Knowledge and Reality - PHIL1007


	Faculty: Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
	School: School of History and Philosophy
	Course Outline: See below
	Campus: Kensington Campus
	Career: Undergraduate
	Units of Credit: 6
	EFTSL: 0.125 (more info)
	Contact Hours per Week: 3
	Fee Band: 1 (more info)
	Further Information: See Class Timetable

Description

An introduction to some classical and contemporary philosophical questions, puzzles, and ideas about knowledge and reality. This is a course in two central areas of philosophy - epistemology and metaphysics. Philosophers could include Plato, Descartes, Berkeley, and Hume, along with many contemporary philosophers. Topics may include: (1) Metaphysics: personal identity, free will, good and evil, universals, essences, meaning of life, death; (2) Epistemology: fallibility, truth, evidence, knowledge, empiricism, causation, rationalism, knowledge of other minds, knowledge of the external world, idealism, moral knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to exhibit:

Awareness of some historically important, and some significant contemporary, philosophical ideas about the underlying nature of knowledge
Awareness of some historically important, and some significant contemporary, philosophical ideas about the ultimate nature of reality
Some facility in formulating, analysing, and responding critically to central philosophical ideas.

Assessment

Short essay (1000 words) - 20%
Long essay (1500 words) - 30%
Multiple choice exam - 40%
Tutorial participation - 10%