Conventional wisdom suggests that philosophy isn’t for kids: it’s too abstract, too attention-demanding, and too serious. Not so, according to the minds behind UTM’s new philosophy summer camps. The Little Thinkers Camp and the Philosophy Explorers Camp introduce children aged 6-11 to the wonders of philosophical questions about knowledge, reality, … Read More
Published: May 11, 2026
Posted In: Announcements, Faculty, General, St. George, UTM, UTSC
It is with great sadness that the Department of Philosophy remembers our cherished colleague Professor Emeritus Hans George Herzberger, a philosopher and logician with a varied set of interests from Gottlob Frege’s inexpressible to the silence of Buddha. He passed away in the Rishi Valley, India, on January 30, 2026, … Read More
Published: January 9, 2026
Posted In: Alumni, General, St. George, UTM, UTSC
In time for the new year–and the intention-setting that often goes along with it–Philosophy alumna Valerie Tiberius (BA 1990) spoke to MPR News about the difference between a pursuit of happiness and the pursuit of what she calls “flourishing.” Tiberius is now a professor of Philosophy at the University of … Read More
Published: November 7, 2025
Posted In: Awards and Honours, General, St. George, UTM, UTSC
Yiwen (Molly) Mao, Sophie Zhang, and Diksha Mehta–they emerged victorious, but “competition was exceptionally tough this year” in the 2025 Aristotle Contest edition, says Jim John, the Department of Philosophy’s high school coordinator and lead of the Aristotle Contest adjudicating committee. Rising above the crowd in a highly competitive field, … Read More
Published: September 30, 2025
Posted In: General, Graduate, St. George, UTM, UTSC
In “The Privacy of First-Personal Perspective: Engaging with Indian Philosophy of Cosmopsychism,” published on the Blog of the APA, Philosophy graduate student Munema Moiz discusses one of contemporary philosophy’s most pertinent challenges–the so-called hard problem of consciousness–and then critically examines it through the lens of non-Western thought, specifically, that of … Read More
Published: September 8, 2025
Posted In: Faculty, General, Graduate, St. George, Undergraduate
We are saddened to announce the passing of Professor Emeritus Brian Cantwell Smith on September 6, 2025. Although he held his main appointment in the Faculty of Information, Cantwell Smith had been cross-appointed in Philosophy since his arrival at the University of Toronto in 2003, and he regularly taught courses … Read More
Published: May 28, 2025
Posted In: Faculty, General, Graduate, In the News, St. George, Undergraduate
Mark Kingwell’s latest book, Question Authority: A Polemic about Trust in Five Meditations (Biblioasis 2025), examines what he perceives as an immense crisis of trust in institutions of democratic authority and knowledge production. Kingwell asks readers to reassess how they think for themselves, also offering suggestions for restoring a healthy … Read More
Published: October 3, 2024
Posted In: Faculty, General, St. George, UTM, UTSC
As part of the Landmark Project on King’s College Circle, a tree and paver have been installed to honour the memory of two respected and beloved department members—André Gombay (1943-2014) and Joseph Boyle (1942-2016). This public recognition at the centre of the University of Toronto’s St. George campus became possible … Read More
Published: December 19, 2023
Posted In: General
All of us at the Department of Philosophy wish our community a safe, happy, and restful holiday season, as well as a peaceful, inspiring, and fruitful new year 2024. In line with the University of Toronto’s winter closure, the department’s administrative offices will close their doors at noon on Wednesday, … Read More
Published: March 28, 2023
Posted In: Alumni, Faculty, General, Graduate, In the News, St. George, Undergraduate, UTM, UTSC
By Petra Dreiser A lone, forest-green banner fluttered in the breeze outside the University of Toronto Mississauga’s (UTM) Instructional Building on the morning of Saturday, March 4, 2023. It offered a rare flash of colour in a landscape blanketed in layers of frosty white by the season’s most intense … Read More
Published: March 16, 2023
Posted In: Announcements, Faculty, General, Graduate, St. George, Undergraduate
The department extends a warm welcome to visiting professor Taras Lyutyi from Ukraine. An expert in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, he hails from the Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA). His academic interests further extend to philosophical anthropology and the philosophy … Read More
Published: February 13, 2023
Posted In: Alumni, Awards and Honours, General, Graduate, St. George
We are delighted to see included in the latest issue of Dialogue (61.3), a special issue on the Prizes of the Canadian Philosophical Association, three names associated with our program. Caitlin Hamblin-Yule, one of our current PhD students, won a prestigious Congress Graduate Merit Award (CGMA) for her essay “The Gallows … Read More
