staff: Dr M La Caze (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 3,000-word essay (50%), 3,000-word take-home exam (50%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: R3A
Philosophy 4 (Honours)
Enrolment code: HPA400/401
Full time/Part time
Offered: Hbt, sem 1&2; Ltn, sem 1&2
Special note: full-time students enrol in HEF400 (100%), part-time students in
HEF401 (50%); individual units have notional weight, but for HECS purposes
must be weighted at 0%; some units may be offered by videolink to either
campus
Unit description: 1. Students take either four one-semester units, or two
full-year units, or an equivalent combination thereof. Each unit consists of a
detailed study of a set of philosophical problems and/or a major text or texts. In
each unit students will write a substantial essay (totalling 50% of the overall
assessment). For each of the units there are weekly 2-hour seminars. Students
also attend the weekly School seminars and work-in-progress sessions in
Hobart, and Philosophy Society meetings in Launceston. 2. Students are
required to submit a thesis (50% of the overall assessment) during the course of
the year. 3. Candidates for honours in philosophy must have satisfied the
prerequisites of the Faculty as set out in the Calendar. Please contact the School
for details of topics to be offered.
Staff: Dr E Sleinis (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 100%/50%
Prereq: Major, including satisfaction of the Faculty Grade-Point Average
Courses: R4A