ATS3993 · Comparative conceptualisations of the human

Overview

Considerations of what constitutes the category of the ‘human’ have animated civilisations for millennia, starting with the Rigveda in the Indian subcontinent (2nd millennium BCE) and continuing to the present through formulations of ‘natural law’ and ‘rights’ in eighteenth-century Europe. In this unit, you will consider a genealogy that traces how the concept of the ‘human’ has developed in our contemporary world. You will explore how configurations of the ‘human’ came about through the profound exchange of thoughts and world views between East and West. You will examine the endurance of the idea of the ‘human’ that still divides the world into an ‘us’ and ‘them’, East and West, Occident and Orient, through a comparative juxtaposition of thinkers. You will analyse the ‘human’ in a comparative framework by integrating the theses and antitheses of these theorists from the two oppositional spheres of East and West.

Areas of study: Comparative Asian and European studies

Offerings

The Handbook publishes no offerings for this unit.

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

The Handbook lists no prerequisite, corequisite or prohibition for this unit.

Learning outcomes

1. compare and critically analyse how discourses of the ‘human’ in the East and West have shaped conceptions of the modern world and ‘rights’;
2. apply nuanced comparative methodologies that evaluate and critique different approaches towards the idea of the ‘human’ as developed in the East and the West;
3. explain how these different conceptualisations of the “human” are constituted through cultural, civilisational, philosophical and religious traditions and how they are understood in their own contexts as well as outside it;
4. independently research and critically evaluate primary and secondary sources relevant to ideas of the ‘human’ in the East and the West to support critical insights;
5. communicate effectively in written and oral formats.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.