Controversies in popular imagination and academic research; ethical/normative claims about how the world ought to be and scientific/empirical claims about how the world is. Credit will be granted for only one of PHIL_O 105 or POLI_O 105. [3-0-0] Equivalency: POLI_O 105.
Introduction to outstanding philosophers and their systems. Ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. [3-0-0]
Tools for dealing with both everyday and more technical arguments and concepts. Analysis and resolution of confusions, ambiguities, and fallacies. This course is restricted to students with fewer than 90 credits. [3-0-0]
Introduction to outstanding philosophers and their systems. Theory of knowledge, logic, and contemporary philosophy. [3-0-0]
Historical and logical analysis of various types of scientific hypotheses and the data that support or undermine them. This course is restricted to students with fewer than 90 credits. [3-0-0]
Introduction to philosophical questions on the nature of power and how it should be used. Topics include institutions, political change, and our nature as social animals. Readings may focus on classic and/or contemporary works. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Sentential and predicate logic. Translation from natural language; truth tables and interpretations; systems of natural deduction up to relational predicate logic with identity; alternative proof methods. Some sections may use computer-based materials and tests. [3-0-0]
Theories of obligation and value; moral reasoning; normative ethics, descriptive ethics, and metaethics. Readings in classic and contemporary texts. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Moral problems arising in the health sciences. Topics may include abortion, death and euthanasia, genetic engineering, behaviour modification, compulsory treatment, experimentation with human beings and animals, and/or the relationship between professionals and their patients, subjects, or clients. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Applied ethical issues from philosophical perspectives. Topics may include abuses of speech (hate speech, propaganda), censorship, concentrating ownership of media outlets and the foundations of civil society, conceptions of citizenship, democratic civic education, life issues, torture, poverty, terrorism, global justice. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
The study of social determinants and significance of scientific knowledge in contemporary epistemology. Examines claims of objectivity and rationality by scientists and philosophers of science, given interactions of multiple perspectives, including those from technological breakthroughs and state-sponsored research policies. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second-year standing.
Familiarizes students with fundamental issues such as time, causality, personal identity, and the mind-body problem. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Second-year standing and 6 credits of PHIL.
Whether AI can think, be conscious, or trustworthy; the nature and value of creativity, work, expertise, and human relationships in the age of AI automation; AI use in warfare, science, and public institutions. [3-0-0]
Consists of intensive study of pre-Socratics and selections from the writings of Aristotle. The writings of the Stoics or Epicurus may be included. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
A study of Plato's writings and his influence on subsequent philosophy. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Survey of seventeenth-century philosophy from Bacon to Leibniz, including the writings of Hobbes, Descartes, and Spinoza. The influence of science and religion on philosophical thought. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Survey of eighteenth-century philosophy from Locke to Kant, including the writings of Berkeley, Rousseau, and Hume. The influence of science and religion on philosophy. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Continuation of PHIL_O 220. A formal theory of classical first-order logic is developed. Meta-theoretic concepts of a logical system: truth, provability, logical truth, and logical consequence. Soundness and completeness are shown for a system of natural deduction. Turing machines, Church-Turing thesis, and decidability of first-order logic. [3-0- 0] Prerequisites: One of PHIL_O 220, MATH_O 220, COSC_O 221, COSC_O 223.
Ethical and professional issues facing those who work with computers. Piracy, hacking, responsibility, and liability for the use of software; cyberpornography and freedom of information; computerized invasion of privacy; computers in the workplace; the use of artificial intelligence; and expert systems. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing in an Arts program; or third-year standing in a Science program; or third-year standing in the B.Sust. degree.
Normative theories centered on virtue and human flourishing. Focus on ancient classics, shifting to contemporary virtue ethics. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: One of PHIL_O 111, PHIL_O 210, PHIL_O 230, POLI_O 250. Third-year standing.
Concepts of law, constitution, and sovereignty; law and morality; natural law theories and legal positivism; obligation, responsibility, and punishment. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Examines the criteria of knowing, problems of perception, and theories of truth. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 6 credits of PHIL.
Introductory analysis of the Austrian School of Economics - known for its systematic defence of private property rights, sound money, free enterprise, and free markets. Credit will be granted for only one of PHIL 361 or ECON 338. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: All of ECON 101, ECON 102. or 3 credits of PHIL. Third-year standing. Equivalency: ECON 338
A brief introduction to the history of feminist thought is included. An overview of the traditional concept of the feminine in contrast to the masculine will be examined. Lecture topics include: liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, radical and cultural feminism. The approaches that feminist theory has taken to traditional areas of philosophical inquiry, such as the theory of knowledge (epistemology), aesthetics, and the history of philosophy will also be studied. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Examination of selected topics in Philosophy. Topics may vary each time the course is offered. Repeatable for up to 6 credits with different topics. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3-credits of PHIL.
Introduction to philosophical questions in the theory of art and art criticism. The nature of artistic creativity: form, content, and expression in art; the definition of art; the nature of taste; interpretation and evaluation; art and its place in society. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL; or second-year standing in Fine Arts.
Political/philosophical issues that are contentious, divisive, and/or taboo examined through both normative and empirical lenses through structured debates. Examples of topics that may be covered include free speech, anti-racism, nationalism, colonialism, and Zionism. Credit will be granted for only one of PHIL_O 405 or POLI_O 405 when the subject matter is of the same nature. Third-year standing. [0-0-3] Equivalency: POLI_O 405.
Intensive study of a major philosopher or school such as Descartes, Hume, Empiricism, Rationalism, or the British utilitarians. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL_O.
Study of Kant's critical philosophy. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 6 credits of PHIL.
Intensive study of a major philosopher such as Wittgenstein, Russell, or Heidegger, or school such as pragmatism or logical empiricism. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL_O.
Concepts of history and historical explanation, historical progress, purpose, necessity, law and causation. Hegel, Marx, Vico, Spengler, Pareto, Collingwood, Croce, and Toynbee, as well as contemporary figures. Students will be expected to have an adequate knowledge of ancient or modern history. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL or 6 credits of HIST.
Philosophical approaches to reference, meaning, and truth, given their correlation with linguistic expressions and speech. Topics may include interpretation and translation, literal and figurative language, pragmatics and the norms of conversation, the nature of language. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 6 credits of PHIL, including one of PHIL 120, PHIL 220.
Logicism, formalism, and constructivism; implications of metatheorems such as those of Gödel and Church; mathematical truth; mathematics and mental construction; mathematics and the physical world. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing in an Arts program and 3 credits of PHIL; or third-year standing in a Science program.
Normative responses to war and peace, just war theory, pacifism, and realism. This seminar will focus on the just war tradition, engaging with both historical and contemporary authors and debates. [0-0-3] Prerequisite: One of PHIL_O 111, PHIL_O 210, PHIL_O 230, POLI_O 240, POLI_O 250. Third-year standing.
Moral problems in contemporary business and professional practice, general moral theory, the law, and policy formation. Corporate social and environmental responsibility, employee rights, preferential hiring and affirmative action programs, conflicts of interest, advertising, whistle blowing, and self-regulation. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Moral problems arising in the context of human relationships to nature and non-human living things, in terms of both general moral theory and policy formation. Moral standing, animal rights, obligations to future generations, pollution, hazardous materials, depletion of natural resources, treatment of non-human living things. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: 3 credits of PHIL or SUST 104. Third-year standing.
Central contemporary philosophical approaches to global political systems and governance. Clarifying the meaning of basic political concepts (e.g., citizenship, civil society, liberty and human rights) in both a global context and when necessary outside the traditional framework of the nation state. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
The nature of theory in psychology and its relation to other scientific theories. The status of imagery in psychological theories; the extent to which human irrationality can be experimentally demonstrated; introspection as a source of evidence. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: 12 credits of PHIL and/or PSYO.
The nature of the mental and physical; the relation between minds and bodies; the character of psychological explanation. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing and 3 credits of PHIL.
Issues common to all sciences. Philosophical questions including the character of scientific laws, theories and revolutions, the nature of scientific confirmation, causality, explanation and prediction, and the use of logic and probability. Difficulties in the interpretation of atomic physics and questions about relationships between biology and psychology. No philosophical background is assumed. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing in Arts and 3 credits of PHIL; or third-year standing in Science.
Probability and induction; foundations of measurement; theory construction. [3-0-0] Prerequisite: Third-year standing in Arts and 3 credits of PHIL_O; or third-year standing in Science.
Self-directed, collaborative studies, in a group-learning environment, initiated and coordinated by senior undergraduate students with the supervision of a faculty sponsor. Course structure, enrolment and delivery methods will comply with the Student Directed Seminars Guidelines. At least third-year standing and permission of the Department are required. [0-0-3]
Students will undertake supervised investigation of a topic in philosophy agreed upon by the supervising faculty member and the student, and approved by the dean of the faculty. They will complete a significant amount of independent reading and analysis, and produce a major term paper at the end of the course. [0-0-1] Prerequisite: Fourth-year standing, 12 credits of PHIL; a minimum grade average of at least 72% in all completed PHIL courses; and permission of the department head.
Reports and group discussions of selected topics for fourth-year Honours students. Development of a research proposal. [0-0-3] Prerequisite: Admission to the PPE Honours Program with an emphasis in Philosophy (option A) or Law (option D).
Students will undertake a supervised investigation of an assigned topic in public policy. They will be expected to do a significant amount of independent reading and analysis and to produce a major term paper at the end of the course. Credit will be granted for only one of PHIL 497, ECON 497, or POLI 497. [0-0-1] Prerequisite: Fourth-year standing in the PPE Major program, with an emphasis in Philosophy (option C) and permission of the instructor.
Supervised investigation of an interdisciplinary topic relevant to PPE. Requires a significant amount of independent reading and analysis, and production of a major term paper at the end of the course. [0-0-3] Prerequisite: PHIL 496 and permission of the instructor.