VCE Philosophy
Resources 2014–2018
Some of the print resources contained in this list may be out of print. They have been included
because they may still be available from libraries, bookshops and private collections.
At the time of publication the URLs (website addresses) cited were checked for accuracy and
appropriateness of content. However, due to the transient nature of material placed on the web,
their continuing accuracy cannot be verified. Teachers are strongly advised to prepare their own
indexes of sites that are suitable and applicable to the courses they teach, and to check these
addresses prior to allowing student access.
BOOKS
General Units 1–4
Many of the texts provided in this section contain general introductions and further suggested
readings for most areas of study, and many of them are suitable for students.
Annas, J 2000, Voices of Ancient Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Baggin, J Southwell, G 2012, Philosophy: Key Themes, Palgrave MacMillan, New York.
Baggini, J 2010, The Pig that Wants to be Eaten and 99 Other Thought Experiments, Granta
Books, London.
Includes thought experiments on identity
Blackburn, S 2005, Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Bowie, G, Michaels, M & Solomon, R (eds) 2000, Twenty Questions: An Introduction to
Philosophy, Harcourt Brace, Orlando, Florida.
Contains a range of primary readings on philosophy of religion, science, mind and nature,
thinking and knowing and the dilemmas of personhood (including issues such as cloning)
Cahn, S (ed.) 2011, Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology, 4th edn, Oxford
University Press, New York.
This includes some primary texts from across Units 1 and 2: ‘What is it like to be a bat?’ by
Thomas Nagel, ‘Meditations on First Philosophy’ by Descartes, ‘An Enquiry Concerning
Human Understanding’ (free will) by Hume, ‘The Dilemma of Determinism’ by William James,
‘The Ontological Argument’ by Anslem and Gaunilo, ‘Summa Theologiae’ by Aquinas,
‘Natural Theology’ by Paley, ‘The Wager’ by Pascal, ‘Foundations on the Metaphysics of
Morals’ by Kant, ‘Utilitarianism’ by Mill, ‘On Liberty’ by Mill, ‘Economic and Philosophical
Manuscripts of 1844’ by Marx.
Clark, M 2012, Paradoxes from A to Z, 3rd edn, Routledge, New York.
Cohen, M 2013, 101 Philosophy Problems, Routledge, London.
Craig, E (ed.) 2015 (forthcoming), The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
Routledge, New York.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Creel, R 2001, Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational
Dialogue, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden Massachusetts.
De Botton, A 2001, The Consolations of Philosophy, Hamish Hamilton, London.
Droit, R (Romer, S. trans.) 2003, Astonish Yourself: 101 Experiments in the Philosophy of
Everyday Life, Penguin, London.
Fine, G 2003, Plato on Knowledge and Forms, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Greetham, B 2006, Philosophy, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, New York.
Hallman, M 2012, Traversing Philosophical Boundaries, Wadsworth Publishing.
Contains readings from Descartes, Berkeley, Dennett, Hume.
Hollis, M 1997, Invitation to Philosophy, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford.
Honderich, T (ed.) 2005, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Hospers, J 1997, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis, 4th edn, Routledge, London.
Kenny, A 2006, Ancient Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Kinna, R 2005, Anarchism: A beginner’s guide, Oneworld Publications Oxford.
Law, S 2003, The Philosophy Gym, Headline Book Publishing, London.
Leiber, J 2001, Paradoxes, Interpretations Series. Duckworth, London.
Magee, B 2001, The Story of Philosophy, DK Publishing, New York.
Nagel, T 1987, What Does it All Mean? Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Nuttal, J 2002, An Introduction to Philosophy, Polity Press, Cambridge.
Pearson, KA (ed.) 2009, A Companion to Nietzsche, Wiley-Blackwell.
Popkin, R & Stroll, A 1993, Philosophy Made Simple, 2nd edn, Broadway Books, New York.
Rader, M & Gill, J 1990, The Enduring Questions: Main Problems of Philosophy, 5th edn, Holt,
Rinehart & Winston.
Roochnik, D 2004, Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, Blackwell
Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Roberts, F 2003, The Philosophy Workbook, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Russell, B 2004, A History of Western Philosophy, Routledge, London.
Sainsbury, RM 2009, Paradoxes, 3rd edn., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Shafer-Landau, R 2012, Ethical Theory: An Anthology, 2nd edn, Wiley-Blackwell.
This book contains a reading from Peter Strawson related to free will, as well as readings from a
wide range of philosophers including Mackie, Mill, Ayer, Smart, Nozick, Rawls and Singer
(Famine, Affluence and Morality).
Solomon, R 2010, The Big Questions: A Short Introduction to Philosophy, 8th edn, Thomas
Wadsworth, Belmont, California.
Tarnas, R 1995, The Passion of the Western Mind: Understanding the Ideas that Have Shaped
Our World View, Ballantine Books, New York.
Warburton, N 2012, Philosophy: The Basics, Routledge, London.
Warburton, N 2006, Philosophy: The Classics, 3rd edn, Routledge, New York.
Williams, B 2008, Shame and Necessity, University of California Press.
Wilkinson, R 2000, Minds and Bodies: An Introduction with Readings, Routledge.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Metaphysics and Epistemology
General
Audi, R (ed.) 2002, Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge,
2nd edn, Routledge, London.
Beakley, B & Ludlow, P 2006, The Philosophy of Mind, 2nd edn, MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Blackburn, S 2006, Truth: A Guide, Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, S 2007, Conversations on Consciousness, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
This book contains conversations with a series of primary thinkers including Chalmers and
Searle
Brook, A & Stainton, R 2000, Knowledge and Mind: A Philosophical Introduction, MIT Press,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Callender, C & Edney, R 2010, Introducing Time: A Graphic Guide, Icon Books, Cambridge.
Chalmers, A 2013, What is this Thing Called Science? 4th edn, University of Queensland Press,
St. Lucia.
Davies, B 2004, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
Davies, B & Leftow, B 2005, The Cambridge Companion to Anselm, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
Gazzaniga, M 2012, Who’s In Charge? Free Will and the Science of the Brain, Harper-Collins.
Guttenplan, S (ed.) 1995, A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing,
Malden, Massachusetts.
Hofstadter, D & Dennett, D (eds) 2000, The Mind’s ‘I’: Fantasies and Reflections on the Self
and Soul, Basic Books.
Kane, R (ed.) 2001, Free Will, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Landesman, C 1996, An Introduction to Epistemology, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden,
Massachusetts.
Landesman, C & Meeks, R (eds) 2002, Philosophical Skepticism: From Plato to Rorty,
Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Le Poidevin, R 2004, Travels in Four Dimensions: The Enigmas of Space and Time, Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
Long, AA 1999, The Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy, Cambridge University
Press.
Matthews, M 1989, The Scientific Background to Modern Philosophy, Hackett, Indianapolis.
Morton, A 2003, Philosophy in Practice: An Introduction to the Main Questions, 2nd edn,
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Plato (Ferrari, GRF ed. & Griffith, T trans.) 2000, The Republic, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Quinn, P & Taliaferro, C (eds) 1999, A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, Wiley-Blackwell
Publishers, Malden, Massachusetts.
Russell, B 2001, The Problems of Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Searle, J 2005, Mind: A Brief Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Steup, M et al. 2013 (forthcoming), Contemporary Debates in Epistemology, 2nd edn WileyBlackwell.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Turetzky, P (ed.) 1998, Time, Routledge, London.
Primary texts
See entries on Bowie, Cahn, Shafer-Landau, Russ in General Units 1–4 above and entries for
journals and periodicals below. The Wiley-Blackwell A Companion to Nietzsche (see Pearson
entry in General Units 1–4) has a chapter on Nietzsche’s philosophy of time which will guide
the reader to primary sources.
Aristotle (Waterfield, R trans.) 2008, Physics, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University
Press.
See Book IV for Aristotle on time.
Berkeley, G 2003, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Dover
Publications, New York.
Blackburn, S 2012, Practical Tortoise Raising and other Philosophical Essays, Oxford
University Press.
Blackburn, S 2000, Ruling Passions: A Theory of Practical Reasoning, Oxford University
Press.
Blackmore, S 2007, Conversations on Consciousness, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
This book contains conversations with a series of primary thinkers including Chalmers and
Searle
Borges, JL ‘A New Refutation of Time’ at www.mischievousmusique.com/extras/Jorge-LuisBorges-A-New-Refutation-of-Time.pdf
Damasio, A 2006, Descartes’Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, Vintage.
Davidson, D 1986. ‘A Coherence Theory of Truth and Knowledge’, in Truth and
Interpretation: Perspectives on the Philosophy of Donald Davidson. Oxford: Blackwell.
This chapter is Davidson’s argument for metaphysical realism and how it can allow for the
possibility of skepticism.
Davies, B 2000, Philosophy of Religion: A Guide and Anthology, Oxford University Press.
This book contains an extensive range of readings under different themes, including Aquinas,
Anselm, Mackie and Hume.
Davies, P 1996, About Time: Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution, Penguin.
Davies, P in conversation with Philip Adams, The Big Questions and More Big Questions, video
series online at www.abc.net.au/science/bigquestions/default.htm
Descartes, R 1998, Discourse on Method & The Meditations, Penguin Books, London.
Einstein, A (Stachel, J ed.) 2005, Einstein’s Miraculous Year: Five Papers that Changed the
Face of Physics, Princeton University Press.
Feinberg, J 2011, Reason and Responsibility, 15th edn, Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Contains readings on a wide range of topics including philosophy of religion (Anselm, Aquinas,
Pascal, Paley, Hume, Mackie), epistemology (Plato, Gettier, Descartes, Hume, Berkeley),
metaphysics (Jackson, Holbach, Van Inwagen).
Feyerabend, P 2008, Knowledge, Science and Relativism: Philosophical Papers, vol. 3,
Cambridge University Press.
Feyerabend, P 1991, Three Dialogues on Knowledge, Wiley-Blackwell.
Goodin, R & Pettit, P (eds) 2005, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, WileyBlackwell.
Includes readings from Rawls and Berlin.
Hallman, M 2012, Traversing Philosophical Boundaries, Wadsworth Publishing.
Contains readings from Descartes, Berkeley, Dennett, Hume.
Heidegger, M (Stambaugh, J trans) 2010, Being and Time, State University of New York Press.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Heil, J (ed.) 2003, Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology, Oxford University Press, New
York.
This book contains selections from the work of Plato, Descartes, Locke, Armstrong, Chalmers,
Davidson, Jackson.
Hetherington, S 2013 (forthcoming), Metaphysics and Epistemology: A Guided Anthology,
Wiley-Blackwell.
Huemer, M (ed.) 2002, Epistemology: Contemporary Readings Routledge London.
This texts includes readings for Plato, Descartes, Locke, Gettier, Hume, Ayer, Putnam.
Hume, D 2008, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
James, W (Richardson, R ed.) 2012, The Heart of William James, Harvard University Press.
Contains essays related to free will and determinism as well as epistemology.
James, W 1981, The Principles of Psychology, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
See in particular the chapter, The Stream of Thought, for James’ account of experience that is
opposed to Hume.
James, W 1978, Pragmatism and the Meaning of Truth, Harvard University Press.
With an introduction by AJ Ayer.
Kirk, GS, Raven, JE & Schofield, M 1984, The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History
with a Selection of Texts, Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, T 2012, The Structure of the Scientific Revolutions, 50th Anniversary edn, University of
Chicago Press, Chicago.
Locke, J, Berkley, G & Hume, D 1960, The Empiricists: Locke: Concerning Human
Understanding, Berkley: Principles of Human Knowledge and Three Dialogues and Hume:
Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning Natural Religion, Random House.
McGrew, T et al. (eds) 2009, Philosophy of Science: An Historical Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell.
Contains chapters from Hume, Mill and a wide range of others.
Nussbaum, M 2003, Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of the Emotions, Cambridge
University Press.
Nagel, E 1979, The Structure of Science: Problems in the Logic of Scientific Explanation,
(2nd edn), Hackett.
O’Hear, A 2004, Minds and Persons, Cambridge University Press.
Contains a range of readings including Papineau ‘Human Minds’ and Jackson ‘Mind and
Illusion’.
Popper, K 2002, Conjectures and Refutations, 2nd edn, Routledge, London.
Putnam, H 1979, ‘What is Mathematical Truth’, in Mathematics Matter and Method:
Philosophical Papers, Volume 1, 2nd edn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 60–78.
Putnam, H 1979, ‘Philosophy of Logic’, reprinted in Mathematics Matter and Method:
Philosophical Papers, Volume 1, 2nd edn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 323–
357.
Rorty, R 1979, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton, NJ Princeton.
Rorty, R 1991, Objectivity, Relativism and Truth: Philosophical Papers vol. 1, Cambridge
University Press.
Contains the paper ‘Davidson, Pragmatism and Truth’.
Russell, P & Deery, O (eds) 2013, The Philosophy of Free Will, Oxford University Press.
A wide range of readings, including Dennett, Strawson, van Inwagen.
Saint Augustine (Chadwick, H trans.) 2008, The Confessions, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford
University Press.
See Books 1 and X1 for writing on time.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Schopenhauer, A 1995, Essays on Freedom of the Will, Wiley-Blackwell.
Schoedinger, A (ed.) 1991, Introduction to Metaphysics, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, New
York.
An anthology including a wide range of readings.
Smart, JJC 2013, Philosophy and Scientific Realism, Routledge.
Strawson, PF 2008, Freedom and Resentment and other essays, Routledge.
Weil, S (Crawford, E trans.) 2002, Gravity and Grace, Routledge Classics, Routledge.
Contains chapter on the problem of evil and other chapters on the nature of God.
Williams, B 2010, Making Sense of humanity and Other Philosophical Papers, Cambridge
University Press (on-line ebook Pdf).
Includes papers on free will and determinism and ethics.
Williams, B 2004, Truth and Truthfulness: An Essay in Genealogy, Princeton University Press.
Williams, B 2006, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Routledge.
See Chapter 8 – ‘Knowledge, Science, Convergence’.
UNIT 2: QUESTIONS OF VALUE
Area of Study 1: Ethics and moral philosophy
Furrow, D 2005, Key Concepts in Philosophy: Ethics, Continuum, New York.
MacIntyre, A 2002, A Short History of Ethics, Routledge, New York.
Mahony, J 2006, The Challenge of Human Rights: Origin, Development and Significance,
Wiley-Blackwell.
Robinson, D & Garratt, C 2004, Introducing Ethics, Icon Books, London.
Schneewin, JB (ed.) 2003, Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
Singer, P (ed.) 1994, Ethics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Singer, P (ed.) 1993, A Companion To Ethics, Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
West, H 2004, An Introduction to Mill’s Utilitarianian Ethics, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Area of Study 2: Further problems in value theory
Bertram, C 2003, Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Rousseau and the Social Contract,
Routledge, London.
Deutsch, E & Bontekoe, R 1999, A Companion to World Philosophies, Wiley-Blackwell
Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Eldridge, R 2003, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Art, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Ferrari, G 2007, The Cambridge Companion to Plato’s Republic, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Gaut, B & McIver Lopes, D (eds) 2013, The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics, 3rd edn,
Routledge, New York.
Goodin, R & Pettit, P (eds) 2012, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Anthology, 2nd edn,
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Herwitz, D 2008 Aesthetics: Key Concepts in Philosophy, Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hume, D 2008, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Janaway, C 2005, Reading Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing,
Malden, Massachusetts.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Kieran, M (ed.) 2005, Contemporary Debates in Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art, WileyBlackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Kymlicka, W 2001, Contemporary Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Locke, J (Laslett, P ed.) 1989, Two Treatises of Government, 3rd edn, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
Mahony, J 2006, The Challenge of Human Rights: Origin, Development and Significance,
Wiley-Blackwell.
Plato (Long, A trans.) 2010, Meno and Phaedo Cambridge University Press.
See in particluar Meno 97a-98b. Especially relevant for what epistemologists generally regard
as being an early version of justified true belief.
Rawls, J 1999, A Theory of Justice, Belknap Press.
Singer, P 2001, Marx: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Swift, A 2006, Political Philosophy, 2nd edn, Polity Press, Malden, Massachusetts.
Wolff, J 2006, An Introduction to Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Zuckert, C (ed.) 2011, Political Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: Authors and Arguments,
Cambridge University Press.
Primary texts – Areas of Study 1 and 2
See entry on Cahn, Shafer-Landau in General Units 1–4 above, also:
Aristotle (Ross, trans.) 2009, Nicomachean Ethics, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University
Press.
Blackburn, S 2000, Ruling Passions: A Theory of Practical Reasoning, Oxford University
Press.
Cahn, S (ed.) 2011, Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy, Oxford University Press,
Oxford.
This book contains readings from Locke ‘Letter concerning toleration’ and ‘Second Treatise of
Government’, Rousseau ‘Discourse on the Origin of Inequality’, ‘Of the Social Contract’, Adam
Smith ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’, ‘The Wealth of Nations’, Nozick ‘Anarchy, State and
Utopia’, as well as Mill, Rawls, Taylor and a range of other philosophers.
Cahn, S & Meskin, M (eds) 2007, Aesthetics: A Comprehensive Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell.
Includes readings from Plato, Hume, Kant, Collingwood, Danto, Goodman, Dickie, Wimsatt
and Beardsley.
Davidson, D 2006, The Essential Davidson, Oxford University Press.
See ‘Reasons, Actions and Causes’.
Davidson, D 2001, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation: Philosophical Essays, vol. 2 Oxford
University Press.
Derrida, J 2000, ‘Et Cetera’ in Deconstructions: A User’s Guide (Royle, N ed.) Palgrave
MacMillan.
Graham, G 2011, Theories of Ethics, Routledge, London.
This book surveys the major schools and figures in moral philosophy from Socrates to the
present day. It is a secondary source and also includes readings from Locke, Rawls and others.
Griffin, J 2008, On Human Rights, Oxford University Press.
Kant, I (Hill, J & Zweig, A eds & trans.) 2003, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals,
Oxford University Press, Oxford.
LaFollette, H & Persson, I (eds) 2013 (forthcoming), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory,
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Contains a wide selection of readings including Blackburn ‘Relativism’.
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RESOURCES
VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Lamarque, P & Haugom Olsen, S 2004, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art: The Analytic
Tradition.
Contains readings from Danto, Dickie and Beardsley.
MacIntyre, A 2007, After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory, University of Notre Dame Press.
MacIntyre, A 2001, Dependent Rational Animals: Why Human Beings Need the Virtues, Open
Court Publishing.
MacIntyre, A 1967, ‘Egoism and Altruism’ in Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Gale ed.),
MacMillan
Note: available as single entry html from online sellers such as Amazon.
Mackie, JD 1990, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, Penguin.
Mill, JS 2008, On Liberty and other Essays, Oxford’s World Classics, Oxford University Press.
This book contains the essays ‘On Liberty’, ‘Utilitariansim’, ‘Considerations on Representative
Government’ and ‘The Subjection of Women’.
Mill, JS (Crisp, R ed.) 1998, Utilitarianism, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Nozick, R 1974 (2013 revised edn forthcoming), Anarchy, State and Utopia, Basic Books,
Malden, Massachusetts.
Rousseau, J 2011, Discourse on the Origin and Foundations of Inequality Among Men,
Palgrave MacMillan UK.
This edition includes further primary documents such as a selection from Rousseau’s ‘Of the
Social Contract’.
Rousseau, JJ 2005, Penguin Great Ideas: The Social Contract, Penguin Classics, Penguin
Books, London.
Sandel, M 2009, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing.
Sandel, M 2010, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press.
Singer, P (ed.) 1994, Ethics, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
This book contains a very wide range of selected readings including from Nozick ‘The
Rationality of Side Constraints’, Rosseau ‘The Natural State of Man’, Ayer ‘Ethics for Logical
Positivists’, Mackie ‘The Argument from Queerness’ Locke ‘Our Rights in the State of Nature’,
Mill ‘On Nature’, Kant, Smart, JJC ‘Desert Island Promises’, Bernard Williams ‘Jim and the
Indians’, Rawls ‘The Main Idea of the Theory of Justice’.
Sontag, S 2013, Against Interpretation and Other Essays, Penguin (Google ebook).
Strawson, PF 2008, Freedom and Resentment and other essays, Routledge.
Taylor C 1985 Philosophy and the Human Sciences: Philosophical Papers vol.2 Cambridge
University Press
Taylor, C 1992, Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, Cambridge University
Press.
Williams, B 2006, Ethics and the Limits to Philosophy, Routledge.
Williams, B 2004, Morality: An Introduction to Ethics, Canto, Cambridge University Press.
Williams, B ‘Internal Reasons and the Obscurity of Blame’ in Making Sense of Humanity and
Other Philosophical Papers.
Woolstonecraft, M 2008, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and A Vindication of the Rights
of Men, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University Press.
Argument and reasoning
Baggini, J & Fosl, P 2010, The Philosopher’s Toolkit, 2nd edn, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing,
Malden, Massachusetts.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Munson, R & Black, A 2012, The Elements of Reasoning, Wadsworth Publishing.
Creel, R 2001, Thinking Philosophically: An Introduction to Critical Reflection and Rational
Dialogue, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Malden Massachusetts.
Fisher, A 2004, The Logic of Real Arguments, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Goldstein, L, Brennan, A, Deutsch, M & Lau, J 2005, Logic: Key Concepts in Philosophy,
Continuum, London.
Haight, M 1999, The Snake and the Fox: An Introduction to Logic, Routledge, London.
Kahneman, D 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York.
Shatil, S 2004, Introducing Logic: A Graphic Guide, Icon Books.
Tindale, C 2007, Fallacies and Argument Appraisal, Cambridge University Press.
Walton, D 2008, Informal Logic: A Pragmatic approach, 2nd edn, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
UNITS 3 AND 4
General
Baggini, J & Southwell, G 2012, Philosophy: Key texts, Palgrave MacMillan UK.
Guthrie, WKC 2012, The Greek Philosophers, Routledge London.
Meinwald, C 2015 (forthcoming), Plato, Routledge London.
Mill, JS 2006, On Liberty and the Subjection of Women, Penguin Classics, Penguin Books,
London.
Roochnik, D 2004, Retrieving the Ancients: An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, Blackwell
Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Places Greek philosophy in its philosophical context.
Shields, C 2012, Ancient Philosophy: A contemporary introduction, Routledge London.
Unit 3
See entry on Bowie in General: Units 1–4 above
Blackmore, S 2007, Conversations on Consciousness, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
This book contains conversations with a series of contemporary philosophers related to the set
texts.
Baggini, J & Southwell, G 2012, Philosophy: Key Themes, 2nd edn, Basingstoke, Palgrave
Macmillan.
Balibar, E 2013 (forthcoming), Identity and Difference (John Locke and the Invention of
Consciousness), Verso Books.
Churchland, PM 1988 (2013 3rd edn forthcoming), Matter and Consciousness revised edition,
MIT Press.
A contemporary introduction to the philosophy of mind.
Deutsch, E & Bontekoe, R 1999, A Companion to World Philosophies, Wiley-Blackwell
Publishing, Malden, Massachusetts.
Contains a chapter on the Buddhist concept of self.
Goetz, S & Taliaferro, C 2011, A Brief History of the Soul Wiley-Blackwell.
Includes a chapter of the soul in Greek thought.
Harrison, V 2012, Eastern Philosophy: The Basics, Routledge.
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VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Heil, J (ed.) 2003, Philosophy of Mind: A Guide and Anthology, Oxford University Press, New
York.
This book contains a wide ranging anthology over 11 topics including on Behaviourism and
Mind-Brain Identity and Challenges to Contemporary Materialism.
Jaworski, W 2011, Philosophy of Mind: A Comprehensive Introduction, Wiley-Blackwell.
An overview of problems in the philosophy of mind, including how developments in
neuroscience, biology, psychology, and cognitive science have impacted mind-body debates.
On line chapter on Persons.
Joseph, T 2008, Exploring personhood: an introduction to the philosophy of human nature
Lanham, Md, Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Parfit, D 1986, Reasons and Persons, Oxford University Press.
Contains thought experiment – Chapter 10.
Perry, J 1978, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality, Hackett Publishing.
Searle, J 1986, Minds, Brains and Science Harvard University Press.
Splitter, L 2015, Identity and Personhood: Confusions and Clarifications Across Disciplines,
Springer.
This book discusses philosophical, scientific, socio-cultural and educational dimensions of
identity.
Taylor, C 1992, Sources of Self: The Making of Modern Identity, Cambridge University Press.
Unit 4
Borgmann, A 1987, Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life, The University of
Chicago Press.
Cahn, S (ed.) 2011, Exploring Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology, Oxford University Press,
New York.
This edition contains Singer’s ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’ as well as ‘World Hunger and
Moral Obligation: The Case Against Singer’ by John Arthur
Cooper, JM 1977, ‘Friendship and the Good in Aristotle’, Philosophical Review, 86:290–315.
De Botton, A 2007, The Consolations of Philosophy, Penguin.
De Botton, A 2005, Status Anxiety, Penguin.
Epicurus (O’Connor, E trans.) 1993, The Essential Epicurus, Prometheus Books.
Gaita, R 2006, ‘Justice and Hope’ in The Best Australian Essays 2006, Black Inc.
Gaita, R 2013, Good and Evil: An Absolute Conception, 2nd edn, Routledge.
Hughes, G 2013, The Routledge Guidebook to Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Routledge, New
York.
Kaufmann, W 1975, Nietzsche: Philosopher, Psychologist, Antichrist, 4th edn, Princeton
University Press, Princeton. (2013 paperback edition forthcoming.)
Magu, B & Higgins, K 1996, The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
McCloskey, D 2010, Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can’t Explain the Modern World,
Chicago University Press.
McKay, H 2013, The Good Life, MacMillan Australia.
Mill, JS 2002, The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill, Random House.
Montaigne, M (Frame, C trans.) 1958, The Complete Essays of Montaigne, Stanford University
Press.
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RESOURCES
VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
Pakalu, M 2005, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics: An Introduction, Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Phillips, C 2004, Six Questions of Socrates, Norton, New York.
Pogge, T 2007, Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right: Who Owes What to the Very Poor?
Oxford University Press.
Russell, B 2004, In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays, Routledge Classics, Routledge.
Sandel, M 2009, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering,
Harvard University Press.
Scharff, R & Dusek, V 2003, Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition An
Anthology, Wiley-Blackwell (forthcoming 2nd edn 2014).
Shafer-Landau, R 2012, Ethical Theory: An Anthology, 2nd edn, Wiley-Blackwell.
Includes Peter Singer’s ‘Famine, Affluence and Morality’.
Smart, JJC & Williams, B 1998, Utilitarianism: For and Against, Cambridge University Press.
Smith, A 2002, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Cambridge University Press.
Veblen, T 2009, The Theory of the Leisure Class, Oxford World’s Classics, Oxford University
Press.
Veblen coined the term ‘conspicuous consumption’.
Wolf, S 2010, Meaning in Life and Why it Matters, Princeton University Press.
JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS
Bigelow, J 2001, Time travel fiction, in Gerhard Preyer and Frank Siebelt, eds., Reality and
Humean Supervenience. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield, 58–91.
Bigelow, J 1996, Presentism and properties, in James E. Tomberlin, ed., Philosophical
Perspectives 10. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996. 35–52.
Bradbury, R 1952, ‘A Sound of Thunder’, in R is for Rocket. New York: Doubleday.
Cooper, JM 1977, ‘Friendship and the Good in Aristotle’, Philosophical Review, 86:290–315.
Gott, J. Richard 2001, Time Travel in Einstein’s Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel
Through Time. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Keller, S & Nelson. M 2001, Presentists should believe in time-travel. Australasian Journal of
Philosophy 79:333–45.
Lewis, D 1976, The paradoxes of time travel, American Philosophical Quarterly 13:145–52.
Shoemaker, S 1969, ‘Time without Change’, Journal of Philosophy, 66, pp. 363–381.
A thought experiment designed to show us how time could exist even without any change in the
universe.
Smart, JJC 1949, ‘The River of Time’ Mind 58, pp. 483–494.
Smart, JJC 1955 ‘Spatialising Time’, Mind 64, pp. 239–241.
Smith, NJJ 1997, Bananas enough for time travel? British Journal of Philosophy 48:363–389.
Townsend, A (ed.) 2000, Time, Self and Freedom, Monash University.
WEBSITES
www.amap.org.uk/
http://plato.stanford.edu
http://dragon.uml.edu/psych/illusion.html
www.philfilms.utm.edu/
www.wordle.net/
©VCAA 2013
Updated July 2014
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RESOURCES
VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
www.ngv.vic.gov.au/learn/schools-resources/collection-stories-learning-activities/
identity/explore
http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960
www.valueseducation.edu.au/values/values_homepage,8655.html
www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/activities.shtm
FILM
The topic of time travel has been used in many films and the following are suggestions for some
that provoke and stimulate inquiry on the concept of time. They can be viewed as a pre cursor to
further study and exploration of the topic of time as discussed by philosophers. Alternatively,
some can be interrogated for the understanding of time as used by the creators of the film.
12 Monkeys
Being John Malkovich
Bernie
Blow UP
The Butterfly Effect
A Christmas Carol
Dark City
Dr Who and the Daleks
Eraserhead
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Groundhog Day
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
It’s A Wonderful Life
La Jetee
Lars and the Real Girl
Looper
The Matrix
Meet the Robinsons
Peggy Sue Got Married
Planet of the Apes
Primer
Star Trek: First Contact (film)
Star Trek T.V. series episode The City on the Edge of Forever (1967)
Stranger than Fiction
The Terminator
A Time to Kill
Unforgiven
Vertigo
CD-ROMS
Philosophy Now on CD ROM.
Available from: order@pdcnet.org
Rationale 2006, Microsoft, Austhink software, Carlton.
Available from: www.austhink.com.au
©VCAA 2013
Updated July 2014
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RESOURCES
VCE Philosophy 2014–2018
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/STUDENT PROGRAMS
Heide Museum of Modern Art
Contact: Education Officer
7 Templestowe Road
Bulleen Vic 3105
Tel: (03) 8850 5929
Website: www.heide.com.au
Latrobe University
Contact: Philosophy Department
Bundoora Campus
Latrobe University Vic 3086
Tel: (03) 9479 1673
Fax: (03) 9479 3639
Website: www.latrobe.edu.au
Melbourne Museum
Contact: Programs Coordinator
GPO Box 666
Melbourne Vic 3001
Tel: 13 11 02
www.melbourne.museum.vic.gov.au
Melbourne Zoo
Contact: Melbourne Zoo Discovery and Learning
PO Box 74
Parkville Vic 3052
Tel: (03) 9285 9355
Fax: (03) 9285 9340
Email: mmzes@zoo.org.auail
Website: www.zoo.org.au/education
National Gallery of Victoria (NGV)
Contact: Education Officer
PO Box 7259
St. Kilda Road
Melbourne Vic 8004
Tel: (03) 8620 2340
Website: www.ngv.vic.gov.au/education
University of Melbourne
Contact: Philosophy Department
University of Melbourne Vic 3010
Tel: (03) 8344 5142
Fax: (03) 8344 4280
Website: www.unimelb.edu.au
ORGANISATIONS
VAPS (Victorian Association for Philosophy in Schools)
www.vaps.vic.edu.au
(A Victorian philosophy teacher association that runs student and teacher professional
development programs including VCE Philosophy lectures and student forums, teacher training
in Philosophy for Children and organisation of VCE Philosophy network meetings)
FAPSA (Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools)
www.fapsa.org.au
The Federation of Australasian Philosophy in Schools Associations is an umbrella organisation
supporting the interests of its nine affiliated Associations.
©VCAA 2013
Updated July 2014
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