PHIL305-25S1 (D) Semester One 2025 (Distance)

Paradoxes

30 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
End Date: Sunday, 22 June 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 2 March 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 11 May 2025

Description

This course surveys a wide range of paradoxes and bizarre brain-twisters drawn from all corners of philosophy.

An example of a paradox is an argument with apparently acceptable premises, apparently acceptable rules of inference, and yet an apparently unacceptable conclusion. Other examples of paradoxes in-clude statements like ‘This very statement is false’, and ‘The set of all sets which are not members of themselves is both a member of itself and not a member of itself’. This course surveys a wide range of paradoxes drawn from all corners of philosophy. Does a barber who shaves all those and only those who do not shave themselves shave himself? Is someone speaking truly, falsely, or both, in uttering ‘What I am now saying is a lie’? Can we use logic to solve moral dilemmas without producing further, deeper, dilemmas? Students will analyse and evaluate these and other paradoxes, and will use the ana-lytical skills they acquired to develop creative solutions.

Learning Outcomes

Students will acquire the following knowledge and skills:
1. Knowledge of a number of fundamental logical puzzles and paradoxes
2. Knowledge of efforts by the international intellectual community to solve these
3. Greater understanding of the central concepts of philosophy and logic
4. Enhanced analytic reasoning skills
5. Enhanced ability to think critically, independently and creatively
6. Enhanced ability to present ideas clearly to your peers in a structured format
7. Enhanced ability to contribute relevantly and logically to group discussion
8. Enhanced skill in using digital resources; and in using digital media such as short videos for reporting research

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:

Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award

Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.

Prerequisites

Any 30 points at 200 level in PHIL, COSC, or
MATH, or
any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA or BSc.

Restrictions

PHIL494, PHIL444

Course Coordinator

Jack Copeland

Assessment

Please check the course LEARN page for further details and updates.

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,788.00

International fee $8,200.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Humanities .

All PHIL305 Occurrences

  • PHIL305-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025
  • PHIL305-25S1 (D) Semester One 2025 (Distance)