Philosophy Courses |
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First Year Seminars The 199Y1 and 199H1 seminars are designed to provide the opportunity to work closely with an instructor in a class of no more than twenty-four students. These interactive seminars are intended to stimulate the students’ curiosity and provide an opportunity to get to know a member of the professorial staff in a seminar environment during the first year of study. Details here.
PHL100Y1 An introduction to the central branches of philosophy, such as logic, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, ethics, and political philosophy. Writings from the central figures in the history of Western and non-Western philosophy, as well as contemporary philosophers, may be considered. 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? PHL200Y1 Central texts of the pre-socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and post-Aristotelian philosophy. TRN200Y1 See “Trinity College Courses” PHL201H1 An introduction to 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 who 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 philosophers as Augustine, Boethius, 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. PHL217H1 An introduction to some of the post-Hegelian thinkers who inspired the various philosophical movements broadly referred to as “continental,” such as phenomenology, existentialism, deconstruction, and post-modernism. Questions include the will, faith, death, existence, history and politics, rationality and its limits, encountering an other. Authors studied may include: Kierkegaard, PHL232H1 An introduction to issues in the fundamental branches of philosophy: metaphysics, which considers the overall framework of reality; epistemology, or the theory of knowledge; and related problems in the philosophy of science. Topics in metaphysics may include: mind and body, causality, space and time, God, freedom and determinism; topics in epistemology may include perception, evidence, belief, truth, skepticism. 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) PHL237H1 An historical and systematic introduction to the main phases of Chinese philosophical development, including Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Neo-Confucianism; the challenge of Western thought and the development of modern Chinese Philosophy. PHL240H1 Consciousness and its relation to the body; personal identity and survival; knowledge of other minds; psychological events and behaviour. 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. HPS250H1 See “History & Philosophy of Science & Technology” COG250Y1 See “Cognitive Science” PHL265H1 An introduction to central issues in political philosophy, e.g., political and social justice, liberty and the criteria of good government. The writings of contemporary political philosophers, as well as major figures in the history of philosophy may be considered. PHL268H1 Is the objective of philosophy to understand and interpret the world, or to change it? A study of theorists who have taken philosophy to be a tool for social criticism. Topics studied may include feminism, critical race theory, anti-consumerism, the critique of mass society, and conservative cultural criticism. 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. 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 An introduction to central issues in ethics or moral philosophy, such as the objectivity of values, the nature of moral judgements, rights and duties, the virtues, and consequentialism. Readings may be drawn from a variety of contemporary and historical sources. PHL281H1 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 An 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. 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. Details here. PHL301H1 A study of selected Greek philosophers before Plato. Topics may include the Presocratic natural philosophers, Parmenides and the Eleatics, and the so-called sophistic movement. PHL302H1 A study of selected themes in post-Aristotelian philosophy. Topics may include Stoicism, Epicureanism, Neoplatonism, and various forms of scepticism. UNI302H1 See “University College Courses 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. 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. PHL309H1 Study of a major philosophical figure from the medieval period, such as Anselm, Abelard, Bonaventure, Maimonides, Avicenna, Duns Scotus, William of Ockham; or consideration of a central philosophical topic in a variety of medieval authors, for example, universals, individuation, the existence of God, free will and free choice, eternity and creation. PHL310H1 Central philosophical problems in philosophers such as Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, and their contemporaries. PHL311H1 Central philosophical problems in philosophers such as Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and their contemporaries. PHL313H1 Central philosophical problems arising in the early modern period. PHL314H1 A systematic study of The Critique of Pure Reason. PHL315H1 Central philosophical problems arising in the 19th century. PHL316H1 An examination of Hegel’s project of absolute knowing, its philosophical assumptions, and its implications for history, science and experience. PHL317H1 An examination of some of the leading themes in the philosophy of Karl Marx. Developments of Marxist philosophy by later thinkers, and critics of Marxism, may also be considered. PHL319H1 A study of the fundamentals of psychoanalytic theory from a philosophical perspective, focusing on the works of Freud and others. Topics include mind (conscious and unconscious), instinctual drives, mechanisms of defence, the structure of personality, civilization, the nature of conscience, and the status of psychoanalysis. PHL320H1 Phenomenology is a method used in the analysis of human awareness and subjectivity. It has been applied in the social sciences, in the humanities, and in philosophy. Texts studied are from Husserl and later practitioners, e.g., Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Gurwitsch, and Ricoeur. 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. 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. PHL323H1 A study of philosophical approaches to understanding various aspects of contemporary culture and/or society. Topics may include theories of modernity, capitalism and consumerism, architecture and design, cultural pluralism, globalization, media and internet. PHL325H1 An examination of some of the classic texts of early analytic philosophy, concentrating on the work of Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein. PHL326H1 Wittgenstein’s views on the structure and function of language, meaning, the possibility of a private language, and the concepts of feeling and thinking. PHL331H1 Historical and systematic approaches to topics in metaphysics, such as the nature of reality, substance and existence, necessity and possibility, causality, universals and particulars. PHL332H1 Historical and systematic approaches to topics in the theory of knowledge, such as truth, belief, justification, perception, a priori knowledge, certitude, skepticism, other minds. 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 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. 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 Topics include: philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence theory; the computational theory of the mind; functionalism vs. reductionism; the problems of meaning in the philosophy of mind. JPP343Y1 An examination of social and political thought concerning the nature of women and their role in society, including the relation between the family and “civil society”. The debate between Aristotle and Plato; treatment by early modern individualism; the anti-individualist theory; some major contemporary perspectives, especially liberal and Marxist feminism. (Given by the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science) PHL345H1 A sequel to PHL245H1, 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. PHL348H1 Soundness and completeness of propositional and quantificational logic, undecidability of quantificational logic, and other metalogical topics. PHL349H1 Axiomatic set theory developed in a practical way, as a logical tool for philosophers, with some attention to philosophical problems surrounding it. HPS350H1 See “History and Philosophy of Science and Technology” PHL351H1 The nature of language as a system of human communication, theories of meaning and meaningfulness, the relation of language to the world and to the human mind. 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. 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? PHL365H1 A study of some of the central problems of political philosophy, addressed to historical and contemporary political theorists. PHL366H1 A focused examination of a selected issue in political philosophy. PHL367H1 Selected issues and topics in the philosophy of feminism. 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 An intermediate-level study of selected issues in moral philosophy, or of influential contemporary or historical works in ethical theory. PHL376H1 A focused examination of a selected issue in moral philosophy. PHL378H1 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. PHL380H1 An intermediate-level study of moral problems that arise in international contexts, including issues of special interest in bioethics: moral universalism and relativism; global distributive justice; poverty relief and international aid; international health disparities; globalization and health; HIV/AIDS; intellectual property and access to essential medicines; clinical trials in developing countries; exploitation and the 10/90 gap. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. PHL388H1 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. PHL394H1 A study of the standards that can be used to judge the performance of economic systems, e.g., efficiency, fairness, maximization, along with the different institutional mechanisms that can be used to organize economic activity, e.g., markets or hierarchies, public or private ownership. PHL395H1 A focused examination of moral issues that arise in the conduct of business, in areas such as accounting and finance, corporate governance, human resources, environmental conduct, business lobbying and regulatory compliance. PHL398H0 PHL399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details here. PHL400H1 Advanced discussion of the principal figures and themes in ancient and/or medieval philosophy. PHL401H1 Advanced study of some of the principal figures in a particular historical, philosophical tradition. UNI401H1 See “University College Courses” PHL402H1 Advanced discussion of the principal figures and themes in the philosophy of the 17th and/or 18th centuries. PHL403H1 Advanced discussion of the principal figures and themes in 19th century philosophy. PHL404H1 Typical problems include the nature of knowledge and belief; perception; theories of truth and necessity; skepticism. PHL405H1 Advanced study of a problem in the philosophy of mind. PHL406H1 Typical problems include causality and determinism; ontological categories; mind and body; the objectivity of space and time. PHL407H1 Advanced discussion of issues in moral philosophy, including issues of applied ethics. PHL408H1 Topics vary but bridge two or more areas or traditions of philosophy. PHL409H1 Advanced study of key philosophical works published within the last five years. PHL410H1 Advanced study of recent philosophical discussions within the continental tradition. PHL411H1 Advanced study of some topic of current philosophical interest within the analytic tradition. PHL412H1 Advanced study of some topic in social or political philosophy. PHL413H1 Advanced study of some topic in an area of applied ethics, including bioethics, environmental ethics, and so on. PHL414H1 Advanced study of topics in the philosophy of religion. PHL415H1 Advanced study of some area or problem in the philosophy of science. PHL440H1 Advanced study of topics in bioethics, taught in conjunction with clinical bioethicists associated with the health care organization partners of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. PHL451H1 Advanced study of some topic in logic and/or the philosophy of language. PHL470H1 Philosophical exploration of the foundations and methodology of bioethics. Offered jointly with PHL 2145H. PHL471H1 Prerequisite: PHL200Y1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL472H1 Prerequisite: PHL200Y1/PHL205H1/ PHL206H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL473H1 Prerequisite: PHL210Y1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL475H1 Prerequisite: PHL275H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL476H1 Prerequisite: PHL232H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL477H1 Prerequisite: PHL232H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL478H1 Prerequisite: PHL235H1/PHL335H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL479H1 Prerequisite: UNI250Y1/PHL240H1/PHL340H1/ PHL341H1/PHL342H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL480H1 Prerequisite: Two of PHL344H1-PHL349H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL481H1 Prerequisite: PHL351H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL482H1 Prerequisite: One of PHL355H1 – PHL357H1 or HPS250H1, and permission of the instructor and Department PHL483H1 Prerequisite: PHL265H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL484H1 Prerequisite: PHL271H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL485H1 Prerequisite: PHL285H1/PHL385H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL486H1 Prerequisite: PHL362H1 and permission of the instructor and Department PHL487H1 PHL488H1 PHL489Y1 Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor and Department PHL490Y1 PHL495H1 PHL496H1 PHL497H1 PHL498H1 PHL499H1 DR=HUM; BR=TBA |