Logic Requirement

To remain in good standing in the department, each PhD student in the five-year program must meet logic requirements, which include demonstrating basic competence in logic by August 31 of Academic Year 3.

How do you demonstrate basic competence in logic? It is officially defined as “proficiency in first-order symbolic logic with identity equivalent to a grade of B+ in PHL245H”—you must earn a grade of B+ or better in the course PHL245H—Modern Symbolic Logic at U of T or one equivalent to it elsewhere. Most philosophy graduate students will have demonstrated this competence before beginning their doctoral studies.

In case you have not done so previously, you must acquire this competence in addition to the required number of courses in the PhD program.

You have two options for demonstrating basic competence in logic:

  • Earning a grade of at least a B+ in an undergraduate course equivalent to PHL245H;

OR

  • Taking PHL245H as a non-credit course (“auditing”) and earning at least a B+.
    • In courses with a final exam that is not summative, students must complete all assignments and final exam (if any) and end with a grade of B+ or above.
    • In courses with a summative final exam, students need not complete all assignments and must only take the final examination and earn a grade of B+ or above.

Note: Students auditing PHL245H to satisfy the logic requirement must ensure they take the tests/exam offered for that particular course by the instructor in question – tests/exams can change from year to year.

To take up the auditing option, students must write to the relevant faculty member and request being added to their course via Quercus as an auditor and to confirm that they are open to grading the student’s exam, as this must be done by a faculty member and not a graduate student.

PHL245H is often taught by a graduate student in the summer term. If you plan to audit PHL245H in the summer and it is being taught by a graduate student, you must arrange for a faculty member to grade your tests and/or final exam for the course.

Please note that auditing is not an official status and gets no transcript recognition. Meeting the Logic Requirement, however, is recognized on your transcript.