Undergraduate - UnitATS1372 - Philosophy: Introduction D

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2012 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	Not offered in 2012
Coordinator(s)	Jakob Hohwy, with Monima Chadha and Graham Oppy

Notes

Previously coded PHL1020

Synopsis

Is belief in God rationally defensible? We begin by examining some arguments in favour of the existence of God. We then move to consider a difficulty for anyone who believes that God is all-powerful and wholly good: the problem posed by existence of evil. One traditional solution to this problem is to say that God is not responsible for the moral evil in this world. God gave us freedom, the capacity to choose between good and evil; moral evils are due entirely to the bad choices made by human beings. This raises the central questions concerning human freedom: what exactly does free action involve? Are we ever genuinely free, or is our sense of freedom no more than an illusion?

Outcomes

Students successfully completing this subject will acquire:

skills in argument analysis,
improved comprehension of complex texts,
the ability to critically interpret philosophical positions
improved written communication skills.

Students will also obtain familiarity with central ideas in the history of philosophy, and begin to develop an understanding of important philosophical theories.