PhilosophyFaculty List
Program Director: W. Seager Email: philosophy-program-supervisor@utsc.utoronto.ca Guidelines for 1st year course selection Philosophy ProgramsSPECIALIST PROGRAM IN PHILOSOPHY (ARTS)Program Supervisor: W. Seager Email: philosophy-program-supervisor@utsc.utoronto.ca Program Requirements Students must complete at least 12.0 credits in Philosophy including PHLB50H3 Symbolic Logic I or PHLB55H3 Puzzles and Paradoxes, and at least 4.0 credits at the C- or D-level of which 1.0 must be at the D-level. MATC09H3 can be used as a Philosophy course for these purposes. Students are encouraged, though not required, to complete at least 0.5 credit as a reading course at the D-level. Note: PHLB99H3 Writing Philosophy, is strongly recommended for the Philosophy Specialist and Major programs and is important preparation for advanced C- and D-level studies in Philosophy. MAJOR PROGRAM IN PHILOSOPHY (ARTS) Program Supervisor: W. Seager Email: philosophy-program-supervisor@utsc.utoronto.ca
Note: PHLB99H3 Writing Philosophy, is strongly recommended for the Philosophy Specialist and Major programs and is important preparation for advanced C- and D-level studies in Philosophy.
Program Supervisor: W. Seager Email: philosophy-program-supervisor@utsc.utoronto.ca Philosophy CoursesPHLA10H3 Reason and Truth An introduction to philosophy focusing on issues of rationality,
metaphysics and the theory of knowledge. Topics may include: the nature
of mind, freedom, the existence of God, the nature and knowability
of reality. These topics will generally be introduced through the
study of key texts from the history of philosophy. Ethics is concerned with concrete questions about how we ought to
treat one another as well as more general questions about how to justify
our ethical beliefs. This course is an introduction that both presents
basic theories of ethics and considers their application to contemporary
moral problems. This course examines ethical issues raised by our actions and our
policies for the environment. Do human beings stand in a moral relationship
to the environment? Does the environment have moral value and do non-human
animals have moral status? These fundamental questions underlie more
specific contemporary issues such as sustainable development, alternative
energy, and animal rights. An examination of challenges posed by the radical changes and developments
in modern and contemporary art forms. For example, given the continuously
exploding nature of art works, what do they have in common - what
is it to be an artwork? This course examines some of the classic problems concerning literary
texts, such as the nature of interpretation, questions about the power
of literary works and their relationship to ethical thought, and problems
posed by fictional works - how can we learn from works that are fictional
and how can we experience genuine emotions from works that we know
are fictional? An examination of contemporary or historical issues that force us
to consider and articulate our values and commitments. The course
will select issues from a range of possible topics, which may include
globalization, medical ethics, war and terrorism, the role of government
in a free society, equality and discrimination. An examination of philosophical issues in ethics, social theory,
and theories of human nature as they bear on business. What moral
obligations do businesses have? Can social or environmental costs
and benefits be calculated in a way relevant to business decisions?
Do political ideas have a role within business? What is well-being? What is autonomy? These two notions are central
in ethical theory, law, bioethics, and in the popular imagination.
In this course we will explore well-being and autonomy in more depth,
and then consider how our views about well-being and autonomy shape
our views about ethics. Ethics is concerned with right action - with questions of how we
should treat one another. This course will focus on ethical questions
that arise in the context of international, cross-cultural interactions
with a particular focus on the interactions between the developed
world and the developing world. This course is an examination of moral and legal problems in medical
practice, in biomedical research, and in the development of health
policy. Topics may include: concepts of health and disease, patients'
rights, informed consent, allocation of scarce resources, euthanasia,
risks and benefits in research and others. A discussion of right and rights, justice, legality, and related
concepts. Particular topics may include: justifications for the legal
enforcement of morality, particular ethical issues arising out of
the intersection of law and morality, such as punishment, freedom
of expression and censorship, autonomy and paternalism, constitutional
protection of human rights. Philosophical issues about sex and sexual identity in the light of
biological, psychological and ethical theories of sex and gender;
the concept of gender; male and female sex roles; perverse sex; sexual
liberation; love and sexuality. What is feminism? What is a woman? Or a man? Are gender relations
natural or inevitable? Why do gender relations exist in virtually
every society? How do gender relations intersect with other social
relations, such as economic class, culture, race, sexual orientation,
etc.? A philosophical study of the nature, practice and value of education.
Major philosophical accounts of education will be examined. Topics
to be considered may include: the nature, aims, and content of education,
education and indoctrination, the role and justification of educational
institutions, authority and freedom in the school. This course will introduce some important thinkers in political philosophy,
such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. This course will introduce some important thinkers in political philosophy
from the 15th Century to the 19th Century. These may include Thomas
Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, G.W.F. Hegel, John Stuart
Mill, or Karl Marx. An examination of the nature of knowledge, and our ability to achieve
it. Topics may include the question of whether any of our beliefs
can be certain, the problem of scepticism, the scope and limits of
human knowledge, the nature of perception, rationality, and theories
of truth. A study of the views and approaches pioneered by such writers as
Kierkegaard, Husserl, Jaspers, Heidegger and Sartre. Existentialism
has had influence beyond philosophy, impacting theology, literature
and psychotherapy. Characteristic topics include the nature of the
self and its relations to the world and society, self-deception, and
freedom of choice. A survey of some main themes and figures of ancient philosophical
thought, concentrating on Plato and Aristotle. Topics include the
ultimate nature of reality, knowledge, and the relationship between
happiness and virtue. For many philosophers "God" is a central concept because it signifies
the fundamental cause of the universe, even Nature as a whole. Is
God just this first cause, or also a benevolent agent? Can we have
an idea of God? Can we prove the existence of God? Texts by Plato,
Aristotle, Anselm, Hobbes, Pascal, Spinoza, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche,
Gödel. This course covers the major figures and themes in seventeenth and
eighteenth century philosophy. Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Berkeley,
and Hume will be covered. Metaphysical and epistemological themes
will be emphasized. 17th century thinkers vigorously debated what constitutes the correct
picture of the world (what are the basic entities, how things are
caused, how minds and bodies relate) and its consequences for morality
(our place in nature, possibility of free will, and of good and evil).
Readings from Descartes to Kant. An introduction to formal, symbolic techniques of reasoning. Sentential
logic and quantification theory (or predicate logic), including identity
will be covered. The emphasis is on appreciation of and practice in
techniques, for example, the formal analysis of English statements
and arguments, and for construction of clear and rigorous proofs. A study of methods and techniques for developing effective reasoning
and argumentation. This course aims to develop skill in identifying
ambiguities, evaluating premises, constructing counter-examples, and
reconstructing arguments. This course provides an important foundation
for Philosophy students, while offering essential critical skills
for all students, no matter what their Program. Philosophy often begins with a puzzle or paradox. Zeno once convincingly
argued that motion was impossible, but people continue to move. The
"liar's paradox" seems to show that everything is both true and false,
but that cannot be right. In this course, we will puzzle through these
and related issues. A consideration of problems in metaphysics: the attempt to understand
'how everything fits together' in the most general sense of this phrase.
Some issues typically covered include: the existence of God, the nature
of time and space, the nature of mind and the problem of the freedom
of the will. A study of philosophical questions raised by the natural and social
sciences. Topics discussed may include: the nature of rationality
and the role of values in science, the description of scientific methodology,
the structure of scientific theory, and the question of how or in
what sense science progresses. How are special science entities (treated by chemistry, biology,
psychology) related lower-level, ultimately fundamental physical entities?
Are higher-level entities "nothing over and above" or rather somehow
"emergent" from lower-level entities? In this course we will identify
and assess a variety of metaphysical options for understanding such
intertheoretic relations. An examination of philosophical issues about language. Philosophical
questions to be covered include: what is the relation between mind
and language, what is involved in linguistic communication, is language
an innate biological feature of human beings, how do words manage
to refer to things, and what is meaning. An examination of questions concerning the nature of mind. Philosophical
questions considered may include: what is consciousness, what is the
relation between the mind and the brain, how did the mind evolve and
do animals have minds, what is thinking, what are feelings and emotions,
and can machines have minds. A study of the hypotheses and theories that ground cognitive science.
Fundamental questions include: what is a computational system and
how can a physical system think and understand language? The course
examines the functionalist theory of mind, the relationship between
syntax and semantics, and the theory of interpretable formal systems. An exploration of theories which provide answers to the question
'What is a human being?', answers that might be summarized
with catchphrases such as: 'Man is a rational animal,' 'Man
is a political animal,' 'Man is inherently individual,'
'Man is inherently social,' etc. Authors studied are: Aristotle,
Hobbes, Rousseau, Darwin, Marx, Freud and Sartre. Philosophical writing emphasizes clear reasoning. Students will learn
to analyze texts, to discern and assess argument structure, and to
develop techniques for writing a clear well-argued analysis of a subject
matter. These key writing skills lie at the core of philosophical
method and they are also applicable across subject areas and disciplines.
This course is strongly recommended for philosophy specialists
and majors, open to philosophy minors, and open to all other students
by permission of the instructor. An exploration of some current issues concerning the various forms
of art such as: the role of the museum, the loss of beauty and the
death of art. Philosophers offer systematic theories of ethics: theories that simultaneously
explain what ethics is, why it matters, and what it tells us to do.
This course is a careful reading of classic philosophical texts by
the major systematic thinkers in the Western tradition of ethics.
Particular authors read may vary from instructor to instructor. Philosophical ethics simultaneously aims to explain what ethics is,
why it matters, and what it tells us to do. This is what is meant
by the phrase 'ethical theory.' In this class we will explore specific
topics in ethical theory in some depth. Specific topics may vary with
the instructor. Feminist philosophy includes both criticism of predominant approaches
to philosophy that may be exclusionary for women and others, and the
development of new approaches to various areas of philosophy. One
or more topics in feminist philosophy will be discussed in some depth.
Particular topics will vary with the instructor. A follow up to PHLB20H3. This
course will consider one or two epistemological topics in depth, with
an emphasis on class discussion. This course focuses on the thought of Plato and Aristotle, with some
attention to the pre-Socratics and Hellenistic thinkers, including
ancient atomists and the Stoics. In this course we study the major figures of early modern rationalism,
Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, with a particular emphasis on topics
such as substance, knowledge and sense perception, the mind-body problem,
and the existence and nature of God. In this course we study major figures of early modern empiricism,
Locke, Berkeley, Hume, with a particular emphasis on topics such as
substance, knowledge and sense perception, the mind-body problem,
and the existence and nature of God. This course focuses on the thought of Immanuel Kant, making connections
to some of Kant’s key predecessors such as Hume or Leibniz.
The course will focus either on Kant’s metaphysics and epistemology,
or his ethics, or his aesthetics. This course explores the foundation of Analytic Philosophy in the
late 19th and early 20th century, concentrating on Frege, Russell,
and Moore. Special attention paid to the discovery of mathematical
logic, its motivations from and consequences for metaphysics and the
philosophy of mind. After consolidating the material from Symbolic Logic I, we will introduce
necessary background for metalogic, the study of the properties of
logical systems. We will introduce set theory, historically developed
in parallel to logic. We conclude with some basic metatheory of the
propositional logic learned in Symbolic Logic I. What are numbers? Are they physical? Mental? Created by humans? How
do we know anything about numbers, if we never see or touch them?
What is mathematical truth? Such questions should concern mathematics
students interested in the foundations of mathematics; and philosophy
students, as a rich source of philosophical puzzlement. A follow up to PHLB60H3. This
course will consider one or two metaphysical topics in depth, with
an emphasis on class discussion. A follow up to PHLB70H3. This
course will consider one or two topics in the Philosophy of Science
in depth, with an emphasis on class discussion. A critical postcolonial examination of some aspects of western European
philosophy. How has western philosophy been shaped by the colonization
of other parts of the globe? We will examine modern western philosophy's
ideals of rationality, universality, and progress in this light. Advance Issues in the Philosophy of Mind. For example, an examination
of arguments for and against the idea that machines can be conscious,
can think, or can feel. Topics may include: Turing's test of machine
intelligence, the argument based on Gödel's theorem that there
is an unbridgeable gulf between human minds and machine capabilities,
Searle's Chinese Room thought experiment. Advanced topic(s) in Analytic Philosophy. Sample contemporary topics:
realism/antirealism; truth; interrelations among metaphysics, epistemology,
philosophy of mind and of science. An examination of some central philosophical problems of contemporary
political philosophy. A discussion of the question 'What is justice?' The question has
been asked since the time of Plato, but seems to resist definitive
answers. This course will examine debates about justice in recent
political philosophy. Authors discussed may include: John Rawls, Robert
Nozick, Bruce Ackerman, Michale Sandel, Iris Young. Advanced topics in the Philosophy of mind, such as an exploration
of philosophical problems and theories of consciousness. Topics to
be examined may include: the nature of consciousness and 'qualitative
experience', the existence and nature of animal consciousness, the
relation between consciousness and intentionality, as well as various
philosophical theories of consciousness. This is an intensive seminar for students specializing and majoring
in philosophy. The course will develop advanced philosophical skills
by focusing on textual analysis, argumentative techniques, writing
and oral presentation. The course also aims to foster a cohesive cohort
among philosophy specialists and majors. Each year, the course will
focus on a different topic drawn from the core areas of philosophy
for its subject matter. This course is strongly recommended
for Philosophy Specialist and Majors. This course offers in-depth examination of the philosophical approach
offered by one of the three principal Rationalist philosophers, Descartes,
Spinoza or Leibniz. This course examines Analytic Philosophy in the mid-20th century,
concentrating on Wittgenstein, Ramsey, Carnap, and Quine. Special
attention paid to the metaphysical foundations of logic, and the nature
of linguistic meaning, including the relations between "truth-conditional"
and "verificationist" theories. Symbolic Logic deals with formal languages: you work inside formal
proof systems, and also consider the "semantics", dealing with truth,
of formal languages. Instead of working inside formal systems, Metalogic
treats systems themselves as objects of study, from the outside. What is a person? Are persons primarily physical, primarily psychological,
or both? What physical and psychological changes can a person undergo
and still be the same person? In this course, we will explore several
answers to these questions, offered by philosophers including Plato,
Aristotle, Locke, Hume, Parfit, Lewis, and others. This course offers in-depth examination of selected contemporary
theories and issues in philosophy of mind, such as theories of perception
or of consciousness, and contemporary research examining whether minds
must be embodied or embedded in a larger environment.
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