To remain in good standing in the department, each PhD student in both the four-year and the five-year PhD programs must meet logic requirements, which include demonstrating basic competence in logic by August 31 of Academic Year 2 (four-year program) and August 31 of Academic Year 3 (five-year program).
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 end up with a grade of B+ or above.
- In courses with a summative final exam, students must take the final examination and earn a grade of B+ or above.
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.
Please note that auditing is not an official status and gets no transcript recognition. Meeting the Logic Requirement, however, is recognized on your transcript.