ASP211 - Freedom and Power: Existentialism and Beyond

Unit details

Note: You are seeing the 2023 view of this unit information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]
Year:

2023 unit information

Enrolment modes:

Trimester 1: Burwood (Melbourne), Online

From 2024: 

Trimester 1: Melbourne (Burwood), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online

Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Unit Chair:Trimester 1: Jack Reynolds
Cohort rule:Nil
Prerequisite:

Nil

Corequisite:Nil
Incompatible with: ASP109
Scheduled learning activities - campus:

1 x 1-hour class per week, 1 x 1-hour seminar per week

All students will also be able to engage in discussion of the unit material via discussion forums on the unit site

Scheduled learning activities - online:

1 x 1-hour class per week (recordings provided), 1 x 1-hour online seminar per week

All students will also be able to engage in discussion of the unit material via discussion forums on the unit site

Content

Over the course of this unit, students will develop a critical understanding of key ideas in existentialist philosophy and debates over power and freedom in 19th and 20th century European thought. Influential accounts of themes such as freedom, anguish (or anxiety), mortality, authenticity, and value will be discussed, as well as philosophical and political critiques of existentialism offered by major thinkers.

ULO These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes
ULO1

Understand, compare, and critically evaluate key ideas in 19th and 20th-century French European philosophy concerning the nature of subjectivity and freedom from a range of philosophers

GLO1: Discipline specific

GLO2: Communication

GLO4: Critical thinking

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO2

Critically apply a number of key ideas from 19th and 20th-century European thinkers to practical examples, and understand and evaluate how these ideas relate to current views about subjectivity and the social order.

GLO1: Discipline specific

GLO2: Communication

GLO5: Problem solving

GLO8: Global citizenship

ULO3

Construct and evaluate philosophical arguments, backed by relevant evidence, and present competing claims in the context of philosophical dialogue.

GLO2: Communication

GLO5: Problem solving

These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year.

Assessment

Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1 - Quizzes 400 words
or equivalent
10% Information not yet available
Assessment 2 - Essay 1800 words
or equivalent
45% Information not yet available
Assessment 3 - Essay 1800 words
or equivalent
45% Information not yet available

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning Resource

The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via the link ASP211
Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

Unit Fee Information

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