Undergraduate - UnitATS2863 - Descartes - Foundations of modern European philosophy

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2013 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

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Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Philosophy
Offered	Clayton First semester 2013 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Professor Andrew Benjamin

Notes

Previously coded PHL2110

Synopsis

'I think therefore I am'. In the Meditations Descartes gave central place to the idea that to be human is to be a thinking thing (or res cogitans). His discussion of what this involves set the agenda for modern philosophical debates in epistemology, metaphysics and cognitive theory. This unit will examine the entire Cartesian system, but with special emphasis on Descartes' views about the possibility of knowledge and what it is to be a thinking thing. We will follow these themes into contemporary philosophical discussions.

Outcomes

On completion of the subject students will have read the Meditations of Descartes and in reading them will have gained an understanding of the complete Cartesian system and its influences on the development of philosophical theories in epistemology and metaphysics. They will have an enhanced capacity for critical and rigorous reading of a philosophical text, and skills in the evaluation of philosophical positions in the context of an integrated system. They will have reflected on some contemporary work with roots in the Cartesian tradition. Students completing the subject will develop skills in writing and argument.