Unit details [HPA]
Philosophy 1A
Enrolment code: HPA101
Offered: Hbt: may be taken in summer-sch OR sem 1
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 pattern: sem 1: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 2-hrs tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)s-sch: 8 hrs
weekly (4 wks)
M.excl: HPA100, HPA181 HPS101, HPS181
Assess: 1,500-word essay (30%), continuous assessment (30%), 2-hr exam(40%)
Required: Dowe, Highlights in Modern Philosophy, ISBN 0859017699
Courses: [R3A] [S3T] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy 1B
Enrolment code: HPA102
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Unit description:
Examines four issues that contemporary philosophers find challenging, including
existentialism, feminist philosophy, practical ethics, time.
Staff: Dr P Dowe (Coordinator)
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 2-hrs tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
M.excl: HPA100, HPA182, HPS102, HPS182
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: Book of readings to be available from School
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
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Unit details [HPA]
Courses: [R3A] [S3T] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Introduction to Moral Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA181
Offered: Ltn: sem 1, dist.ed: sem 1,
Unit description:
Introduces students to a range of philosophical ideas about the ‘good life’. The unit
explores a number of approaches to the question of what makes a life worth living: is it
pleasure, happiness, freedom, being with other people, or the natural environment? In
considering these issues students also address questions about the sources of our moral
values: Are they merely personal feelings or psychological states? Are they determined by
society? Are moral values all relative? And how does the natural environment fit into the
picture?
Staff: Dr K Atkins
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: int: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial weekly; dist.ed: instructional
package (13 wks)
M.excl: HPA100, HPA101, HPS181, HPS101
Assess: int:1,500-word essay (30%), tutorial participation (20%), 2,000-word take-home
exam (50%); dist.ed: 1,500-word essay (30%), short answer quiz (20%), 2,000-word
take-home exam (50%)
Required: Contact School for details
Courses: [R3A] [S3T] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Introduction to General Philosophy
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: Ms L Miller, Dr J Chase, Dr K Atkins
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
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Unit details [HPA]
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: int: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial weekly; dist.ed: instructual
package (13 wks)
M.excl: HPA100, HPA102 HPS182, HPS102
Assess: int:1,500-word essay (30%), tutorial participation (20%), 2,000-word take-home
exam (50%); dist.ed: 1,500-word essay (30%), short answer quiz (20%), 2,000-word
take-home exam (50%)
Required: Contact School for details
Recommend: Hospers, Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, ISBN 0415157935
Courses: [R3A] [S3T] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Contemporary Bioethics
Enrolment code: HPA200/300
Offered: not offered in 2003
Unit description:
A philosophical survey of some of the major ethical issues confronting modern medicine.
The unit focuses on three main areas: assisted reproductive technologies and genetics,
including cloning; decisions regarding the end of life; and matters of social justice, such as
the rationing of health care. Much of the debate on these issues has been in terms of
individual liberty, control, choice, rights and contracts. The unit explores the possibility
that moral questions related to bioethical issues, and their possible answers, can be framed
with respect to both individual and community considerations. These altemative
understandings of the beginning and the end of human life are developed through the
examination of the values that families serve, such as loyalty, affection, trust, care and
nurturing.
Staff: Dr L Shotton
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 philosophy or, where appropriate, completion of 1st-year in any
discipline
M.excl: HPA269/369
Assess: 3,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%), 2-hr exam (50%)
Required: Arras JD & Steinbock B, Ethical Issues in Mordern Medicine, 5th edn, Mayfield
Publ, Mountain View, Ca, 1999
Majors: Philosophy
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
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Unit details [HPA]
Courses: [H3D] [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy and Literature
Enrolment code: HPA201/301
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 reasoning is examined in relation to questions concerned with the nature of
the self and the place of subjective knowledge.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 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]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
The Philosophy of Kierkegaard
Enrolment code: HPA202/302
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 J Watkin
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
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Unit details [HPA]
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy (exemptions with the permission of the HoS)
M.excl: HHP221/321, HPA231/331
Assess: 2,000- to 2,500-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: contact the School of details
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophical Psychology
Enrolment code: HPA203/303
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
Assess: tutorial participation and seminar (20%), 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (40%)
Required: Course Reader
Recommend: McLaughton B & Oksenberg Rorty A, Perspectives on Self-Deception, 1988
Oksenberg Rorty A, Explaining Emotions, 1980
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Place and Environment
Enrolment code: HPA204/304
Offered: not offered in 2003
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Unit details [HPA]
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 from any faculty
M.excl: HAC212/312, FST297/397
Assess: 2,000-word assignments (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: Course Reader
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Postmodernism and its Critics
Enrolment code: HPA206/306
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
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.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HAC211/311, FST290/390
Assess: tutorial participation (20%), 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (40%)
Majors: Art and Design Theory (Hobart)
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Unit details [HPA]
Courses: [R3A] [F3E] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy of Mind
Enrolment code: HPA207/307
Offered: Ltn: sem 2
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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Time Travel
Enrolment code: HPA208/308
Offered: Hbt: sem 1, dist.ed: sem 1 [by web]
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%
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Unit details [HPA]
Teaching pattern: int: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly; dist.ed:choice of
print-based or web-based delivery (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or 25% 1st-year Science
M.excl: HPS204/304
Assess: 2,000-word assignments (40% ea), 3-hr exam (40%), tutorial (20%)
Required: Course Reader
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
The Meaning of Life
Enrolment code: HPA209/309
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 3,000-word essay (60%), 2-hr exam (40%)
Required: Reader produced by School of Philosphy
The Bhagavad Gita, ISBN 0140441212
The Myth of Sisyphus, ISBN 0140180168
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Moral Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA210/310
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Unit details [HPA]
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 Watkin
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: contact the School of details
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Professional Ethics
Enrolment code: HPA212/312
Offered: Hbt: 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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 1st year of course in any discipline
M.excl: HSP207/307
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
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Unit details [HPA]
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] [R3K] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Topics in the History of Philosophy
Autonomy and Identity: Kant and Beyond
Enrolment code: HPA214/314
Offered: not offered in 2003
Unit description:
Focuses on significant issues in the history of philosophy. The topic varies according to
staff expertise and availability. In 2003, the unit examines the development of the concept
of autonomy from the work of Immanuel Kant to John Stuart Mill and contemporary
writings, exploring the connection between autonomy and identity, particularly moral
identity.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly (12 wks), 9 tutorials per sem
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (50%), tutorial participation (10%)
Required: contact the School for details
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy of Art
Enrolment code: HPA215/315
Offered: not offered in 2003
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
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –10
Unit details [HPA]
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: Carroll, Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction, ISBN 0415159644
Majors: Art and Design Theory (Hobart)
Courses: [R3A] [F3E]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Epistemology
Enrolment code: HPA216/316
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Unit description:
Epistemology is the study of the nature and limits of human knowledge: it asks what we
can know and whether we can know anything at all; what is the nature of scientific
knowledge and whether there are different forms of knowledge other than the scientific;
what is the relation between knowledge and belief, and what is the nature of truth.
Scepticism and relativism, as well as naturalism and empiricism, will be among the topics
covered, as will issues concerning the unity of science and the nature of scientific method.
Staff: Dr D Coady
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 philosophy
Assess: continuous assessment (20%), 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (40%)
Required: a Unit Reader
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] [S3G]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy of Biology
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –11
Unit details [HPA]
Enrolment code: HPA218/318
Offered: not offered in 2003
Unit description:
Contact the School for details.
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA219/319
Offered: Hbt: sem 1,
Special note: a Tasmania Buddhist Studies in India Exchange 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 pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HPA265/365, HMA240/340
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), take-home exam (60%)
Required: Santina, The Tree of Enlightenment, contact School for availability
Walpado, What the Buddha Taught, ISBN 0802130313
Geshe Rabten, Echoes of Voidness
Recommend: Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium, ISBN 1573220256
Dalai Lama & Cutler, The Art of Happiness, ISBN 0733608582
Majors: Asian Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
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Unit details [HPA]
Chinese Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA220/320
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 pattern: 2x1-hr lecture weekly (13 wks), 1-hr tutorial weekly (12 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HMA251/351
Assess: 3,000-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (60%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Existentialism and Beyond
Enrolment code: HPA225/325
Offered: Hbt: sem 1, dist.ed: sem 1 [by web]
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
Unit weight: 12.5%
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –13
Unit details [HPA]
Teaching pattern: internal: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly; dist.ed: choice
of print-based or web-based delivery (13 wks)
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%)
Required: A School reader
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
The Philosophy of Nietzsche
Enrolment code: HPA230/330
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy (exemptions with the permission of the Head of
Philosophy)
M.excl: HPA231/331
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr end-of-sem exam (60%)
Required: 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:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Self and Subjectivity
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Unit details [HPA]
Enrolment code: HPA233/333
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly (12 wks), 9 tutorials per sem
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), take-home exam (50%), tutorial participation (10%)
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Law, Society and Morality
Enrolment code: HPA242/342
Offered: dist.ed: sem 2 [by web]
Unit description:
Examines issues concerned with the relationship between law and morality. The unit looks
into some conceptions of justice and their critics, such as Rousseau’s social contract, Rawls’
account of justice as fairness, and Habermas’ notion of consensus. Students examine
specific contemporary problems of morality and law, such as abortion, freedom of speech,
and sexuality.
Staff: Dr K Atkins
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: web-based delivery only, includes online tutorials
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 12.5% level 100 Philosophy and
12.5% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HHP271/371, HSP212/312
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), take-home exam (40%), online tutorial participation
(20%)
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Unit details [HPA]
Required: Course Reader
Majors: Women<sqt>s Studies
Courses: [R3A] [R3K] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Meaning and Understanding
Enrolment code: HPA245/345
Offered: not offered in 2003
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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts (exemptions with the permission of the HoS)
M.excl: HHP221/321, HPA231/331
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: contact the School for details
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy of Mathematics
Enrolment code: HPA246/346
Offered: not offered in 2003
Unit description:
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Unit details [HPA]
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or Mathematics
M.excl: HPS246/346
Assess: 2,000-word essay (60%), take-home exam (40%)
Required: Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Contemporary Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA253/353
Offered: not offered in 2003
Unit description:
Provides a detailed introduction to a particular topic in contemporary philosophy; the
focus of the unit varies from year to year depending on staff availability and interest.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly (12 wks), 9 tutorials per sem
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 25% level 100 of any discipline
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%) take-home exam (60%)
Required: Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Chance, Coincidence and Chaos
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –17
Unit details [HPA]
Enrolment code: HPA256/356
Offered: Hbt: summer-sch, dist.ed: sem 2 [by web]
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 pattern: dist.ed: choice of print-based or web-based delivery; summer school in
Hobart is offered internally
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or, where appropriate, 25% 1st-year Science
M.excl: HPS256/356
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), tutorial contribution (20%), 3-hr exam (40%)
Required: Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
History of Philosophy 1: from Early Greece to the
Renaissance
Enrolment code: HPA266/366
Offered: Hbt: sem 1, dist.ed: sem 1 [by web]
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.
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July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –18
Unit details [HPA]
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: internal: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly; dist.ed: choice
of print-based or web-based delivery (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam in June (60%)
Required: Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre, ISBN 0072347600
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
History of Philosophy 2: Modern Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA268/368
Offered: Hbt: sem 2, dist.ed: sem 2 [by web]
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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: internal: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly; dist.ed: choice
of print-based or web-based delivery (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: Stumpf, Socrates to Sartre, ISBN 0072347600
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –19
Unit details [HPA]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy of Feminism
Enrolment code: HPA270/370
Offered: Hbt: sem 1, dist.ed: sem 1 [by web]
Special note: may be taken as a Women’s Studies unit
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 is of special interest to
students of philosophy and women’s studies.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: internal: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly; dist.ed: choice
of print-based or web-based delivery (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HAF204/304
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%), 3-hr exam (50%)
Required: A collection of important articles will be available for purchase
Majors: Women<sqt>s Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy and the Body
Enrolment code: HPA271/371
Offered: Hbt: sem 2
Special note: may be taken as a Women’s Studies unit
Unit description:
Feminist philosophy, psychoanalysis, existential phenomenology and queer theory have
raised stimulating questions about the body. How important are our bodies to our
________________________________________
University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –20
Unit details [HPA]
identity? Can I change my gender? Do men and women experience the world differently?
Can there be an ethics of sexual difference? The unit examines how the body is theorised,
how it interacts with questions of culture and class, and explores the implications of our
understanding of the body and gender for epistemology, ethics and politics. Students of
philosophy, women’s studies, fine arts and psychology will find this an exciting unit.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HAF264/364
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation and presentation (10%), 3-day
take-home exam (50%)
Required: Course Reader
Recommend: Donn Welton (ed), Body and Flesh: A Philosophical Reader.
Majors: Women<sqt>s Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Science and Religion
Enrolment code: HPA274/374
Offered: Ltn: sem 1, dist.ed: sem 1
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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: int: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks); dist.ed:
instructional package
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts or Science
M.excl: HPA283/383
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: Book of readings available from the School
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –21
Unit details [HPA]
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Reasoning Skills
Enrolment code: HPA275/375
Offered: dist.ed: sem 1 [by web]
Unit description:
A study of reasoning and argumentation, giving students a practical introduction to
reasoning skills useful beyond philosophy, as well as a philosophical appreciation of
argumentation and an introduction to the art of the philosopher. The unit focuses not only
on traditional logic but on a range of approaches applicable to different situations. It
covers styles of philosophical reasoning, everyday reasoning, scientific reasoning,
economic reasoning, moral reasoning, and others. It also covers fallacies, the concept of
validity and the appropriate way to think about it.
Staff: Dr P Dowe
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: choice of print-based or web-based delivery
Prereq: 25% level 100 in any discipline
M.excl: HPS275/375
Assess: final 2-hr exam (40%), tutorial (15%), 3x1,000-word assignments (15% ea)
Required: contact School for details
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Indo–Tibetan Philosophy, History and Culture
Enrolment code: HPA276/376
Offered: O’: summer-sch
Special note: taught in India by exchange arrangement; may be taken by students who are not
enrolled at University of Tasmania; enrolment by letter of offer from School.
Unit description:
An intensive introduction to Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan Buddhist hermeneutics and
Tibetan history and culture. Students study at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan
________________________________________
University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –22
Unit details [HPA]
Studies (CIHTS) and are taught by staff of that institute. Lectures on Tibetan politics, art,
music and medicine are also given; and students participate in various ancillary activities,
including Indian cultural programs, tours of Varanasi and travel to important Buddhist
sites in India, including Bodh Gaya, Raj Ghir and the ruins of Nalanda University. Each
student is assigned a student colleague drawn from the student body of the CIHTS who
will help in acculturation and give a ‘student’s eye view’ of Tibetan culture.
Staff: Professor J Malpas (Coordinator) and staff of the CIHTS
Unit weight: 25%
Teaching pattern: orientation 2 wks of 2-hr meetings; in India 3 wks of 5 days, 5 hrs per day,
plus additional study programs
Prereq: 25% level 100 any faculty
M.excl: HMA228/328
Assess: continuous assessment including weekly 1,000-word essay, half-hour oral exam (3
wks) (50%), final 4,000-word exam essay (50%)
Majors: Asian Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Environmental Ethics
Enrolment code: HPA277/377
Offered: Hbt: sem 2, dist.ed: sem 2 [by web]
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 pattern: internal: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly; dist.ed: choice
of print-based or web-based delivery (13 wks)
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –23
Unit details [HPA]
Prereq: 25% level 100 any faculty (S3T: 25% from Schedule B)
Assess: 3,000-word essay (40%), tutorial participation (10%), 2-hr exam (50%)
Required: Elliot R (ed), Environmental Ethics, ISBN 0198751443
Majors: Natural Environment and Wilderness Studies
Courses: [R3A] [R3J] [C3C] [S3Gc3] [S3T]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Political Philosophy
Enrolment code: HPA289/389
Offered: Ltn: sem 2
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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly (12 wks), 9 tutorials per sem
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (50%), tutorial participation (10%)
Required: contact School for details
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Introduction to Logic
Enrolment code: HPA291/391
Offered: Hbt: sem 1, Ltn: sem 1, NWC: sem 1 [by video-link]
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
________________________________________
University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –24
Unit details [HPA]
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 J Chase, Dr D Coady
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 1-hr lecture, 1-hr tutorial weekly, 1-hr workshop fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy or Science
M.excl: HPS291/391
Assess: 2x1,000-word assignments (25% ea), 3-hr exam (50%)
Required: Colyvan & Beall, An Introduction to Logic, ISBN 0859018679
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A] [C3L] [C3S] [F3R]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Logic and Possibility
Enrolment code: HPA292/392
Offered: not offered in 2003
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: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: HPA291/391
M.excl: HPS292/392
Assess: 2x1,000-word assignments (25% ea), 3-hr exam (50%)
Required: contact the School for details
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
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Unit details [HPA]
Philosophy of Religion
Enrolment code: HPA293/393
Offered: not offered in 2003
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 pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Arts
M.excl: HPA283/383
Assess: 2,000-word assignment (40%), 3-hr exam (60%)
Required: Thompson M, Philosophy of Religion, ISBN 0340688378
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Choice, Risk and Decision
Enrolment code: HPA294/394
Offered: Hbt: sem 2, Ltn: sem 2 [by video-link]
Unit description:
Introduces students to the 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, economics, psychology, computer
science and information systems, social science, environmental science, management and
law.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
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Unit details [HPA]
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 in philosophy or, where appropriate 25% level 100 in any discipline
M.excl: HPS294/394
Assess: 2x1,000-word assignments (25% ea), 3-hr exam (50%)
Required: Resnick, Choices: An Introduction to Decision Theory, ISBN 0816614407
Majors: Logic and Philosophy of Science
Courses: [R3A] OC:
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Buddhism, Ethics and Nonviolence
Enrolment code: HPA297/397
Offered: Hbt: sem 1
Special note: Tasmania Buddhist Studies in India Exchange Program course
Unit description:
Examines the nature and philosophical foundations of Buddhist ethical practice. Particular
emphasis is given to the theory of nonviolence as developed in the classical Buddhist
tradition as well as its development in other traditions, and a range of other issues.
Staff: Visiting scholar from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 2 hrs lectures weekly, 1-hr tutorial fortnightly (13 wks)
Prereq: 25% level 100 philosophy or, where appropriate, 1st-year course in any discipline
M.excl: HPA229/329 Buddhism, Satyagraha and Nonviolence
Assess: 3,000-word essay (40%), 2-hr exam (50%), tutorial participation (10%)
Required: contact the School of details
Majors: Asian Studies
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy 2003
Enrolment code: HPA398
Offered: not offered in 2003
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Unit details [HPA]
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
around the world, and the most important philosophical questions being asked today.
Staff: tba
Unit weight: 12.5%
Teaching pattern: 5 hrs fortnightly
Prereq: 25% level 100 Philosophy
Assess: 2,000-word essay (40%), 3,000-word take-home exam (60%)
Required: contact the School for details
Majors: Philosophy
Courses: [R3A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
Philosophy 4 (Honours)
Full time/Part time
Enrolment code: HPA400/401
Offered: Hbt: (fy) ie sem 1 & 2 [by video-link], Ltn: (fy) ie sem 1 & 2 [by video-link]
Special note: full-time students enrol in HPA400 (100%), part-time students in HPA401 (50%)
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 K Atkins (Coordinator)
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –28
Unit details [HPA]
Unit weight: 100%/50%
Prereq: major, including satisfaction of the Faculty GPA
Required: contact the School for details
Courses: [R4A]
Faculty website: <www.arts.utas.edu.au>
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University of Tasmania unit details for 2003 academic year
July 11, 2016, 18:45 PM, page –29