Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of‚ 0 (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. 

This late penalty will apply to non-timed sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

READINGS

Required and recommended readings will be made available on Leganto and as advised by lecturers during seminars.

SEMINARS 

There will be a weekly seminar. 

UNIT WEBPAGES AND E-RESOURCES

Much of this unit (assessment instructions, additional reading material, etc.) is delivered online through iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au). PC and Internet access are required. Basic computer skills (e.g., internet browsing) and skills in word processing are also a requirement. Please consult teaching staff for any further, more specific requirements. 

Weeks: 1 - 6 New Directions in Philosophical Methodology: Conceptual Engineering 

With Dr. Paul-Mikhail Catapang Podosky

Synopsis:  The question of what is contained within the proper bounds of philosophy is contested. In recent history, philosophy was considered, at least for the most part, to be simply conceptual analysis. There are different ways to spell out what this kind of analysis involves, ranging from consulting one's intuitions about the meaning of terms to quasi-empirical investigation into the vagaries of ordinary linguistic usage within a community. In this section of the course, we will explore an emerging form of conceptual analysis that does not strictly concern itself with descriptive questions about the meaning of terms or the content of concepts. It instead asks: What concepts should we have? This way of doing philosophy has been dubbed conceptual engineering. Specifically, we'll examine how conceptual engineering has been used to grapple with core justice-related questions concerning race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, animal ethics, and so forth. We shall also look at how we can implement conceptual innovations in our everyday thinking and speaking practices, and related to the next section, how cinema might play a key role in this process. 

• Week 1: What is Conceptual Engineering? 
• Week 2: Political Conceptual Engineering
• Week 3: Engineering Gender 
• Week 4: Engineering Race
• Week 5: Engineering Sexual Orientation, Disability, and Animals 
• Week 6: The Implementation Challenge

Weeks: 7 - 12 Visible Arguments: Documentary as Philosophy

With Associate Professor Robert Sinnerbrink

Synopsis: In this section of the course we will look at recent philosophical approaches to cinema and the idea of cinematic ethics: cinema as a medium of ethical experience. We commence by examining philosophical and ethical perspectives on documentary before turning to explore a range of contemporary documentaries. We shall focus on a range of philosophical, ethical, political, and ecological topics, problems, and issues through a combination of philosophical readings and film viewings, examining the ways in which non-fictional/documentary films can contribute to philosophical and ethical understanding via cinematic means. 

• Week 7: What is Documentary? Philosophical and Ethical Perspectives
• Week 8: Philosophical Documentaries
• Week 9: Animals on Film I
• Week 10: Animals on Film II
• Week 11: Visible Arguments: Hypernormalisation
• Week 12: Ecocritical Cinema: Ecological Threats and the Anthropocene