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Study bachelor degree online with Macquarie University through Open Universities Australia. Explore all degrees, subjects and short courses now.

The Bachelor of Arts (OUA) at Macquarie University is a distinctive course that equips its graduates with knowledge and skills that can be applied in any career or in further study. No other course offers as much flexibility and a wide range of study options as the Bachelor of Arts. You will be given the opportunity to turn your passion into a career while developing a strong set of core transferable skills valued by industry and the society. In consultation with industry, the Bachelor of Arts (OUA) places a strong emphasis on skills for success in the 21st century workplace. You will be taught by active researchers, leading academics and award winning teachers.

Make your degree unique and study what interests you. Analyse critically, think creatively and problem-solve at work or in everyday life. Complete foundational studies then tailor your degree with a major. Create a portfolio and build your connections.

Bachelor of Arts

Critical Thinking

Happiness, Goodness and Justice

The Philosophy of Human Nature

Ethics, Business and Work

Bioethics, Genes and Biotechnology

The Ethics and Moral Psychology of Good and Evil

Philosophy, Technology, and the Future of Humanity

Knowledge, Language and Power

What is it that makes us good or evil, virtuous or vicious? What does it mean to be a competent agent who can be held responsible for moral as well as immoral action? And what does morality and moral theory require of us as agents? Thinking about what motivates morality raises important questions about the role played by reason, will, emotion and intuition in bringing about moral­ behaviour. It also offers a basis for critically examining prominent ethical theories to see how well they can accommodate the lived realities of human agency and motivation. And it invites further questions about the contribution of social context and psychopathic conditions in explaining ordinary and extreme forms of wrongdoing. This unit will critically examine the philosophical and psychological literature on moral agency, virtue, goodness, and evil, as well as exploring historical and contemporary philosophical accounts of the importance of such things as integrity, character, autonomy and respect for others in moral life and moral relations.

This subject was previously known as PHIX137 Critical Thinking.Please note: This subject is available in Macquarie Session 3, which is an intensive semester that spans only 5 intensive teaching weeks, plus a mid-semester recess and an assessment period. Students are advised to enrol in only one or two subjects in Session 3. Students who would prefer to take the unit over 13 teaching weeks should enrol in the Session 1 or 2 offering.This subject aims to teach the fundamentals of critical thinking and reasoning. Students will learn how to construct, analyse and critically evaluate arguments; how to detect common fallacies in reasoning; and how to think logically and creatively. We teach these skills by developing practical techniques for the evaluation of reasoning, and applying them to arguments from business, law, science, politics, philosophy and the media. Critical thinking skills are invaluable across all disciplines, and will benefit students in academic contexts and in life beyond university.s

Identify methods used to structure arguments. Beware of fallacies and pseudo-arguments. Prepare for discourses on subjects including science, philosophy and law. Sharpen your approach to thinking critically and producing well-reasoned arguments.

This subject was previously known as PHIX131 Mind and World.The subject introduces the big philosophical questions about human nature, personal identity and the meaning of life. Are human beings somehow unique in nature? Do we have distinct selves that endure through time? Do we have free will? What is the relation between our identity and the things that matter to us? The main theme is whether there is such a thing as human nature at all. We begin by asking whether mind is entirely physical or could in principle survive bodily death. We also explore the links between the self, time, and memory. The remainder of the unit introduces some key thinkers of the twentieth century; and we explore their views on freedom, lived experience, and our relations to others. The unit as a whole offers a detailed introduction to controversial questions about the nature of the mind, showing how historical understanding animates current debates, and demonstrating the relevance of philosophy to live modern issues about science, human nature, and culture.

Open your mind to philosophical arguments about identity, human nature and the meaning of life. Pry into what makes individual human beings unique. Position the concept of free will against determinism. Join in arguments by 20th century key thinkers. 

This unit explores some of the major traditions in Philosophical and Scientific thinking about Consciousness and the Self. The unit introduces core questions concerning what consciousness is: What can we know about consciousness through scientific enquiry? How can a physical system, such as the brain, be conscious? How do we situate consciousness in a social and cultural context? The unit also introduces philosophical and scientific thinking about the self and introduces questions including: Is there really such a thing as a Self? Is the self narratively constructed? What is the relationship between the self and others?

Consciousness and Self

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?

Social and Existential Questions

Humans are embedded in complex networks of social relations within which norms of practice arise, including ethical and political norms. Sometimes these are formalised (as in medicine and the military) and other times they are informal and part of interpersonal shared conventions (as in gender, race and identity relations). In both informal and formal contexts these norms continually undergo processes of validation, disruption, contestation, re-negotiation and renewal. This unit will apply ethical theory and analysis in exploring a range of contemporary and pressing social questions, each of which is undergoing some form of challenge to its existing and sometimes deeply entrenched norms and conventions. Topics will vary from year to year but include: reproduction, abortion, and ectogenesis; gender pronoun usage; cancel culture; civil disobedience and political protest; physician-assisted suicide and norms of medicine at the end-of-life; conflicts of interest and bias in healthcare contexts; and the justice and ethics of warfare and humanitarian intervention.

Ethical Perspectives on Social Issues

This subject introduces students to a selection of the most pressing ethical questions and concerns raised by current and recent developments in the so-called &#39;biotech revolution&#39;, especially in the sphere of genetic technology. The first section of the unit provides an introduction to ethical reasoning, to issues of social justice and to the relationship between social values, scientific enquiry and research ethics in the context of biotechnology. The second section focuses on the ethics of gene technology in the spheres of human medicine and reproduction, including: genetic screening/testing; gene editig and therapies; genetic enhancement; and human reproductive cloning. In the third section we explore the impact of biotechnologies on other aspects of human, non-human animal and environmental welfare including: genetic engineering of plants and animals (GMOs); biofortification of food; bio-prospecting; and commercial exploitation of human genetic material. The unit is an ethics unit, not a science unit, and prior scientific knowledge is not required.

Bioethics and Biotechnology

Please note: This subject is available in Macquarie Session 3, which is an intensive semester that spans only 5 intensive teaching weeks, plus a mid-semester recess and an assessment period. Students are advised to enrol in only one or two subjects in Session 3. Students who would prefer to take the unit over 13 teaching weeks should enrol in the Session 2 offering.This subject 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?

Ask questions about the nature of happiness. Address atheism and religion as you deconstruct what it means to be morally good. Question the relationship between politics and justice. Read up on philosophical arguments by Kant and Aristotle.

This unit provides students with the opportunity to engage with cutting edge areas of research in contemporary Philosophy and Ethics. Topics and readings will be carefully curated by leading researchers in the department. You will have the opportunity to enhance your skills of argument and critical reflection as you are guided through these exciting areas of research. Topics might include: The Philosophy of Race; Work and the Good Life; Pragmatism; Embodied Cognition; Virtue Theory; Artificial intelligence; Film and Philosophy; Contemporary Critical Theory; Ethical Issues in the use of AI and Machine Learning; Animal Ethics; Ethics of Emerging Technologies including in Healthcare; Contemporary Challenges in Research Ethics; Climate Change and Environmental Ethics.  Information about current and upcoming topics will be available on the Philosophy Department’s website.

Contemporary Topics in Philosophy and Ethics

We live an increasing part of our lives online, playing videogames, and engaging with various technologies and virtual realities. Our workplaces are more automated, cars drive themselves, and robots take care of us. Is this a good thing? What is it doing to us? Where will it take us in the future? In this unit we draw on philosophical and ethical theories to explore the impacts of information and related technologies on humanity. Topics we will explore include issues around human-technology relations, such as: technological neutrality and technological determinism; embodiment, gender, and technology; and the co-evolution of mind and technology. We will examine ethical aspects of technology, such as: the impacts that online sharing has on our philosophical understandings of friendship; the right to internet privacy; how theories in moral psychology explain the ethical impacts of playing videogames; the ethics of self-driving cars and robotic care-workers; and the justice implications of the automatisation of work. Finally, we also look at topics surrounding the intertwining of humanity and technology and the future impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI), such as: whether AI and the singularity is an existential risk to humanity; how technology will be used as a tool of human enhancement; and whether we will (and should) become cyborgs and stop being human.

Macquarie University Bachelor Degree Philosophy Courses & Degrees | Open Universities Australia

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