Objectives On completing this subject students should have an understanding of the nature of philosophical discourse, and have acquired the conceptual foundations for further study in the subject. They should also have developed an enhanced competence in reading and writing rigorously argued prose.
Synopsis This subject consists of two components. Students take (i) `Reason and rationality', together with one of (ii) `Contemporary moral issues', (iii) `Science, religion and witchcraft', or (iv) `Crime and punishment'.
(i) Reason and rationality
Robert Pargetter and others
Objectives Having successfully completed this component students will be able to discern arguments in a text; put them in a standard form; and evaluate them for rational successfulness, by testing for acceptability of the premises, freedom from certain fallacies and improprieties, and (especially) structural soundness. They will understand how structural soundness can be thought of in terms of validity (and how this can be applied to both deductive and inductive arguments), and will have mastered a number of powerful and practical techniques for testing for validity by investigating the structure of the premises and the conclusion.
Synopsis Arguments form a very important part of human discourse, whether just in everyday talk or in more formal contexts like essays, theses, journal articles and the like. We undertake a thorough exploration of arguments: their types, their use in rational persuasion, their evaluation, their structure. We are centrally concerned with how an argument gets to be rationally successful, ie succeeds in persuading rational persons of the truth of some proposition. This will include detailed treatment of the notion of validity, which has to do with the relations between the premises (the evidence presented) and the conclusion of an argument (that which the arguer hopes to persuade us of).The component is compulsory in first-year philosophy partly because of the crucial importance of arguments in all philosophy, but it has much broader relevance than just that.
Assessment Four exercises: 5% each
* Test: 30%
Prescribed texts
Pargetter R Arguments Monash Philosophy Department, 1996
(ii) Contemporary moral issues
Karen Green (coordinator) and Chin Liew Ten
Objectives On successfully completing the component, students should have achieved a critical understanding of some main theoretical approaches to the resolution of contentious moral issues, and will have thought out their own views on several moral issues of importance in the contemporary world.
Synopsis This subject aims to show how reasoning can clarify and help to resolve practical moral issues. Likely topics include: (a) Is abortion right or wrong? Does the answer depend on whether the foetus is a human being and has the right to life, or is the crucial issue whether the woman has a right to choose how her body is to be used? (b) Should seriously ill people be permitted to end their lives when they wish? (c) What is the moral status of animals? (d) Does the environmental crisis indicate that we need a new environmental ethic?
Assessment Essay (1200 words): 25%
* Examination: 25%
Prescribed texts
Singer P Practical ethics 2nd edn, CUP, 1993
Recommended texts
Glover J Causing death and saving lives Penguin
A collection of readings available from the Monash Bookshop
(iii) Science, religion and witchcraft
John Bigelow and Graham Oppy
Objectives On successfully completing the component students will have a first understanding of some philosophical views about rational belief formation, its scope and limits; they will have thought about such matters in the context of a number of historical case studies which will broaden their knowledge of background issues in the history of ideas.
Synopsis Horrendous numbers of people, mainly women, have been executed because some people were convinced that they had entered into contracts with the devil. This happened, not when and where churches were strongest, but when and where modern experimental sciences were progressing most rapidly. This should prompt us to re-examine our preconceptions about truth, knowledge, reality, rationality, faith and superstition. We will compare the reasoning of scientists, witchhunters and Christian creationists during the rise of modern science in Europe. This will motivate a re-examination of current orthodoxies in the theory of knowledge.
Assessment Essay (1200 words): 25%
* Examination: 25%
Prescribed texts
A collection of readings available from the Monash Bookshop
Recommended texts
Chalmers A F What is this thing called science? UQP
Russell B The problems of philosophy OUP
(iv) Crime and punishment
Chin Liew Ten
Objectives To distinguish between different attempts to justify the punishment of criminals, and to determine how punishment may be made to fit the crime. The institution of punishment includes various legal excuses, such as mental illness and mistake, whose rationale will be explored and evaluated.
Synopsis The component examines different attempts to justify punishment and to fit punishment to the crime. Is the function of the criminal law to punish moral wickedness? Should punishment be replaced by some form of treatment? The topics to be discussed include capital punishment, mental illness and crime, rape by mistake, and dangerous offenders.
Assessment Essay (1200 words): 25%
* Examination: 25%
Prescribed texts
A collection of readings available from the Monash Bookshop
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