Philosophy (1 Viewer)

[The_Apprentice]

Has anyone taken PHIL 1011 reality, ethics and beauty and/or PHIL 1010 Society, Knowledge and Reason? I'm taking them this year so I'm curious:

1. Is philosophy a difficult subject (in comparison to other arts subjects like history or something)? It sounds very brain-draining to me.
2. What are the lecturers like?
3. Did you enjoy it? Regret doing it? ...why..?

Any other info would also be appreciated.
Any other first years taking these?

 

[Silver Persian]

Im a first year taking the phil courses, and Ive read a little phil in the past week to see what its like. I dont find it too difficult to understand, but it can be a little...wordy? You really need to make sure you concentrate on what you read, because if you miss one sentence you might not get the next.

 

[The_Apprentice]

You really need to make sure you concentrate on what you read, because if you miss one sentence you might not get the next.

Yeah, it sounds like you need to concentrate for lengthy periods. Don't get me wrong, I think I'll love the content, but it sounds like it might take a slow person such as myself a while to understand things...

 

[jhakka]

Has anyone taken PHIL 1011 reality, ethics and beauty and/or PHIL 1010 Society, Knowledge and Reason? I'm taking them this year so I'm curious:

1. Is philosophy a difficult subject (in comparison to other arts subjects like history or something)? It sounds very brain-draining to me.
2. What are the lecturers like?
3. Did you enjoy it? Regret doing it? ...why..?

Any other info would also be appreciated.
Any other first years taking these?

PHIL 1011:
1. Not really difficult. First topic is tested with a mid-semester essay, and they give you the exam questions a month before (as well as some extras so you have to prepare more). Not too hard. Just memorise the theories and be able to apply them and you should be fine. I went into the exam without having been to any of the lectures for the last topic and still credited.

2. The lecturers get worse as you go along. The first bloke was absolutely awesome (Reality secion), the second lady wasn't too bad, but not as quirky and interesting (Ethics), and the third bloke was downright boring. Didn't go to any of those lectures (Beauty).

3. I enjoyed the first two topics, but hated the third. I found it to be "wanky" philosophy. Too many hypotheticals, and it annoyed me that any theory was good until someone thought of a totally random, unlikely, stupid hypothetical situation that disproved it. Enjoyed PHIL 1012 (Introductory Logic) more.

 

[The_Apprentice]

Oh yeah... Beauty sounds crappy. I don't know if it has any relevance but I studied the concept of beauty in art theory. It got quite philosophical in class discussions etc. But it's quite a dull topic. Is it something along the lines of "what is beauty? why do people find certain things beautiful? how does society define beauty? who defines beauty..etc??"

...zzz..

reality sounds interesting though.

 

[Silver Persian]

Can you give us an idea of what intro logic is like jhakka? Is it kind of like maths :[

I think phil is probably a subject that can be effected significantly by the lecturer...they can make it really interesting or incredibly dull and impossible to follow.

 

[jhakka]

Oh yeah... Beauty sounds crappy. I don't know if it has any relevance but I studied the concept of beauty in art theory. It got quite philosophical in class discussions etc. But it's quite a dull topic. Is it something along the lines of "what is beauty? why do people find certain things beautiful? how does society define beauty? who defines beauty..etc??"

...zzz..

reality sounds interesting though.

The whole Beauty section is actually about art - What is art? What defines good art? etc etc etc. Very, very boring.

Can you give us an idea of what intro logic is like jhakka? Is it kind of like maths :[

Yeah, it's kinda like maths in the way that it is very structured and has particular procedures. I didn't find it too difficult (probably because I like mathsy stuff), but there are those who found it really hard. It's just a matter of knowing the rules, how to apply them, and being able to realise that sometimes they won't work. It's fun, but some of the weekly assignments are really tough.

The thing about Intro Logic is that it could be taught by anyone who has the book and an understanding of the rules... but they'd only be able to do it in sketchy terms. It's an interesting course, and a nice break from all the essay-based ones that you'd do as an Arts student.

 

[ujuphleg]

1. Is philosophy a difficult subject (in comparison to other arts subjects like history or something)? It sounds very brain-draining to me.
2. What are the lecturers like?
3. Did you enjoy it? Regret doing it? ...why..?

1. The Philosophy Department reckons that Philosophy is a hard subject, and as a result, marks accordingly. If you are the sort of person that thinks a lot, Philosophy can be brain-draining in that, you start to question things around you etc. But its good to think about that sort of stuff and integrate it, otherwise, Philosophy seems like a whole lot of talk. The more you think about it, the more you see the relevance.

2. PHIL1011

David Braddon-Mitchell - also known as DBM for short, he was one of the best lecturers I had in first year - he is so so so so funny, really smart and presents all the information to you in a really interesting way.

Caroline West - she has the same name as the "Sex Life" presenter of the same name, but its not her. Was fairly engaging although not as good as DBM. Was worth going to her lectures as some of the information is fairly tricky and you need to hear/see it in order to actively participate in tutes.

David MacArthur - one of those "boring as batshit" nightmare academics that you often hear about. jhakka and myself went to the first of his lectures then skipped out for the rest of semester and still went ok in finals, so you're better off skim reading the readings then going. The perfect lecture for a bit of a snooze.

PHIL 1011

I really enjoyed the first part of this course mainly because I'm really interested in Political Philosophy.

Tim Rayner - good, solid lecturing style. Holds the audience attention well, isn't quite as engaging as DBM, but better than Caroline. His content is really interesting, so that helps.

Nicholas Smith - same category as David MacArthur. Nuff said.

Stuart Saunders - a fantastic lecturer - very funny, engaging and explains stuff in a clear and concise manner.

3. I really enjoyed Philosophy - I have gripes with the way they run their assessments as there is no tutorial participation mark - and in a subject where a lot of the learning is done in talking, I think this is something that really needs to be done. I don't regret doing it - Philosophy introduced me to the ideas of some of the leading thinkers of the past - Hobbes, Locke, Descartes, Aristotle and many of the ideas that you'll hear around uni alot. Depending on your degree too, it gives you some of the academic insight into what drives some of the subjects.

I enjoyed Philosophy so much so that I'm taking it again this year, I'm doing the second year Political Philosophy subjects. I'm taking Bachelor of Ec.Soc.Sci so its unusual to find someone who takes Philosophy as part of the degree, but I find a lot of relvance and usefulness is what I'm doing.

You're taking Arts/Commerce, so depending on the electives you take for your Commerce degree you might find this too. Or not. Either way, come along to the lectures and just check it out and if you don't like it, change subjects! Thats the great thing about uni - chopping and changing is much easier.

Good Luck.

 

[The_Apprentice]

If you are the sort of person that thinks a lot, Philosophy can be brain-draining in that, you start to question things around you etc.

Yep, that's me. I think about non-deep things to deeply.

it gives you some of the academic insight into what drives some of the subjects.

yep, this is the main reason as to why I've picked philosophy. Gets your brain working after a getting rusty after such a long break.

Thanks ujuphleg! btw, you went to Turramurra high? I almost went there. I'm a killara kid.

 

[bustinjustin]

I enjoyed Philosophy so much so that I'm taking it again this year, I'm doing the second year Political Philosophy subjects. I'm taking Bachelor of Ec.Soc.Sci so its unusual to find someone who takes Philosophy as part of the degree, but I find a lot of relvance and usefulness is what I'm doing.

I'm also doing B. Eco. Soc. Sci and have enrolled in Philosophy in Semester 2 since there's only 1 junior WORK prereq. I was going to do Introductory Logic but have opted for Society, Knowledge and Reason instead - is this the right choice? Is it worth sacrificing junior GOVT prereqs and subesequently, senior GOVT units for more PHIL units?

 

[ujuphleg]

I need more information about what subjects you've signed up for.

If you are intending on majoring in Government, then you need to do at least 2 junior units - they can be both in first semester if you want, but you need two.

The Society component of PHIL1010 is REALLY useful for any GOVT units that you're doing as the background to what everyone is jibbering on about really becomes a heap clearer. If you aren't serious about GOVT though, then PHIL 1010 isn't really very useful either.

Apprentice - yeah, I'm an old Tuzza girl

 

[jhakka]

I'm also doing B. Eco. Soc. Sci and have enrolled in Philosophy in Semester 2 since there's only 1 junior WORK prereq. I was going to do Introductory Logic but have opted for Society, Knowledge and Reason instead - is this the right choice? Is it worth sacrificing junior GOVT prereqs and subesequently, senior GOVT units for more PHIL units?

I did Introductory Logic over Society, Knowledge and Reason and didn't regret it, while ujuphleg did it the other way around and feels the same way. Apart from the fact that I love logical, mathsy stuff (and I'm an Education/Arts student for crying out loud!), the fact that there is not one essay during the entire unit was fantastic. I imagine there'd be a similar amount of essays in your course, and by semester 2 you might need a bit of a break from that. If you feel that way, change. If not, stick with what you have.

Talk to students who have done the courses. I have the reader and I have the notes for Logic, so I'm a resource if you decide you want to see what the coursework is like. ujuphleg, I imagine, would still have her stuff, so there's another one if she is willing.

You have plenty of time to choose, and plenty of people to talk to. If you're not happy now, you can do something about it later.

 

[bustinjustin]

I need more information about what subjects you've signed up for.

If you are intending on majoring in Government, then you need to do at least 2 junior units - they can be both in first semester if you want, but you need two.

The Society component of PHIL1010 is REALLY useful for any GOVT units that you're doing as the background to what everyone is jibbering on about really becomes a heap clearer. If you aren't serious about GOVT though, then PHIL 1010 isn't really very useful either.

Apprentice - yeah, I'm an old Tuzza girl

I'll be majoring in Political Economy, and I'm doing all the junior prereqs for IR and GOVT - WORK1003, GOVT 1101 and GOVT 1406, though I'll probably change from. International Business/Politics to World Politics. I'm also taking up French, and I'll probably do Grad Law even if I get the marks to transfer so that I don't have to give up my French major.

I haven't decided whether I'll minor in IR or Government, but I figured the Philosophy would help with my political and future legal studies.

Thanks for all the help ujuphleg and Jhakka, I really am spoilt for choice, I'll try attend lectures for all of them in the first week of each semester and decide from then

 

[ujuphleg]

Ok, if you're doing an ECOP major and doing GOVT as well, then Society, Knowledge n Reason is really good.

However, bear in mind that if PHIL1010 is the only junior PHIL unit you do, you can't go on in second year as the pre-requesite is at least 2 junior PHIL units.

So you'd be doing

Semester 1 - ECOP 1001, WORK 1003, GOVT 1101 and FRNC1xxx
Semester 2 - ECOP 1002, GOVT 1202, FRNC1XXX & PHIL 1010.

You see the problem? It really depends on what you intend to get out of Philosophy. If you're just looking for something to fill the elective that will be mildly useful then its great. If you want something to go on with, then you'll have to look at a subject that only requires one junior unit.