Philosophy is an activity that aims at an understanding of ourselves, our relationships with one another, and our place in the world.
It is centrally concerned with fundamental questions about such topics, critically investigating what other subjects and other human activities take for granted.
The Wits Philosophy Department is an internationally respected philosophical centre with a long tradition of research and teaching excellence. Staff members have doctorates from top international universities and regularly publish their work in accredited academic journals. The department is vibrant, diverse, and socially engaged. It is home to the Wits Centre for Ethics.
The Department of Philosophy has for many years and in a number of courses used the textbook Elementary Logic: A Brief Introduction, written by Professor Michael Pendlebury. We are pleased to say that Professor Pendlebury’s textbook, now in its fourth edition, may be downloaded free of charge from the links below.
The copyright of this text is the property of the author. Without the written permission of the author, the text may not be used for commercial or fundraising purposes or altered or edited in any way. Until further notice, the text may be used freely and without the author’s permission as follows:
1. Individuals may use, print, and copy the text for personal information, education, or entertainment.
2. Instructors in nonprofit educational organisations and institutions may prescribe or recommend part or all of the text to their students.
3. Individuals and nonprofit organizations may supply printed copies of all or part of the text to anyone subject to the condition that they do not charge them more than the reasonable cost of printing it.
4. The text may be cited or quoted in other publications subject to the condition that it is clearly identified and attributed to the author.
Elementary Logic: A Brief Introduction, Fourth Edition By Michael Pendlebury. Published online by the Department of Philosophy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in December 2013.1 Pp. vi, 151. © 1997–2013 Michael Pendlebury
Elementary Logic: A Brief Introduction (US letter size)
Phone: 27 11 717 4345
Fax: 27 11 717 4359
Email: philosophy@social.wits.ac.za
Physical Address
Room 9
Ground floor, Robert Sobukwe Block
East Campus
WITS
Postal Address
Philosophy Department
Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050
Johannesburg, 2000
South Africa
The Philosophy Department at Wits offers a solid programme of courses leading to a Philosophy major and a variety of other courses which may be of particular interest and benefit to non-majors as selective courses in their programmes.
To receive a BA in philosophy a student must:
This course introduces Engineering students to the elements of Philosophical Critical Reasoning and Thinking. Students are invited to engage on the structure of arguments and other elements related to critical thought. As this course is a service course, it is not available to students from the Humanities as a Philosophy Major.
This course introduces students to philosophy through a focused selection of topics in epistemology and metaphysics (the theories of knowledge and reality) along with the required background on the identification and evaluation of arguments.
This course introduces students to ethical reasoning and its applications. Examples of topics include theories of right and wrong, the relativity or objectivity of ethics, ethics and religion, equality and justice, selected ethical issues in the contemporary world.
This course includes a selection of topics in metaphysics and epistemology (and possibly ethics), based on classical and early modern sources in philosophy up to the early 18th century. Topics include:
This course includes the nature of scientific knowledge and scientific theories, the problem of confirmation and explanation, the development of science and related topics (including the role and nature of scientific revolutions and paradigms, and theoretical incommensurability in science), further topics such as the objectivity of science, causation and determinism, the nature of social explanation and topics from the history of science are also covered.
This course covers a philosophical investigation of a number of concepts and issues in social and political theory, through historical and/or contemporary sources. Topics include:
This course covers a philosophical investigation of a number of concepts and issues in social and political theory, through historical and/or contemporary sources. Topics include:
This course comprises the following:
Basic concepts of logic.
This course discusses a study of various issues in philosophical ethics (understood as covering both normative and metaethical theory).
Topics include some of the following:
This course introduces students to core issues in the philosophy of art, covering both historical and contemporary sources and material.
Possible topics include:
Some of the topics covered include:
A critical study of central issues such as:
This course involves the critical study of parts of Hume’s Treatise on Human Nature and Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason in relation to topics such as:
This course deals with select topics, periods and movements in 20th-century philosophy. Possible offerings include:
Each of these would normally focus on the relation between language, thought and reality.
Since 2002, the Wits Philosophy Department has offered an integrated, part-time programme in Applied Ethics for Professionals. As the name suggests, the programme is tailored for experienced and successful people in all walks of professional life, and is affiliated with the Wits Centre for Ethics.
The programme leads to a Master of Arts degree (MA) and does not presuppose any background in philosophy.
The programme is divided into two components: coursework and research. The coursework component consists of three-hour seminars on Saturday mornings. Approximately sixteen such Saturdays are involved during the first year, eight per semester and eight further seminars complete the course work during the first half of the second year. The research component is completed in the student’s own time, under the guidance of a supervisor from the Wits Department of Philosophy.
The next intake in the programme will be in 2020.
Required core course: Methods of Applied Ethics (8 Saturday seminars)
Two from a set of three electives on offer (4 Saturday seminars each, 8 in total)
Work on Research Report proposals, with proposal presentations held in early February of the second year
Two further electives from a set of three electives on offer (8 Saturday seminars)
Individual supervised work on research reports (MA stream only)
Six of the following courses will be offered during any two-year cycle, normally in consultation with programme participants:
The core course for the AEP Programme, to be taken by all participants in the Programme in the first semester. It serves as an introduction to some basic philosophical concepts and some fundamentals of ethical theory. It also explores basic matters such as moral reasoning and argument, and will typically introduce participants to philosophical approaches to applied ethics through study of some prominent examples of work in the area.
An examination of ethical issues arising from the fact of cultural pluralism. Possible topics may include moral relativism, duties to minorities and rights of majorities in multicultural states, cross-cultural tolerance, the alleged value of cultural pluralism, and liberal and non-liberal approaches to the fact of cultural pluralism.
An inquiry into some central theoretical questions in ethics with an eye to their bearing on practical issues. Builds upon some of the introductory theory in the ''Methods of Applied Ethics'' course, as well as introducing other theoretical approaches to ethical inquiry. Issues may include consequentialism, deontology, virtue, moral motivation, the codifiability of ethics, and the possibility of moral knowledge.
An examination of a range of ethical issues surrounding the environment and its relationship to human activity. Topics may include such theoretical questions as: Whether wholes such as ecosystems or relationships, and not merely individuals, can have moral status, as well as more specific issues about land and resource use, the ethics of pollution and environmental degradation, and the rights of future generations to environmental integrity.
An examination of topics such as the following: terrorism and the response to it; war more generally and its justice, as well as the justice of conduct within war; the use of torture as a means of preventing attacks; poverty and the duties of rich countries and their citizens to alleviate it; the ethics of international aid more generally; globalization, colonialism and imperialism; and more abstract issues about the place of ethical considerations in international affairs at all.
A potentially diverse exploration of moral issues concerning the use of and accessibility of information, and their effects on privacy. Topics may include the nature and value of privacy, issues in media ethics, computer/information ethics, the ethics of professional-client relationships, and the ethics of information accessible to businesses and government agencies.
An examination of moral issues arising in the contexts of health care and biomedical research. Could cover both micro health-care issues such as informed consent, and the rights of patients (and health care workers), or macro issues such as resource allocation. Other topics could include research issues such as the ethical treatment of human subjects and the social consequences of certain research programmes, such as stem-cell research and genetic engineering.
An inquiry into the relationship between law and morality and/or moral issues surrounding the use of law as a social instrument. Topics may include the moral underpinnings, if any, of law, the use of law to promote morality, paternalistic legislation, the general ethics of legal coercion, and the moral significance of the Constitution.
A potentially diverse exploration of ethical issues in business and market-oriented social policy. Could include discussions of micro-issues such as morality vs. profit, the rights (and responsibilities) of share-holders, secrecy and honesty in business contexts, the ethics of whistle-blowing and the rights of, and relationships between, workers and their employers. Could also include such macro-issues as the morality of market-capitalism, and social tinkering with it such as BEE programmes.
An inquiry into theories of, and issues concerning, social, and particularly, economic justice. Topics could include prominent theories of distributive justice such as those of Rawls and Nozick, as well as narrower issues such as the role and ethics of affirmative action, compensation for past injustices, progressive taxation, and alleged rights to a basic income.
An exploration of life's alleged value and/or particular issues that bear upon it. Topics may include theories of the wrongness of killing normal, adult human beings, and issues such as abortion, euthanasia, stem-cell research and animal rights.
Guidance on research report proposals and individual supervised work on research reports.