Overview

To introduce core ideas in social and political philosophy, providing some historical context of Western civilization to understand current problems and conflicts, with particular reference to the problem of sustaining a just, ecologically sustainable, egalitarian, and inclusive political order in the context of a multicultural, diversified, and pluralistic Australia in a globalized world.

Requisites

Prerequisites

50 credit points

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
04-August-2025
02-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-August-2025
Census date
31-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Extract the core doctrines of social and political thought and their history from the Ancient Greeks to the present – in particular the difference between republicanism, atomistic individualism and communitarianism and the different ideas about democracy associated with these.
  • Systematically defend a position on a range of topics within social and political philosophy.
  • Articulate and defend a position on a selected topic in social and political philosophy to an audience

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Lecture		 1.00  12 weeks  12
On-campus
Class		 2.00  12 weeks  24
Specified Activities
Various		 5.00  12 weeks  60
Unspecified Activities
Various		 4.50  12 weeks  54
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Essay Individual  30%  1,2
Essay Individual  50%  1,2
Presentation Individual  20%  1,3 

Content

  • Review the problems with economic globalization, the movement of people, corrosion of democracy, corruption of public institutions, and ecological destruction;
  • Introduce the idea of democracy as it has developed through history from the Ancient Greeks to the formation of Australia as a federation inspired by the ideas of the British Idealists;
  • Examine the relationship between markets, bureaucracies, civil services and the institutions of democracy in this context;
  • Progress a viable deliberative conception of democracy that promises greater levels of participation and accountability;
  • Explore the potential of computer-mediated communication to facilitate democracy

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.