• Total units 48 Units
  • Areas of interest Philosophy
  • Major code PHIL-MAJ

Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of reality and the human experience. It is the bedrock you reach when, in any other discipline, you keep asking: why? At the ANU, philosophy is also a method: approaching a question by breaking it down into its component parts, building up reasoned, logical arguments—and following them wherever they lead, however surprising.

  

Learning Outcomes

  1. closely analyse and critique arguments in a wide variety of fields and contexts, which may include using formal logic;
  2. develop cogent arguments and presentations, including engaging with detailed criticism of their ideas;
  3. apply complex abstract ideas to real-world phenomena in a wide variety of fields and contexts;
  4. recognise implicit assumptions in social, political, scientific, moral, and cultural arguments, and relate them to contested ideas and real-world scenarios; and
  5. describe various philosophical traditions and their history.

Relevant Degrees

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Requirements

This major requires the completion of 48 units from the following lists, which must include:

A maximum of 12 units of courses at 1000 level

A minimum of 6 units of courses at 3000 level


A maximum of 12 units from the completion of the following list:

PHIL1004 - Fundamental Ideas in Philosophy: An Introduction (6 units)

PHIL1005 - Logic and Critical Thinking (6 units)

PHIL1007 - What is Humanity? (6 units)

PHIL1008 - Introduction to Ethics (6 units)

POLS1008 - PPE Integration 1 (6 units)


A minimum of 6 units from the completion of the following:

ASIA2054 - Chinese Philosophy: Creation and Development (6 units)

PHIL2012 - Buddhist Philosophy (6 units)

PHIL2020 - Theories of Social Justice (6 units)

PHIL2042 - Philosophy of the Cosmos (6 units)

PHIL2057 - Philosophy of Science (6 units)

PHIL2061 - Philosophy of Mind (6 units)

PHIL2074 - Modern Theories of Knowledge (6 units)

PHIL2080 - Logic (6 units)

PHIL2082 - Sex and Death: the Philosophy of Biology (6 units)

PHIL2087 - Nietzsche (6 units)

PHIL2100 - Origins of Analytical Philosophy (6 units)

PHIL2116 - PPE Integration 2 (6 units)

PHIL2122 - Philosophy and Public Policy (6 units)

PHIL2123 - Philosophy and Science Fiction (6 units)

PHIL2125 - Rationality and Social Cooperation (6 units)

PHIL2126 - Science in Society: Ethics, Public Policy and Scientific Practice (6 units)

PHIL2127 - The Philosophy of Time (6 units)

PHIL2128 - Philosophy of Physics (6 units)

PHIL2129 - Metaethics: The Nature of Moral Judgment (6 units)

PHIL2289 - Leviathan, Art and Law: Constituting the Body Politic (6 units)

PHIL2290 - Philosophy, AI and Society (6 units)

POLS2063 - Contemporary Political Theory (6 units)

POLS2102 - Political Belief and Deceit (6 units)


A minimum of 6 units from the completion of the following:

ECON3056 - PPE Integration 3: Classic Literature in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (6 units)

PHIL3072 - Advanced Analytic Philosophy (6 units)

PHIL3073 - Advanced Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy (6 units)

PHIL3074 - Advanced Philosophical Topics (6 units)

PHIL3075 - The Philosophy of Gender: Knowledge, Power, Bodies (6 units)

PHIL3076 - Philosophy of the Life Sciences (6 units)

PHIL3077 - The Metaphysics of David Lewis (6 units)

PHIL3078 - The Philosophy of Emotions (6 units)

PHIL3079 - Evolution and Human Nature (6 units)

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