Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Lecturer
Kelly Hamilton
Contact via Email
Y3A 264
By appointment
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit provides an introduction to major topics in ethics, moral theory and contemporary political philosophy. The first section focuses on the nature of happiness. Is pleasure essential to happiness? Or does the pursuit of pleasure harm our chances of lasting fulfilment? Must we be virtuous in order to be happy? What is the relationship between happiness and duty? The second section explores the nature of moral goodness. Is morality based ultimately in self-interest? What is the relationship between morality and religion? Are there moral principles that everyone is bound by reason to recognise? Or is the validity of moral standards relative to specific societies and cultures? In the third section we turn to questions of applied political philosophy, focusing on questions such as: What principles should govern the distribution of economic and social resources within a society? What are the obligations of wealthy nations to those less fortunate, including immigrants and refugees? And what issues of justice are raised by climate change?
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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:
Results shown in iLearn, 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.
All assessment pieces are to be submitted via the unit's iLearn site. Written assessment pieces will be run through the Turnitin software which detects unoriginal work.
Extensions and Penalties
All work must be submitted on time unless an extension has been granted. Requests for extensions must be made in writing BEFORE the due date 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.
Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100 will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests. Note that for the final essay, no submissions will be accepted more than three (3) days after the original submission deadline.
To obtain an extension of less than 3 days, you should email the unit convenor at kelly.hamilton@mq.edu.au. To obtain an extension of 3 days or more, you must submit a Special Consideration application. See below for details on how to do that.
Special Consideration Policy
The University classifies a disruption 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.
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
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Reflection about Happiness | 20% | No | 17/12/2017 |
Critical Essay | 40% | No | 21/01/2018 |
Online quizzes | 20% | No | 1 week after lectures 2 - 13 |
Class participation | 10% | No | Every class |
Submit Discussion Topic | 10% | No | One for each part of unit |
Due: 17/12/2017
Weighting: 20%
Due: Sunday 17 December, 11:59pm
Weighting: 20%
Length: 700 words
This is a reflective exercise about what you have learned from part one of the unit.
Criteria: An excellent written reflection will demonstrate a high degree of engagement with the issue; show a high degree of critical self-reflection; show a very good understanding of the relevant philosophical text; give an accurate interpretation of the relevant text; contain evidence of creativity; and have writing that is consistently good and without grammatical errors.
The reflection will have three sections: 1) your view on happiness; 2) a description of a relevant theory of happiness; 3) a reflection on the impact of the theory on your own view.
A detailed rubric and a sample reflective exercise will be provided in iLearn during the semester.
Due: 21/01/2018
Weighting: 40%
Due: Sunday 21 January, 11:59pm
Weighting: 40%
Length: 1500 words
A critical discussion of a set question from parts 2 or 3 of the unit. Here you show us the critical questioning and philosophical knowledge that you have learned over the unit.
Criteria: An excellent essay will demonstrate knowledge of the relevant content; a clear structure and argument; creativity; proper expression, spelling, punctuation, and grammar; an easy to read presentation; proper integration and referencing of research and other sources.
Note: no submissions will be accepted after 24 January.
A detailed rubric and sample essay will be provided in iLearn during the semester.
Due: 1 week after lectures 2 - 13
Weighting: 20%
For classes 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, and 13, there will be an online quiz for the topic covered in that session. There are 10 quizzes in total. There are no quizzes for classes 1, 5, 9, and 14.
Weighting: 20%
Note: Each individual quiz is only available for one week, from the date of the relevant class. For example, if a class is on Monday, the quiz will close the following Monday at 11:59pm.
Quizzes involve true/false or multiple choice options. The quizzes cannot be accessed after they have closed. You can also only complete the quiz once.
Criteria: an accurate understanding of the issues and texts.
Due: Every class
Weighting: 10%
Participation and engagement in class, or online in iLearn discussion boards if you cannot attend a class.
Weighting: 10%
Participation will be marked on attendance and contribution to class discussion.
For those who cannot attend class, participation will be marked on online engagement with the discussion boards on iLearn. The student will have to respond to at least two discussions in order to graded. The deadline for online participation will be three days after the relevant class. (For example, if class is on a Monday, you have until Thursday 11.59pm to participate online.)
Note: online participation is not a suitable substitute for class participation. You are allowed to miss 5 classes and substitute class participation with online participation. From the 6th missed class, online participation will not be graded in lieu on class participation.
Due: One for each part of unit
Weighting: 10%
You will provide a discussion topic for a class, by posting in an online forum called "Discussion Topics."
Deadline: 5pm the day before the relevant class. This will apply from class 2 onwards.
Weighting: 10%
This task requires that you do the readings in advance and then submit a discussion topic, question, example, or issue, that you would like to discuss during class. You will submit your topic online in iLearn, in the "Discussion Topics" forum.
Note: you need to provide one discussion topic for each of the three parts of the unit, totalling three topics over the entire semester. That is, you need to submit a discussion topic for (classes 2 - 4 on happiness), (classes 6 - 10 on goodness), and (classes 11 - 13 on justice).
For example, a question for the topic you might like to discuss for the Epicureanism topic could be, "Would living an Epicurean life style make me a morally better or happier person?"
Or you might find an example from the news that is relevant to the topic that you would life to discuss.
Criteria: This assessment will be marked on the relevance of the posts to the topic material. Questions or case studies that are entirely irrelevant will not contribute to your grade.
All required readings will be accessible on iLearn. You are responsible for gaining access to the readings.
In lectures, you will do more than listen and take notes. The lectures are organised in two-hour blocks. In each hour, there will be some lecture time in which the fundamental ideas, questions, and arguments related to the class topic will be introduced, with reference to the key texts that constitute the required readings. Part of each hour will be devoted to engaging in a series of interactive exercises - responding to questions, problem solving, group discussion, and short tasks - to extend your understanding and personal reflection on these issues. Some of the questions you will be discussing will be incorporated from your discussion topic submissions.
It is expected that you will have done the relevant reading before the class.
This unit has an online presence in iLearn where activities are set and subject materials distributed. Students will require access to reliable broadband and a computer. Some assessments are conducted through this site, and written tasks will be submitted using Turnitin, a plagiarism scanning program.
All email inquiries should be directed to Kelly Hamilton at the following email address: kelly.hamilton@mq.edu.au
The unit will introduce philosophy under three big ideas:
Classes are three times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12pm. There are 14 classes in total.
The classes are interactive: part lecture, part tutorial. You should read the relevant readings before the class.
Class 1: 4 December: What is moral philosophy?
Part 1: Happiness
You will need to submit a discussion topic on iLearn for one of the following three classes (due 5pm BEFORE class).
Class 2: 6 December: "The good life is the life of pleasure" - Epicurean ethics.
Class 3: 8 December: Living according to nature - Stoic ethics.
Class 4: 11 December: Happiness and character - Aristotelian ethics.
Class 5: 13 December: Philosophy skills, in preparation for reflection task due on 17 December.
Part 2: Goodness
You will need to submit a discussion topic on iLearn for one of the following five classes (due 5pm BEFORE class).
Class 6: 15 December: Morality and religion.
17 December: Reflection about happiness due.
Class 7: 18 December: The challenge of moral relativism.
Class 8: 20 December: Egoism and self-interest.
Class 9: 22 December: The greatest good for the greatest number - Utilitarianism.
Recess between 25 December and 7 January.
Class 10: 8 January: The moral law is universal! - Kant's challenge.
Part 3: Justice
You will need to submit a discussion topic on iLearn for one of the following three classes (due 5pm BEFORE class).
Class 11: 10 January: Justice and inequality - is global poverty justifiable?
Class 12: 12 January: Immigration and refugees - can we keep them out?
Class 13: 15 January: Climate change and justice - who should pay to fix it?
Class 14: 17 January: Revision and essay writing skills.
21 January: Critical essay due.
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html
Disruption to Studies Policy (in effect until Dec 4th, 2017): http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html
Special Consideration Policy (in effect from Dec 4th, 2017): https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/special-consideration
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Results shown in iLearn, 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.
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
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.
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