Please note - Swinburne University of Technology

of Queensland Press, 1983
Gare, A. Nihilism Incorporated. Canberra, Eco-Logical Press, 1993.
Maclntyre, A. After Virtue. 2nd edn, Notre Dame, University of Notre
Dame Press, 1984
Regan T. (ed.) Matters of Life and Death. 2nd edn, New York,
Random House, 1986
~ ~ 3 0 7 Australian Science and Society
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: two of AHZOO, AH201, AH202,
AH203, AH204, AH205, AH206 or approved
equivalents
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
This subject will bring perspectives from the history,
philosophy and social studies of science to bear on the theme
of Australian science and society. Topics covered will range
.,
3: from Aboriginal conceptions of nature to colonial science
z. with its cultural dependence on metropolitan centres, to the
triumph of molecular biology and immunology and the rise of
scientific internationalism and cultural independence. The
subject will also examine current issues in Australian science
and technology, science policy and the public image of
I C
science.
References
Home, R.W. (ed.), Australian Science in the Making. Melbourne,
Cambridge University Press. 1988
Schedvin, C.B. Shaping Science and Industry: A History of Australia's
Council for Scientific Research. Sydney, Allen & Unwin, 1987
Charlesworth, Farrall, Stokes, and Turnbull. Life Among the
a Scientists. Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1989
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*AH~O~ Social Studies of Science
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: two of AH200, AH201, AH202,
AH203, AH204, AH205, AH206 or an approved
equivalent
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
This subject will examine the contemporary debate on the
social construction of scientific knowledge. The extent to
which science reflects the culture in which it is set has been
the subject of much recent writing about science. Some
authors make the claim that scientific knowledge is
autonomous, and the proper objects of sociological inquiry
are the various social and instituitional relationships which
hold within the communitv of scientists, both in the
laboratory and in the wider world. More recently, the claim
has been made that social factors contribute in a crucial way
to the content of science itself, to the type of knowledge
that is produced. These claims will be investigated through
case stud~es on both historical and current issues.
References
Brannlgan, A. The Social Basis of Scientific Discoveries.
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1981
Winner, L. The Whale and the Reacto,: Chicago, University of
Chtcago Press, 1986
* Not available to students who have previously passed
AH302, Social Studies of Science A.
~ ~ 3 0 9 Special Topics in Philosophy
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: two of AHZOO, AH201, AH202,
AH203, AH204, AH205, AH206 or approved
equivalents
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
A series of advanced seminars on contemporary topics in
philosophy or an intensive study of a particular topic.Topics
may be chosen from any of the major areas. The topics
chosen in any given year will depend upon the expertise of
the lecturer in charge.
AH~IO
Approaches to Culture
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: two of AHZOO, AH201, AH202,
AH203, AH204, AH205, AH206, or approved
equivalents
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
Contemporary approaches to the study of culture draw on
the European philosophical traditions of phenomenology,
hermeneutics and structualism. In this subject, we explore
some key themes in these traditions. Themes include the
notions of meaning and interpretation in relation to
consciousness, signs and texts; different ways of
understanding the contrasting methodologies of the natural
and human sciences; different models that are proposed for
the purpose of interpreting cultural phenomena; the
interconnections between disciplines and the problematic
nature of discipline boundaries.
Textbook
Consult with the lecturer before buying textbooks.
References
Dreyfus, H.L. Being-in-the-World: A Commentary on Heidegger's
'Being and Time'. Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 1991
Hammond, M. Understanding Phenomenology. Oxford, Blackwell,
1991
*AH~I I Environmental Philosophy
No. of hours per week: three hours
Prerequisites: two of AHZOO, AH201, AH202,
AH203, AH204, AH205, AH206 or approved
equivalents
Assessment: continuous
Subject aims and description
The global destruction of the environment is perhaps the
most serious crisis humanity has ever had to confront. This
course examines the cultural, social and economic roots of
this crisis, with specific reference to Australia, and considers
what courses of action are open to us. While ethics and
political philosophy are considered, the major focus of the
course is on economic theory and policy formation. The
assumptions of prevailing economic thought and prevailing
forms of policy analysis are critically examined, and then the
new approaches to economics and policy formation designed
to take into account energetic and ecological processes and
to provide the basis for an environmentally sustainable
society are investigated.