Entry requirementsStudents who are enrolled in a non-Melbourne Model degree course at the University of Melbourne.
Academic titleDiploma in Arts (Philosophy)
Course descriptionNOTE: This course is in phase-out mode and is no longer accepting applications for admisssion.
Current students needing assistance with course planning for completion of the course requirments should contact the Arts & Music Student Centre.
Philosophy has been taught and studied continuously at the University of Melbourne since 1881, and the School of Philosophy is accordingly one of the oldest and best established in Australia. The school is renowned for promotion of an eclectic and wide-ranging approach to philosophical issues. It has earned an international reputation for excellence in research and teaching in all of the core fields of the discipline, as well as in less traditional but burgeoning areas of philosophical inquiry and debate. Graduates of the School have been recruited to positions in universities worldwide, and in government, industry and the arts. The School also provides an articulated structure of higher degree study for students who wish to further pursue their interests in this exciting field.
Philosophy deals with the fundamental aspects of reality and value. It tackles questions that lie outside the scope of any of the more specialised disciplines such as physics, mathematics or history, or which the specialised disciplines suggest, but cannot themselves adequately answer. Despite the abstract nature of many of the problems it encounters, philosophy looks for answers that can only be justified by the highest standards of argument and rigour. Philosophy at the University of Melbourne is wide ranging in scope and covers core topic areas such as logic, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, feminism, political and environmental philosophy. Among philosophical questions discussed are these: Could all experience be a dream? Does God exist? Is morality just a matter of personal preference? Is there such a thing as human nature? Are we genuinely free to choose? Does life have meaning?