Handbook 1996 : Faculty of Arts (Volume 3 page 142)
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Credit points: 16.7 2nd and 3rd years
Coordinator: Dr Purushottama Bilimoria.
Prerequisite: One first-year single-semester Philosophy subject or an appropriate subject from Interdepartmental Social Theory Program or Asian studies (in consultation with the lecturer). Students who lack these prerequisites, but believe themselves adequately prepared to attempt any second/third year subjects, should consult the Head of Department.
Contact: Up to three hours a week.
Timetable: Second semester
Objectives:
By the end of the subject, students should have achieved:
- a reflective awareness of the nature of religious politics and ethical dilemmas that arise in an Asian society where the encounter of tradition and modernity has engendered new orthodoxies as well as tensions that strike at deeper structures;
- a critical overview of the current debates and theoretical representations on how questions of rights, justice and moral values are negotiated in respect of the conditions of the disadvantaged, women, tribal population, marginal community and caste groups;
- a philosophical understanding of the ways in which South Asian cultures respond to critical problems in public policy matters, with examples drawn from medical ethics, ecological concerns, and personal/customary law practices vis-a-vis- secular expectations.
Content:
A study of the complexity of South Asian societies that is philosophically illuminating in respect of the kinds of ethical, social and religious dilemmas that increasingly face people in these regions, with a focus on India; evaluating the merits of Western theories, such as rights and justice in a representative democracy, etc. , and of contemporary discursive perspectives post-Orientalism, towards deepening our understanding of the problematic.
Assessment:
One two-hour end-of-semester examination and an essay of up to 3,000 words.
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Handbook 1996 : Faculty of Arts (Volume 3 page 142)
Status: Official 1996 Date created: Oct 9 1995 Last modified: Oct 9 1995 Authorised by: Academic Registrar Email enquiries: Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au
Maintained by: Dept. of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts.
Copyright © University of Melbourne 1995,1996.