Undergraduate - UnitATS3872 - Topics in Indian philosophy

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 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.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Organisational Unit	Philosophy
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Off-campus) Clayton Second semester 2015 (Off-campus) Clayton Summer semester A 2015 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Monima Chadha (Semester 1); Dr Sam Butchart (Semester 2)

Notes

The unit is offered as part of the Philosophy Flexible Learning program - see the Philosophy Flexible LearningPhilosophy Flexible Learning (http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/philosophy/philosophy-flexible-learning/) page for further information.
The unit is offered as a Summer Semester unit - see the Summer Arts ProgramSummer Arts Program (http://www.monash.edu/students/courses/arts/summer-program.html) page for further information.

Synopsis

The unit considers a range of topics in metaphysics and ethics from an Indian perspective. The aim is to contrast the views of the conservative Hindu philosophers with those of the Indian heretics. Among the metaphysical topics special emphasis is placed on the theories of the self and their relation to interesting Hindu doctrines of Karma and Rebirth. The course also explores the relations between karma and other enigmatic traditional Indian concepts.

Outcomes

Students who complete this unit will:

understand the central philosophical tenets of traditional Indian systems;
deepen their understanding of central issues in philosophy by considering them from a novel perspective;
appreciate how traditional Indian philosophers envisage a deep connection between their metaphysical and ethical positions;
be motivated and well equipped to exploit traditional Indian ideas through an understanding of a variety of problems in contemporary metaphysics and moral philosophy and attempts at resolving them.

In addition, students completing the unit at third-year level (ATS3872) will be required to demonstrate independent research ability. To meet this requirement students must be able to exploit relevant resources which have not been mentioned in subject handbook and lectures in completing their assignments, in particular the major essay.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 70%
Exam: 30%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Monima Chadha (Semester 1); Dr Sam Butchart (Semester 2)

Off-campus attendance requirements

Off-campus: no timetabled contact hours

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Religious studies
Philosophy
International studies

Prerequisites

Twelve credit points of second-year Arts units. As this is a third-year level unit, it is highly recommended that students only take this unit after they have completed two second-year level units in Philosophy.

Prohibitions

ATS2872