W7312
Course Unit Outline
Unit Code
W7312
Unit Name
Philosophy of Culture
Unit Weighting
9cps
Type of Unit
Specialised
Prerequisites, corequisites
W7106 and W7109
Academic Staff
Dr Matthew Del Nevo. BA (AppSocSci) (Lanchester 1980), BD Hons (Sydney 1991), GradDipRE (ACU 2001), PhD
(Sydney 1996)
Curriculum Objectives
This unit examines philosophical questions of culture as it has a particular bearing upon life in the 21st century.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit students will be able to:
1. demonstrate understanding of the philosophical interplay of religion and secular culture
2. explore philosophical arguments about value and culture
3. articulate theories about the role of technology in secular culture
4. theorise the difference between nature and culture
5. theorise the role of experience in art and religion in cultural terms
Threshold concept to be acquired in this unit
Philosophical problems of culture
Content
1. The question of technology
2. Science and reflection
3. The object and science of culture
4. Concepts of nature and concepts of culture
5. Problems of the concept of culture(s)
6. The culture industries
7. Metaphysical experience
Learning Activities
Private study , lectures, seminars, tutorials.
Required Specialist Facilities or Equipment
Internet access
Assessment Profile
Assessments tasks are designed both to help students attain the unit outcomes and to enable teachers to
assess student attainment. In this unit, assessment of student achievement with respect to the Unit Outcomes will be
based on:
1. Short analytical essay on texts having to do with science and technology and culture. [Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4]
2. Essay or seminar on exploring complexity of concepts of culture and cultures [Outcomes 4 and 5]
3. Essay on commodification of culture and metaphysical experience. [Outcomes 1, 2 and 5]
Representative References
1. Adorno, T. Metaphysics: Concepts and Problems. Transl. E. Jephcott. Stanford CA: Stanford University, 2001.
2. Cristaudo, W. Power, Love and Evil. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2007.
3. Gadamer, H-G. The Relevance of the Beautiful and Other Essays. Ed. Robert Bernasconi. Transl. N. Walker.
Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1996.
4. Heidegger, M. The Question of Technology and Other Essays. Transl. W. Lovitt. New York: Harper Torchbook, 1977.
5. Horkheimer, M. & Adorno, T. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Transl. E. Jephcott. Stanford CA:
Stanford University, 2002.
6. Marcel, G. Homo Viator. Introduction to a Metaphysic of Hope. 1962.
7. Marcuse, H. One Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. [1964] Boston: Beacon, 1991.
8. Pieper, J. Leisure, the Basis of Culture. [1963] San Francisco: Ignatius, 2009.
9. Scruton, R. An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Culture. South Bend IN: St. Augustine’s Press,
10. 2000.
11. Stiegler, B. Time and Technics. Transl. R. Beardsworth and G. Collins. Stanford CA: Stanford University, 1998.
12. Wittgenstein, L. Culture and Value. Ed. G. H. von Wright. Transl. P. Winch. Chicago: University of Chicago,
1984.