Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Nicholas Smith
Contact via nicholas.smith@mq.edu.au
W6A 735
To be confirmed
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
39cp or admission to GDipArts
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
Reflection on the nature and value of work is an important, but often neglected, feature of the Western philosophical tradition. What is work and how should it be distinguished from other forms of activity? What contribution, if any, does work make to the good life? How does work affect our identity? Should the availability of work be left to the job market? Or does the state have responsibilities to provide employment? Is there a right to work? Or is there an obligation to work? Questions like these have puzzled philosophers from the ancient to the most recent times, and their reflections continue to be a source of rich insight and provocation. This unit provides an introduction to the philosophy of work, drawing on key texts by Plato, Aristotle, John Locke, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Hannah Arendt, as well as a range of contemporary authors.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Short written exercises | 30% | Weekly |
Essay | 35% | 18/09/2015 |
Reflective Portfolio | 35% | 06/11/2015 |
Due: Weekly
Weighting: 30%
Weekly exercises on topics covered in the course.
Due: 18/09/2015
Weighting: 35%
2000 word essay on a specified topic
Due: 06/11/2015
Weighting: 35%
Portfolio of reflections on the topic of work and the good life.
The unit will be delivered by way of weekly lectures and on-line discussion.
Recorded lectures, lecture slides, readings, and other information can be accessed from the PHL356 i-learn site.
Week 1 27/07 |
Introduction to the philosophy of work |
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Part 1: Classical Problems in Philosophy of Work |
Week 2 03/03 |
Who should do what job? Justice and work in Plato’s Republic. |
Week 3 10/03 |
Work, the state of nature, and providence: John Locke and workmanship ideal |
Week 4 17/03 |
Adam Smith on the division of labour, the growth of wealth, and its hidden costs |
Week 5 24/03 |
GWF Hegel on the need for work |
Week 6 31/03 |
Karl Marx on alienated labour |
Week 7 07/08 |
Hannah Arendt on the ‘active life’ and the place of work in the human condition |
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Part 2: Modern Worries about Work |
Week 8 28/09 |
Fear of unemployment |
Week 9 05/10 |
Precarious work and the demise of the ‘proper job’ |
Week 10 12/10 |
Work–life imbalance: what does it really mean? |
Week 11 19/10 |
Varieties of disrespect at work |
Week 12 26/10 |
Meaningless work |
Week 13 02/11 |
Wrap up |
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