Humanities - Philosophy
5238 PHILOSOPHY AND CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
This unit examines major philosophical ideas from ancient Greek to modern times, considering how these have influenced and/or been influenced by Christian thought. It adopts an historical perspective, following the development of key ideas through major philosophers and schools of thought. Topics include: examination of the purpose and function of philosophy and its relation to Christian thought; the classical Greek philosophers; early Christian philosophers; the medieval philosophical tradition in the West; the German philosophical renaissance; non-western philosophical traditions and their relationships to Christian thought; and recent and contemporary philosophical trends and philosophers having an impact on Christian thinking, with focus on movements such as logical positivism and process thought, philosophers such as Gadamer and Pinker, the development and impact of such disciplines as the philosophy of religion and philosophy of science, and the current state of discussions on issues such as hermeneutics and epistemology. Important ideas that relate to the Christian faith are identified and examined in detail.
6270 ETHICS: PRACTICE AND THEORY
This unit examines Christian ethical principles and their application in various personal, community and professional situations. Topics include: introduction to ethics; overview of ethical systems; the ethics of Jesus; the role of the Bible in Christian ethics; the Christian community as context of Christian ethics; the function of the law in Christian ethics; Christian freedom; the doctrine of sin and Christian ethics; good works; the Christian and society; ethics of vocation and work; ethics of marriage and family; decision making and the Christian life, in relation to a range of general ethical problems; types of ethical theory (deontological and teleological); relativism in ethics; postmodern ethics.
6343 ENGAGING WITH CONTEMPORARY CULTURE: THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE AT THE CROSSROADS
The persistence of the ‘sacred-secular divide’ is evidenced in many areas of contemporary life, with resulting poverty in the Christian community's engagement with the world. Tertullian's age-old question “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”, with its roots in Greek thought, reflects a pervasive dualism which is characteristic of many periods in Western culture. The Christian church has not been immune from this dualistic paradigm of reality – and life – and has in fact contributed in large part to its continued presence as a controlling paradigm in the thought-forms of both Christian and non-Christian alike. However, recent postmodern insights have been fertile in suggesting a more holistic theology of the church's engagement with, and participation in, contemporary society. The thesis developed in this unit is that God has created a good world, in which he is intimately and necessarily involved, and that his presence is to be celebrated in every area where men and women are active in social, political, cultural and educational discourse and behaviour. Sadly, the church has too often retreated from the world, adopting either a ‘fortress mentality’ or an unwholesome triumphalism, both of which have their roots in dualistic thinking.
6351 CHRIST, CULTURE AND THE STATE: HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES
This unit introduces students to the history of Church and State relations in Western history in general and in Australia in particular and to the work of important theorists who have contributed to our understanding of ‘Christ, Culture and the State’ in the broad field of social and political philosophy. In lectures and tutorial discussions we investigate the nature of society and the essential features and purposes of politics and government. We discuss the standards or norms which social and political theorists have argued should inform society and guide the governments, subjects and citizens of modern and postmodern states. Topics covered in the unit include controversies about human nature, justice, democratic government, citizenship, freedom, the relationship of political authority to ‘foundational violence’, the relation between society and the individual, rights and duties, law, the character of political knowledge (power/knowledge), and the origins of government.
6450 LOGIC AND EPISTEMOLOGY: AN INTRODUCTION
In this unit, the student will develop an understanding of logic and epistemology and the capacity to distinguish between major types of reasoning, to critically evaluate the types of argument employed in philosophical discussions and in everyday life, and to discuss the various sources and methods of ‘knowing’. The principal topics explored in this course include (all or most of) the following: logical inference; premises and conclusions; deduction and induction; truth and validity; the functions of language; types of fallacies; rules of definition by genus and difference; categorical propositions; categorical syllogisms; symbolic logic; analogy and probable inference; causal connections; scientific and unscientific explanations. The course also explores contrasting theories of knowledge given by rationalism and empiricism and investigates the following questions: What makes it possible for human beings to acquire knowledge? Is it reason or experience, or a mixture of both? What is the nature of experience? And what is reason?
