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PHL Philosophy CoursesPHL100Y1 The central branches of philosophy - logic, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and
ethics. Some time may be devoted to questions in political philosophy and philosophy of
religion. The course is concerned with such questions as: What is sound reasoning? What
can we know? What is ultimately real? Is morality rational? Do humans have free will? Is
there a God? PHL102Y1 The central branches of philosophy - logic, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and
ethics - introduced with the emphasis on the last three. A selection of works by such
philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, and one or
more contemporary authors are studied. PHL200Y1 Central texts of the pre-socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and post-Aristotelian philosophy. PHL201H1 An introduction of philosophy focusing on the connections among its main branches:
logic, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, and ethics. This course is intended for those
with little or no philosophy background but have completed four FCEs in any subject. PHL205H1 A study of issues such as the relations of reason and faith, the being and the nature
of God, and the problem of universals in the writings of such philosophies as Augustine,
Boethius, and Anselm and Abelard. PHL206H1 A study of issues such as the relations of reason and faith, the being and the nature
of God, and the structure of the universe in the writings of such philosophers as Aquinas
and Ockham. PHL210Y1 Central texts of such philosophers as Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant. PHL215H An examination of central themes in the thought of Kierkegaard (e.g., the leap of faith, paradox, decision) and Nietzsche (e.g., will to power, the death of God, eternal return, the overman) through a selection of their texts. PHL216H1 An examination of some leading themes in the theory of Karl Marx. PHL220H1 This influential way of thinking in philosophy, theology, psychotherapy, and literature became prominent with such 20th-century authors as Jaspers, Heidegger, Buber, Camus, and Sartre, but it had its roots in the 19th-century, especially in the writings of Kierkegaard. Principal themes: nature and predicament of the self, self-deception, and freedom of choice. PHL230H1 An introduction to epistemology: the nature and scope of human knowledge. Perception, meaning, evidence, certainty, skepticism, belief, objectivity, and truth. PHL231H1 An introduction to metaphysics: conceptions of the overall framework of reality. Typical problems include: existence and essence, categories of being, mind and body, freedom and determinism, causality, space and time, God. PHL235H1 Some central issues in the philosophy of religion such as the nature of religion and
religious faith, arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, varieties of
religious experience, religion and human autonomy. (Offered in alternate years) PHL236Y1 The distinctive features of religious living; the relationship of religious living and
critical thinking; the meaning of “God”; arguments regarding the existence and
nature of God; the problems of God and evil; the meaning of death; arguments regarding the
existence and nature of a personal afterlife. PHL237H1 An introduction to the main philosophical traditions of China, including Confucianism,
Taoism, Buddhism and their principal schools of thought. PHL240H1 (formerly PHL240Y) 39L PHL243H1 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. PHL244H1 Aspects of human nature, e.g., emotion, instincts, motivation. Theories of human nature, e.g., behaviourism, psychoanalysis. PHL245H1 The application of symbolic techniques to the assessment of arguments. Propositional calculus and quantification theory. Logical concepts, techniques of natural deduction. PHL246H1 The elements of axiomatic probability theory and its main interpretations (frequency,
logical, and subjective). Reasoning with probabilities in decision-making and science. PHL247H1 The area of informal logic - the logic of ordinary language, usually non-deductive.
Criteria for the critical assessment of arguments as strong or merely persuasive.
Different types of arguments and techniques of refutation; their use and abuse. PHL255H1 An examination of (e.g.) ESP, astrology, race and I.Q., scientific creationism, psychoanalysis, sociobiology; the principles of good science as opposed to pseudo-science, especially in “borderline” cases; misuses of science. PHL265H1 Central issues in political philosophy, e.g., political and social justice, liberty and the criteria of good government are introduced through a comparative and critical study of major philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle in the classical period and Hobbes, Mill, and Marx in the modern era. PHL267H1 Main types of feminist theory: liberal, Marxist, Existential and “Radical”. A number of ethical, political and psychological issues are considered. PHL270H1 The concept of law and of the rule of law, natural law, positivism, and the common law
tradition; theories of adjudication. PHL271H1 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. PHL272H1 The nature, aims, and content of education; learning theory; education and indoctrination; the teaching of morals and the morality of teaching; the role and justification of educational institutions, their relation to society and to individual goals; authority and freedom in the school. (Offered in alternate years) PHL273H1 A study of environmental issues raising questions of concern to moral and political philosophers, such as property rights, responsibility for future generations, and the interaction of human beings with the rest of nature. Typical issues: sustainable development, alternative energy, the preservation of wilderness areas, animal rights. PHL275H1 Central issues in ethics are introduced through a comparative and critical study of some of the major figures in the history of moral philosophy, such as Aristotle, Hume, Kant, and Mill. Some 20th-century philosophers may also be studied. PHL278H1 Moral and political issues concerning warfare: the theory of the “just war”, pacifism, moral constraints on the conduct of war, war as an instrument of foreign policy, the strategy of deterrence. Special attention to the implications of nuclear weapons. (Offered in alternate years) PHL281Y1 An introduction to the study of moral and legal problems in medical practice and in
biomedical research; the development of health policy. Topics include: concepts of health
and disease, patient rights, informed consent, allocation of scarce resources, euthanasia,
abortion, genetic and reproductive technologies, human research, and mental health. PHL285H1 A historical and systematic introduction to the main questions in the philosophy of art and beauty from Plato to the present. These include the relation between art and beauty, the nature of aesthetic experience, definitions and theories of art, the criteria of excellence in the arts, and the function of art criticism. (Offered in alternate years) PHL288H1 The literary expression of philosophical ideas and the interplay between literature and philosophy. Such philosophical issues as the nature and origin of good and evil in human beings, the nature and extent of human freedom and responsibility, and the diverse forms of linguistic expression. Such authors as Wordsworth, Mill, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Miller, Camus, and Lawrence are studied. (Offered in alternate years) PHL295H1 Philosophical issues in ethics, social theory, and theories of human nature insofar as they bear on contemporary conduct of business. Issues include: Does business have moral responsibilities? Can social costs and benefits be calculated? Does modern business life determine human nature or the other way around? Do political ideas and institutions such as democracy have a role within business? PHL299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 42 for details. PHL303H1 Selected metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical themes in Plato’s dialogues. PHL304H1 Selected anthropological, ethical and metaphysical themes in the works of Aristotle. PHL307H1 Central themes in St. Augustine’s Christian philosophy, such as the problem of
evil, the interior way to God, the goal of human life and the meaning of history. (Offered
in alternate years) PHL308H1 Philosophical innovations that St. Thomas Aquinas made in the course of constructing a
systematic theology: essence and existence, the Five Ways, separate intelligences, the
human soul and ethics. (Offered in alternate years) PHL310H1 Central philosophical problems in Descartes, Spinoza, or Leibniz. PHL311H1 Central philosophical problems in Locke, Berkeley, or Hume. PHL312H1 A systematic study of The Critique of Pure Reason. PHL315H1 The systems of thought that followed Kant, including Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. Then
later authors such as Schopenhauer, Marx, and Nietzsche who were, in part, critics of
Hegel, but who were also creative thinkers who shaped the future. (Offered in alternate
years) PHL316H1 An examination of Hegel’s project of absolute knowing, its philosophical
assumptions, and its implications for history, science and experience. PHL318H1 Interpretations of Marxism: pro- and anti-Marxist arguments and concerns down to the
present day. Possible focuses are the philosophical developments or critiques of Marxism
by Lenin, Mao, Gramsci, Lukacs, Althusser, Habermas, the “analytic Marxists”, or
others. (Offered in alternate years) PHL320H1 Phenomenology is a method used in the analysis of human awareness and subjectivity. It
has been applied in the social sciences, humanities, as well as in philosophy. Texts
studied are from Husserl and later practitioners, e.g., Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty,
Gurwitsch, and Ricoeur. (Offered in alternate years) PHL321H1 Some work from the 1920’s (either Being and Time or contemporary lectures) and
selections from Heidegger’s later work on poetry, technology, and history are
studied. Heidegger’s position within phenomenology and within the broader history of
thought is charted. (Offered in alternate years) PHL322H1 German and French philosophy after World War II, focusing on such topics as: debates
about humanism, hermeneutics, critical theory, the structuralist movement, its successors
such as deconstruction. Typical authors: Heidegger, Gadamer, Habermas, Levi-Strauss,
Foucault, Derrida. PHL325H (formerly PHL225H) 39L PHL326H Wittgenstein’s views on the structure and function of language, meaning, the
possibility of a private language, and the concepts of feeling and thinking. The Tractatus
Logico-Philosophicus and the Philosophical Investigations. PHL330Y1 (formerly PHL331Y) 78L PHL335H1 Some specific problem(s) in the philosophy of religion, such as the relationship of religious faith and religious belief, the ontological argument for the existence of God, theories about divine transcendence, the philosophical presuppositions of religious doctrines, the modern critique of religion. PHL336H1 An introduction to the major thinkers in classical Islamic philosophy, with emphasis
placed on developing a properly philosophical understanding of the issues and arguments.
Topics include the existence of God; creation and causality; human nature and knowledge;
the nature of ethical obligations; and the constitution of the ideal political state. PHL337H1 An intermediate level treatment of such topics as: human nature; good and evil; the
role of emotions; the metaphysical ultimate. PHL338H1 PHL338H1 A selection of texts and issues in Jewish philosophy, for example, Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed, Buber’s The Prophetic Faith, prophecy and revelation, Divine Command and morality, creation and eternity, the historical dimension of Jewish thought. (Offered in alternate years) PHL340H1 Typical issues include: the mind-brain identity theory; intentionality and the mental,
personal identity. PHL341H1 Human action, and the nature of freedom and responsibility in the light of contemporary
knowledge concerning the causation of behaviour. PHL342H1 (formerly PHL242H) 39L PHL344H1 Soundness and completeness of propositional and quantificational logic, undecidability
of quantificational logic, and other metalogical topics. PHL345H1 A sequel to PHL245H, developing skills in
quantificational logic and treating of definite descriptions. The system developed is used
to study a selection of the following topics: philosophical uses of logic, formal systems,
set theory, non-classical logics, and metalogic. PHL346H1 Platonism versus nominalism, the relation between logic and mathematics, implications
of Gödel’s theorem, formalism and intuitionism. PHL347H1 Formal study of the concepts of necessity and possibility; modal propositional and
quantificational logic; possible-worlds semantics; the metaphysics of modality. (Offered
in alternate years) PHL349H1 Axiomatic set theory developed in a practical way, as a logical tool for philosophers,
with some attention to philosophical problems surrounding it. (Offered in alternate years) PHL351H1 (formerly PHL250H) 39L PHL355H1 PHL355H1 The structure and methods of science: explanation, methodology, realism and
instrumentalism. PHL356H1 Introduction to philosophical issues which arise in modern physics, especially in
Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Topics include: the nature of spacetime, conventionality
in geometry, determinism, and the relation between observation and existence. (Offered in
alternate years) PHL357H1 Philosophical issues in the foundations of biology, e.g., the nature of life,
evolutionary theory; controversies about natural selection; competing mechanisms, units of
selection; the place of teleology in biology; biological puzzles about sex and sexual
reproduction; the problem of species; genetics and reductionism; sociobiology; natural and
artificial life. PHL362H1 Typical questions include: Has history any meaning? Can there be general theories of history? How are the findings of historians related to the theories of metaphysics and of science? Is history deterministic? Must the historian make value judgements? Is history science or an art? Are there historical forces or spirits of an epoch? (Offered in alternate years) PHL365H1 A study of some of the central problems of political philosophy, addressed to
historical and contemporary political theorists. (Offered in alternate years) PHL370H1 Major issues in philosophy of law, such as legal positivism and its critics, law and
liberalism, feminist critiques of law, punishment and responsibility. PHL373H1 An intermediate-level examination of key issues in environmental philosophy, such as
the ethics of animal welfare, duties to future generations, deep ecology, ecofeminism,
sustainable development and international justice. PHL375H1 A study of some of the main problems in moral philosophy, such as the objectivity of
values, the nature of moral judgements, rights and duties, the virtues, and
consequentialism. PHL381H1 An intermediate-level study of problems in biomedical and behavioural research with
human subjects: informed voluntary consent, risk and benefit, experimental therapy,
randomized clinical trials, research codes and legal issues, dependent groups (human
embryos, children, the aged, hospital patients, the dying, prisoners, the mentally ill.
(Offered in alternate years) PHL382H1 An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the philosophical
significance of death, the high-tech prolongation of life, definition and determination of
death, suicide, active and passive euthanasia, the withholding of treatment, palliative
care and the control of pain, living wills; recent judicial decisions. (Offered in
alternate years) PHL383H1 An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the concepts of
mental health and illness, mental competence, dangerousness and psychiatric
confidentiality, mental institutionalization, involuntary treatment and behaviour control,
controversial therapies; legal issues: the Mental Health Act, involuntary commitment, the
insanity defence. (Offered in alternate years) PHL384H1 An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the ontological and
moral status of the human embryo and fetus; human newborn, carrier and prenatal genetic
screening for genetic defect, genetic therapy; the reproductive technologies (e.g.,
artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization); recent legislative proposals and
judicial decisions. (Offered in alternate years) PHL385H1 Selected topics in the philosophy of art. Such issues as the following are discussed:
whether different arts require different aesthetic principles; relations between art and
language; the adequacy of traditional aesthetics to recent developments in the arts; art
as an institution. (Offered in alternate years) PHL398H0/399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. See page 42 for details. PHL401H1 (formerly PHL495H) 26S PHL404H1 (formerly PHL491H) 26S PHL406H1 (formerly PHL492H) 26S PHL407H1 (formerly PHL493H) 26S PHL408H1 (formerly PHL494H) 26S PHL409H1 New Books Seminar (formerly PHL489H) 26S PHL451H1 (formerly PHL488H) 39L PHL471H1 Advanced Topics in Greek Philosophy (formerly PHL400H)
26S PHL472H1 Advanced Topics in Mediaeval Philosophy (formerly PHL405H)
26S PHL473H1 Advanced Topics in Modern Philosophy (formerly PHL410H)
26S PHL475H1 Recommended preparation: PHL275H/375H PHL476H1 Advanced Topics in Epistemology (formerly PHL430H)
26S PHL477H1 Advanced Topics in Metaphysics (formerly PHL435H) 26S PHL478H1 Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Religion (formerly PHL438H)
26S PHL479H1 Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Mind (formerly PHL440H)
26S PHL480H1 Advanced Topics in Logic (formerly PHL445H) 26S PHL481H1 Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Language (formerly PHL450H)
26S PHL482H1 Advanced Topics in Philosophy of Natural Science (formerly PHL455H) 26S PHL483H1 Advanced Topics in Social and Political Philosophy (formerly PHL465H) 26S PHL484H1 Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Law (formerly PHL470H)
26S PHL485H1 Recommended preparation: PHL285H/PHL385H PHL486H1 Advanced Topics in Philosophy of History (formerly PHL462H)
26S PHL490Y1 Individual Studies PHL496H1/497H1/498H1/499H1 Individual Studies |
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