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PHIX3052 – Social and Existential Questions

2023 – Session 1, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor, Lecturer, and Tutor
Robert Sinnerbrink
Contact via 9850 9935
25B Wally's Walk, 611
TBC
Lecturer and Tutor
Adam Hochman
Contact via 9850 8859
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This unit brings a philosophical lens to some of the great social and existential challenges of our times. We examine some of the key sources of existential meaning in human life, such as: personal freedom, identity, work, and a sense of belonging. We look at some of the prevailing ways in which these sources are currently threatened in contemporary society. The unit also considers some concrete ethical and political options for dealing with these challenges. Some examples of questions that may be explored in the unit include: What is the meaning we look for in our lives? Is spiritual belief an important or even a necessary element of human life? How does work fit in our idea of a good life? How can we live well together given our different gender, cultural and ethnic identities?

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: explain the history and meaning of concepts in existentialist and social philosophy.
  • ULO2: analyse arguments in the relevant literature.
  • ULO3: apply existentialist and social-philosophy approaches in broader social, cultural, and political debates.
  • ULO4: investigate and theorise ideas clearly, cogently, and convincingly through critical analysis and philosophical discussion.

General Assessment Information

Submission of Assessments

All assessment pieces are to be submitted via Turnitin portals that will be made available the unit's iLearn site. Written assessment pieces will be run through the Turnitin software system which detects unoriginal work.

Special Consideration Extensions and Penalties

All work must be submitted on time unless an extension has been granted. Requests for extensions must be made in writing and will only be considered on serious grounds. Extensions will not be given unless good reasons and appropriate evidence (e.g., medical certificates, counsellor's letters) are presented at the earliest opportunity. Please note that work due concurrently in other subjects is NOT an exceptional circumstance and does not constitute a legitimate reason for an extension.  

Late Assessment Penalty

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. 

Special Consideration Policy

The University classifies a disruption warranting special consideration as serious and unavoidable if it:

• could not have reasonably been anticipated, avoided or guarded against by the student; and

• was beyond the student's control; and

• caused substantial disruption to the student's capacity for effective study and/or completion of required work; and

• occurred during an event critical study period and was at least three (3) consecutive days duration, and / or

prevented completion of a final examination. Students with a pre-existing disability/health condition or prolonged adverse circumstances may be eligible for ongoing assistance and support. Such support is governed by other policies and may be sought and coordinated through Campus Wellbeing and Support Services.

How to submit a Special Consideration Notification

A Special Consideration Notification must be completed and submitted online through www.ask.mq.edu.au within five (5) working days of the commencement of the disruption. Applying for Special Consideration: 1. Log in at ask.mq 2. Click 'Special Consideration' from the 'Submit' menu on the left 3. Fill in the required fields as prompted. Once you have completed filling out the information, please click on 'Submit'.  

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Participation 20% No Ongoing
Reflective tasks 20% No 23:55 07/04/2023
Online quizzes 20% No 23:55 Sundays fortnightly from Week 3
Philosophical Essay 40% No 23:55 04/06/2023

Participation

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Online discussion participation and associated activities. Students should be prepared for the discussion by reading set papers in advance, and formulating questions for discussion with their fellow students.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • explain the history and meaning of concepts in existentialist and social philosophy.
  • apply existentialist and social-philosophy approaches in broader social, cultural, and political debates.
  • investigate and theorise ideas clearly, cogently, and convincingly through critical analysis and philosophical discussion.

Reflective tasks

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 23:55 07/04/2023
Weighting: 20%

 

Short written reflective tasks

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • explain the history and meaning of concepts in existentialist and social philosophy.
  • analyse arguments in the relevant literature.
  • apply existentialist and social-philosophy approaches in broader social, cultural, and political debates.
  • investigate and theorise ideas clearly, cogently, and convincingly through critical analysis and philosophical discussion.

Online quizzes

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 23:55 Sundays fortnightly from Week 3
Weighting: 20%

 

Online quizzes

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • explain the history and meaning of concepts in existentialist and social philosophy.

Philosophical Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 23:55 04/06/2023
Weighting: 40%

 

An argumentative essay analysing and responding to key problems and theories from the unit.

 


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • explain the history and meaning of concepts in existentialist and social philosophy.
  • analyse arguments in the relevant literature.
  • apply existentialist and social-philosophy approaches in broader social, cultural, and political debates.
  • investigate and theorise ideas clearly, cogently, and convincingly through critical analysis and philosophical discussion.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

This unit uses an iLearn website and Echo360 lecture recordings (https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/ MQ/). The website contains links to the reading material, lecture notes, lecture recordings, and other learning materials such as video clips, weblinks, and images. Students will therefore require access to a computer and a good internet connection in order to access all the material and participate in the unit effectively. PHIX3052 will be delivered using a combination of live lectures (recorded via Echo360) and tutorial discussions (asynchronous online forums for 'online flexible'/OUA students). Lectures are organised around key texts in which fundamental concepts and arguments are introduced and explained. The fortnightly quizzes are designed to practise the various skills required in philosophical writing. They will be scaffolded to help students in the preparation for tackling Assessment tasks. External students will engage in these activities online via dedicated iLearn discussion forums. For lecture times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetable website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au. This website will display up-to-date information on your classes and classroom locations.

Lectures

Lectures will take place on Mondays 10am-11am (25 Wally's Walk, Tutorial Room A114) and Wednesdays 11am to 12noon (12 Second Way, Tutorial Room 201). All lectures will be recorded and made available via Echo360 Online Lecture Recordings shortly afterwards.  

Tutorials

Weekly tutorial classes (for all students) will be conducted commencing from Week 2. Week 1 will be an Introductory session where students introduce themselves to each other and we discuss any issues relevant to studying this unit. Weekly Tutorial Discussion Questions will be posted before the Monday lectures. Students are required to respond to the Tutorial Discussion Questions and engage each other in discussion responding to issues raised in these responses. N.B.: Weekly tutorials will begin in WEEK 2 and will continue until WEEK 13 (Week 13 will be a discussion week focusing on the film Get Out).

Required and Recommended Texts and/or Materials

PHIL3052 Social and Existential Questions will be using electronically available readings available via Leganto on the iLearn website.

Unit Schedule

PART I - The Question of Existence [RS]

Week 1 Introduction: What is Existentialism?

What is the 'problem of existence'? How does existentialism differ from other approaches to philosophy? What role do literature and art play in existentialist thought?

Required Reading: Stephen Crowell, 'Existentialism', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, online entry (2015): https://plato.stanfor d.edu/entries/existentialism/

 

Week 2 - Existence, Absurdity, and Anxiety 

Why the problem of existence matters. Camus on the experience of existential 'absurdity'. Heidegger on existential anxiety and what it reveals about ourselves and the world.

Required Reading: Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus, chapter 1, extracts from Martin Heidegger, Being and Time, and Heidegger's 'What is Metaphysics?'

 

Week 3 - Mortality, Freedom, and 'Bad Faith'

What does it mean to be 'mortal'? What is existential freedom? Are we 'authentic' or do we exist in the condition of 'bad faith'?

Required Reading: extracts from Jean-Paul Sartre, 'Existentialism is a Humanism', Sartre, Being and Nothingness 

 

Part II: Ethics and Politics as Existential Tasks [RS]

Week 4 - The Problem of the Other

What is the relationship between the Self and the Other? Is it possible to exist authentically in an 'inauthentic' world? What do these existential insights mean for ethical and political thinking?

Required Reading: Heidegger, “The They” (from Being and Time); Sartre’s “being-for-other” (from Being and Nothingness and No Exit); Maurice Merleau-Ponty, extracts from The Phenomenology of Perception.

 

Week 5 - Feminist Existentialism

An existentialist approach to gender - the Self and the Other understood in relation to how gender is lived. De Beauvoir on how one 'becomes a woman'. Implications of feminist existentialism for thinking gender today.

Required Reading:

Simone de Beauvoir, extraxcts from The Ethics of Ambiguity and from The Second Sex

 

Week 6 - Black existentialism

Existentialis approaches to the experience of 'race'. Fanon on the 'divided consciousness' of the black subject. Lewis Gordon's existentialist approach to the experience of 'antiblack racism', philosophy and colonialism, ethics and politics. 

Required Reading:

Extracts from Frantz Fanon, 'The Fact of Blackness', from White Skin, Black Masks (1948), pp. 82-108 [121-147].

Lewis R. Gordon, 'Fanon as Critique of European Man' and 'Existential Phenomenology and History', from Fanon and the Crisis of European Man: An Essay on Philosophy and the Human Sciences.

 

Part III - Philosophical Approaches to Race [AH]

Week 7 - Social Constructionism about Race, Deconstructed

Required Reading: 

Esa Diaz-Leon, ‘What is Social Construction?’, European Journal of Philosophy 23(4) (2015): 1137–52.

 

Week 8 - Is Race a Social Kind?

Required Reading:

Ronald Sundstrom, ‘Race as a Human Kind’. Philosophy & Social Criticism 28 (1) (2002): 91–115.

 

Week 9 - Is Race a Social Status? Or, is it Phenomenological?

Required Reading:

Extract from Ásta’s Categories We Live By: The Construction of Sex, Gender, Race, and Other Social Categories (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), pp. 93-108.

Sara Ahmed, ‘A Phenomenology of Whiteness’. Feminist Theory 8(2) (2007): 149–68.

 

Week 10 - Is Race Cultural? Or, is it Technological?

Chike Jeffers. 'Cultural Constructionism'. In What Is Race? Four Philosophical Views (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019).

Introduction of Alana Lentin’s Why Race Still Matters (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2020).

Supplementary Text:

Chike Jeffers. ‘Jeffers’s Reply to Glasgow, Haslanger, and Spencer’. In What Is Race? Four Philosophical Views (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019).

 

Week 11 - Replacing Race: Racialisation and Racialised Groups

Required Reading:

Lawrence Blum, ‘Racialized Groups: The Sociohistorical Consensus’. The Monist 93(2) (2010): 298–320.

 

Week 12 - Racial Identity and Transrace

Required Reading:

Ann Morning, ‘Race and Rachel Doležal’. Contexts 16(2) (2017): 8–11.

Recommended reading:

Tina Fernandes Botts, ‘In Black and White: A Hermeneutic Argument Against Transracialism.’ Res Philosophica 95(2) (2018): 303–29.

Rebecca Tuvel, ‘Racial Transitions and Controversial Positions: Reply to Taylor, Gordon, Sealey, Hom, and Botts’. Philosophy Today 62(1) (2018): 73–88.

 

Week 13 - Film: Get Out (Peele, 2017) [AH and RS]

Recommended Reading: Mary K. Bloodsworth Lugo, "Race, Bodies and Lived Realities in Get Out and Black Panther, in Christina Rawls, Diana Neiva, and Steven S. Gouveia (eds), Philosophy and Film: Bridging Divides (New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019), pp. 281-297.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

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IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

  • Revision of Content for Parts I & II
  • New Content for Part III
  • Addition of Film Discussion topic for Week 13 on Get Out

Unit information based on version 2023.01R of the Handbook