This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2016 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.

ATS1371 - Life, death and morality (Introduction to philosophy A)

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Undergraduate - Unit

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

Faculty

Arts

Organisational Unit

Philosophy

Coordinator(s)

Associate Professor Jacqueline Broad (on-campus); Dr Sam Butchart (off-campus)

Offered

Caulfield

First semester 2016 (Day)

Clayton

First semester 2016 (Day)
First semester 2016 (Flexible)
Second semester 2016 (Flexible)
Summer semester A 2016 (Flexible)

Notes

The unit is offered as part of the Philosophy Flexible Learning programPhilosophy Flexible Learning program (http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/philosophy/flexible-learning/).
The unit may be offered as part of the Summer Arts ProgramSummer Arts Program (http://www.monash.edu/students/courses/arts/summer-program.html).

Synopsis

This unit is an introduction to moral philosophy. The focus of the unit is the ethics of killing. We examine questions such as: When, if ever, is killing justified? Many of us think that killing is permissible in emergency rescue situations, or in self-defence. Is it possible to explain this in a way that is consistent with our more typical attitudes to killing? What about killing non-human animals for food? Like all philosophy units, this unit will also develop critical and analytic thinking skills.

Outcomes

On completing this subject students will have an understanding of some central issues in applied ethics and of the role philosophy can play in clarifying the discussion of them. They will have acquired some understanding of the nature and methods of philosophical inquiry, and an enhanced capacity for critical reasoning and rigorous thought.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 60%
Exam: 40%

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)

Associate Professor Jacqueline Broad

Off-campus attendance requirements

Off-campus: no timetabled contact hours

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

Philosophy
Bioethics

Prohibitions

ATS1834, AZA1371