This unit provides a history of Buddhist ideas. It begins by introducing basic Buddhist teachings before moving on to their later philosophical systematization. Students are introduced to the assumptions of traditional scholasticism and the methods of comparative philosophy in exploring Buddhist approaches to such issues as selfhood, ethics, being and knowledge, and language and conceptuality. A key focus is on how ideas originally formulated in an Indian Buddhist milieu were later transformed and elaborated upon in Tibet, China and Japan.

This unit considers key themes in modern and contemporary political thought. It uses primary texts to address topics such as sovereignty, democracy, fascism, liberalism, human rights, politics and religion, violence, and political identity. Authors may include Hobbes, Spinoza, Locke, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, J.S. Mill, Tocqueville, Rawls, Arendt, Schmitt, and Foucault.

This unit is an introduction to central issues in metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics. It opens with general questions about reality, God, personal identity and free will. The middle section of the unit will consider questions about values, goodness and responsibility. The final part is concerned with the question "what is art", the nature of aesthetic judgment and the role of art in our lives.

An introduction to modern logic: the investigation of the laws of truth. One essential aspect of good reasoning or argumentation is that it is valid: it cannot lead from true premises to a false conclusion. In this unit we learn how to identify and construct valid arguments, using techniques such as truth tables, models and truth trees. Apart from being a great aid to clear thinking about any subject, knowledge of logic is essential for understanding many areas not only of contemporary philosophy, but also linguistics, mathematics and computing.

This unit is an introduction to central issues in political philosophy, theories of knowledge and philosophical conceptions of the self. The first part will consider the state, freedom and political obligation. The second part will examine some of the major theories of knowledge in the modern philosophical tradition. The final section will look at conceptions of the self as a knowing and acting subject.

If a robot told you that it was in pain, would you believe it? If it is wrong to kill animals, should we try to stop animals from killing each other? How do you know what the colour red looks like to your friends? What do these philosophical puzzles reveal about ourselves, our minds, and our responsibilities towards others? This one-unit HSC course focuses on contemporary disputes regarding the nature of the mind, personal identity and ethics. As you engage with these issues, you will be introduced to the philosophical theories that underpin our notion of ourselves and our place in the world, and you will improve your ability to analyse and present complex ideas and arguments.

This unit covers three topics in epistemology: what knowledge is, how it can be obtained, and what to do with it. The first component involves a study of the nature of knowledge, and the various attempts to define it. The second is concerned with principles of reason and investigation, and how to assess whether they are good sources of knowledge. The final component is to do with the theory of decision: what methods should be used to apply knowledge in the choice of action.

Classical logic is what you study in introductory units such as PHIL1012. This unit covers major extensions of and alternatives to classical logic, such as temporal, modal, intuitionist, relevance, and many-valued logics. As well as looking at the internal workings of these logics, we examine some of their applications, and the philosophical issues surrounding them.

This unit will examine three problems that are part of the legacy of Empiricism: (i) the issues of induction, causation and causal explanation in science; (ii) the arguments from Berkeley and Hume concerning the external world; and (iii) the case of post-Humean ethical theory. Throughout we will be looking to the modern manifestations of these problems and the ways they might be rectified. We also look to emphasise the importance of these issues for the development of psychology of perception.

The nature of duty and the good: how we ought to live and what is valuable in life. A selective survey of Western normative ethical theory, covering philosophers such as Aristotle, Hume, Kant and Mill.

An examination of the major philosophical themes to be found in the works of Plato and Aristotle, with close attention to a few central works. The course emphasises understanding the ways these philosophers think rather than learning a body of doctrine.

We examine the major ways of proving things in logic: tableaux (trees), axiomatic proofs, natural deduction and sequent calculus. We learn to construct proofs of each of these kinds and then establish fundamental adequacy results (e.g. soundness and completeness) for each kind of proof system.

This unit addresses central themes from the history and philosophy of human rights. Topics may include the relationship between human rights and religion, natural law, moral and aesthetic justifications of human rights, claims and challenges to universality of the part of human rights, and tensions between human rights and state sovereignty. Thinkers may include Paine, Burke, Kant, Wollstonecraft, Tocqueville, Arendt, Schmitt, and Rawls.

This unit draws on contemporary moral philosophy to shed light on some of the most pressing practical, ethical questions of our time, including euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, censorship, animal rights, genetic testing and cloning and environmental ethics. By the end of the unit, students should have a good understanding of these practical ethical issues; and, more crucially, be equipped with the conceptual resources to think through new ethical questions and dilemmas as they arise in their personal and professional lives.

"Why is art important to us? What is an aesthetic response to something? What is the relation between art and aesthetics? Is there such a thing as objective interpretation of an artwork? Or is it all a matter of taste? Should we believe in ""the death of the author""? What is the relation between art and representation, expression and emotion? We shall discuss these and other questions (e.g. modernity, metaphor) from the perspective of an historical approach to the philosophical study of aesthetics and art."

Throughout our lives, in making decisions large and small, we gamble in the face of uncertainty. Because we are always unsure what the future holds, we base our choices on estimates of probability. But what is probability, how do we know about it, and how should we use that knowledge in making rational choices? This unit provides an introduction to the foundations and philosophical puzzles of probability and rational decision theory.

This unit covers central issues in contemporary philosophy of language, such as the relationship between language and the world, the nature of meaning and truth, problems involved in interpreting and understanding the speech of others, the role of context in determining meaning, and the nature of metaphor.

This is a unit in metaphysics: the discipline that tells us about the nature of the world. The unit carries on from the Reality component of first year. We engage with questions like: What is time? What is space? What makes something a person? How much change can I undergo and still be me? Are objects four-dimensional space-time worms? Do the past or future exist, and could we travel to them? Are there numbers?

We go beyond the question of which actions are morally right to consider the following: How should we evaluate motives and emotions? Is anyone actually virtuous, or are we all weak-willed, self-deceived confabulators? Are any actions or persons evil? When should we feel guilty or ashamed? Should forgiveness be unconditional? Is morality the product of Darwinian natural selection, or of culture and learning? Is there any objective truth in morality, or are moral claims merely subjective or culturally relative?

No 20th century political philosopher has captured as much attention as Hannah Arendt. Those seeking a fresh approach beyond the traditional right and left, as well as contemporary feminists are all drawn to her vivid reading of tradition, her diagnosis of the present and path-breaking analysis of totalitarianism, human rights and refugees. This unit of study examines key concepts like natality and novel reading of politics, freedom and promising and her contemporary appropriation by Giorgio Agamben with his concept of "bare life".

An analysis and critique of the main ideas in Freudian psychoanalysis, their philosophical background, and their influence in subsequent philosophy of mind.

Can the concept 'mental illness' be a valid one? What might delusions tell us about the structure of the mind? What assumptions underlie attempts to classify mental disorder? Can we be justified in compelling people to submit to psychiatric treatment? This unit will examine philosophical questions raised by mental disorder and our attempts to understand/treat it, and will connect psychiatry to debates in philosophy such as the mind/body problem, the concept of a person, and the possibility of knowledge.

Descartes is generally regarded as the founder of modern philosophy, and in this unit we look both at his own contribution, and at his influence on the subsequent course of philosophical thought in the work of Malebranche, Spinoza, and Leibniz. Just over half the unit will be devoted to Descartes' own thought, and we will look at the various stages in the development of his ideas. In the second half of the unit, we will examine the ideas of his successors on selected metaphysical themes, above all on perception and the mind/body question.

This unit continues the themes developed in Theorising Modernity into the Twentieth Century. We will see how the new realities of free markets, democracy, the state and bureaucracy, individualism and cultural rationalisation presented new problems and opportunities and gave rise to new theoretical frameworks for their comprehension. The unit will focus on the work of Weber, The Frankfurt School, Foucault and Habermas.

A survey of a range of classical 19th century theories from the standpoint of what they offer to the understanding of the newly emerging modern bourgeois social world. The work of Hegel, Marx, de Tocqueville, and Nietzsche will serve as paradigmatic attempts to discover the essence of this new society. Recurring themes and features will be examined through the prism of these thinkers: these include the problem of meaning after the collapse of tradition, the rise of secularism, capitalism, industrialisation, democracy, bureaucratisation and individualism -- their features, antinomies and problems. The unit is also intended as an introduction to the thinkers concerned while focusing in each case on their theorisation of modernity.

A unit in normative political philosophy. The unit will examine ideas of democracy, as well as historical foundations of these ideas, and it will do so in order to address key issues in contemporary democratic theory, such as the tension between republican and liberal ideas, the relationship between justice and democracy, the challenges of social and cultural pluralism, the limits of democratic inclusion, and, importantly, the nature of political legitimacy and the challenge of a suitably inclusive justification of political principles.

This unit offers a critical introduction to the major schools of thought in contemporary political philosophy organised around the theme of inclusion and exclusion. The inclusive ambitions of liberal political theory will be confronted with objections from thinkers motivated by concern with various aspects of social and political exclusion based on categories such as gender, cultural difference, and statelessness.

An introduction to critical thinking and analysis of argument. By examining arguments drawn from diverse sources, including journalism, advertising, science, medicine, history, economics and politics, we will learn how to distinguish good from bad arguments, and how to construct rationally persuasive arguments of our own. Along the way we will grapple with scepticism, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience. The reasoning skills imparted by this unit make it invaluable not only for philosophy students but for every student at the University.

An introduction to modern theories of the nature of mind, and some important contemporary issues in the philosophy of mind. Topics will include the problem of mental representation (how can minds think about the world?), the relationship of minds to brains, and the problem of consciousness.

The idea of critical theory emerged as an attempt to go beyond the alleged impasses of philosophy and actually challenge the world. This unit will consider various phases in the history of this project: from Marx, the Frankfurt School, to Foucault and Habermas. It will examine both the innovations and weaknesses of these various formulations in their historical context, as well as considering contemporary efforts to reanimate the idea of critical theory.

This unit looks at fundamental issues in the philosophy of law, including the role of law, civil liberties, legal obligation, punishment, responsibility and morality. It considers questions about whether or not a legal system is necessary, arguments for anarchy, and reasons for safeguarding freedoms from the force of law. It considers arguments for obedience to law, and seeks a moral justification of punishment. The discussion of practical issues in law leads to consideration of relation between law and morality.

This unit addresses the 'ancient quarrel' between philosophy and literature. We will examine arguments about the importance of imagination and sympathy to moral judgement by putting various philosophical and literary texts in dialogue with each other.

We all want to be happy and to live a worthwhile life. But what is happiness? Why should we want it? And how do we get it? These are among the most fundamental questions of philosophy. We will evaluate the answers of major thinkers from ancient and modern and eastern and western traditions; and consider the implications of current psychological research into the causes of happiness for the question of how to live well, as individuals and as a society.

This unit surveys the history of 19th Century philosophy, from Kant and idealism to Nietzsche and existentialism. The first half examines Kant's "Copernican revolution" in philosophy, and the critical responses to Kant's project in the work of Fichte, Schelling and Hegel. The second half investigates the critique of idealism in the works of Kierkegaard, Dosteovsky and Nietzsche. Throughout, questions of science, morals and politics, art, education, and religion will be considered.

An introduction to the philosophical outlook, conceptions, and arguments of Classical Greek philosophy. This unit will survey the rich period of Greek thinking from 600 BCE to the beginning of the Common Era, examining the Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Hellenistic philosophers. This unit will demonstrate the incredible originality of Greek philosophy, and reveal both its legacy in and differences from philosophy today.

This unit covers central results about the nature of logic, the nature of computation, and the relationships between the two. Topics treated include basic set theory, Turing machines, the theory of computability and uncomputability, the decision problem for first order logic, Tarski's theorem on the indefinability of truth, and Gödel's famous incompleteness theorem.

This unit is an introduction to theories of the passions. Paying special attention to Descartes, Spinoza and Hume, it will explore the notion that the body is the source of error and irrationality. However, bodily passions and associations also are crucial to our wellbeing and can make positive contributions to cognitive processes. In addition to the study of central figures in the history of philosophy, this unit aims to provide historical grounding for important issues in contemporary moral psychology.

This unit addresses philosophical issues concerning how we should live our lives. It surveys theories of which goals are good and which actions are right. Students will gain an overview of philosophical approaches to questions like: Must we act for the greater good, or is it ok to show a special concern for our friends? Can we be justified in harming some people to help others? Can small benefits to many people justify imposing a great loss on a few?

This unit will use the screening and criticism of carefully chosen classical and contemporary films to raise important philosophical questions and to contribute to our response to them. Each film screening will be paired with a key philosophical question that is explored in the film and further investigated in class: problems of freedom, human action, democracy, crime, love, otherness, marriage, conversation, selfhood, and being human. The class will also explore some central questions in the philosophy of film.

This course addresses philosophical issues concerning sex. From the perspective of metaphysics, we will ask what sexual differences and relations are. From the perspective of moral and political philosophy, we will ask which sexual relationships and identities are ethically justifiable. Sample questions include: What is it to have a sexual identity? Is sexual difference innate or socially constructed? Is intoxicated sexual consent valid? Is there anything wrong with being a sex object? Is pornography problematic? Is bestiality ever ok?

This unit examines ethical questions concerning social justice. It surveys influential theories of which institutions and social relationships are necessary for a just society. The unit provides students with an overview of views of freedom and equality. Finally, it critically reviews attempts to reconcile these apparently conflicting goals, e.g. as they pertain to questions like: Is taxation theft? Is private education inegalitarian? Are there moral limits to markets? Should we be free to engage in speech that undermines others' statuses?

The idea of nature has undergone several significant shifts over the course of Western philosophy and science. What are the competing accounts of nature, and of the relationship between the human being and the natural world? Which accounts underlie the current environmental crisis, and which have the potential to forge more sustainable relations to the natural world? This course approaches the environmental crisis from both a historical and contemporary perspective.

We will explore questions at the intersection of economics and philosophy, such as: What is it to make rational decisions, and how well do we live up to the rational ideal? Does individual selfishness promote the common good? Are there things that should be kept out of the market? What should be the goals of economic policy? Is economics a science?

What is the boundary between reality and illusion? Can we be certain that we do not just project our own feelings and thoughts onto reality? Can we know that we are not dreaming? This unit will address these questions by analysing sceptical arguments and theories of knowledge from antiquity to modernity. The unit is designed to introduce students to epistemological topics in the historical context, thereby offering the basis for further studies in contemporary epistemology, metaphysics and philosophy of mind.

We will explore philosophical questions about the nature of science, such as: When does evidence count for or against a scientific theory? What does it take for a theory to be explanatory? Should we believe that our best scientific theories are true (or approximately true), or only that they are predictively successful? What does it take for a truth to count as a law of nature?

This unit will explore the distinctive philosophical outlook known as "Pragmatism" which many see as a third way beyond the analytic-continental divide. After a brief survey of classical American Pragmatism (C.S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey) we will consider in depth neo-pragmatism (Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam), linguistic pragmatism (Robert Brandom, Huw Price), and methodological pragmatism (David Macarthur). Key issues will include realism, empiricism, naturalism, scientism, metaphysical quietism, the fact/value distinction, and the agent point of view in philosophy.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2617, with common lectures, but advanced readings and separate assessment. Students will apply advanced methods of contemporary moral philosophy to the understanding of practical ethics. They will evaluate approaches to pressing questions concerning euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, censorship, animal rights, genetic testing and cloning and the environment. Students will learn how to apply their understanding of practical ethical issues to extant ethical dilemmas, and, more crucially, new ones that arise in their personal and professional lives.

This unit will focus on Hegel's mature social and political ideas as present in Elements of a Philosophy of Rights. Hegel offers one of the great alternative conceptualisations of modern politics and state to the dominant classical liberal tradition This course will contextualise his ideas in terms of both their own development and of Hegel's philosophy as a whole. However, the emphasis will be on a careful reconstruction of Hegel's mature political philosophy and his critique of his most important competitors both then and now.

This course will cover the period from the death of Aristotle up to the beginnings of Christian philosophy. It is designed to give a comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of the Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics. Approximately half the course will be devoted to questions in Hellenistic metaphysics, epistemology and logic. The other half of the course will be devoted to Hellenistic ethics and psychology.

This is an advanced Philosophy of Mind course which has common lectures with PHIL2643 but different assessments and tutorials. It will cover the latest research on metaphysics of mind, and the theory of the content of mental states - how it is that mental stages get to be 'about' the world. It deals with similar issues as PHIL2643 but at a more advanced level, with reading from contemporary journal articles and research-based Essays as the principal assessment.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2647, with common lectures but separate tutorials and assessments. Students will apply advanced philosophical methods to the understanding of happiness. Students will analyse influential theories of what happiness is, why we should want it and how we get it. They will evaluate the implications of psychological research into happiness's causes. Students will learn to apply their understanding of happiness to the question of how to live well, as individuals and as a society.

Students will apply advanced philosophical methods to the understanding of the passions. Students will analyse the most influential theories, historical and contemporary, about how passions function in society. They will evaluate how passions have reflected and interacted with the predominant culture since the early-modern era. Students will learn how to apply their understanding of the passions to the social and political challenges of today.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2655, with common lectures but separate tutorials and assessment. Students will apply advanced philosophical methods to issues concerning how we should live our lives. Students will analyse theories of which goals are good and which actions are right. Students will evaluate moral controversies, and learn how to apply their ethical understanding to questions like: Must we act for the greater good? May we harm some people to help others?

This unit is an advanced version of PHIL2622. It explores the relationship between space, time and modality. It asks the questions: What is time? What is space? How do objects exist through time? Could our world have been other than it is? What sorts of things are persons? Is it possible to travel backwards in time? Is our world ultimately composed of fundamental simple objects? The course provides a general background in analytic metaphysics.

This is the advanced version of PHIL2663, with common lectures but separate tutorials and assessments. Students will apply advanced ethical methods to the understanding of social justice. Students will analyse influential theories of a just society's institutions and social relationships. They will evaluate views of freedom and equality. Students will learn to apply their understanding of justice to reconciling these goals, e.g. when answering: Is taxation theft? Is private education inegalitarian? Are there moral limits to markets?

This is the advanced version of PHIL2681, with common lectures, but separate tutorials and assessment. In this unit we will explore the idea that a work of art is best thought of on the model of intentional action. By considering examples of painting, sculpture, literature, conceptual art, film and photography we will consider questions of artifactuality, artistic intentionality, interpretation, and objecthood. A guiding theme will be the challenge to a demanding conception of art posed by various forms of skepticism about art including relativism, physicalism, and a modern scientific-minded cynicism about non-scientific understanding.

Honours is an intensive year-long program of advanced study based around research. Honours is undertaken after successful completion of a Bachelor degree and where the overall mark is a minimum credit average (70%). Entry into Honours is selective and work at this level is challenging. Honours is available in most subjects areas taught in the Faculty, and which are listed under Tables A and B in the Handbook. Students will complete a thesis and coursework seminars throughout the year. For further information contact the Honours Coordinator in the department or consult the Handbook entry for the relevant subject area.

Refer to PHIL4011

Refer to PHIL4011

Refer to PHIL4011