2025-26 Fall/Winter 100-level Courses
Note: PHL100Y1 and PHL101Y1 are exclusive of each other and have the same learning outcomes.
PHL100Y1Y – Ancient Wisdom, Modern Insights: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy
Prof. Donald Ainslie
Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:00
This course offers an introduction to philosophy through a historical survey. In the first term, we look at the great ancient traditions of China, Greece, South Asia, and the Islamic world as they explore the nature of morality, the structure of reality, the role of the divine, and the human capacity for knowledge. In the second term, we look at how philosophy responded to the rise of science in 17th-century Europe and after. Why is experimental science so successful in understanding nature? Is there more to nature than science reveals? And how do human beings – our moral practices and our very practice of understanding nature scientifically – fit into the scientific world? We conclude by exploring challenges to the modern attempts to reconcile philosophy and science.
Readings: Selections from Xunzi, Zhuangzi, Plato, Aristotle, Nyaya and Buddhist philosophers, Ibn Tufayl, René Descartes, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Mary Wollstonecraft, Friedrich Nietzsche, A. J. Ayer, Simone de Beauvoir, Gilbert Ryle, and Frantz Fanon.
Evaluation: Weekly tutorial exercises in the fall; two essays in the winter. Tutorial attendance is mandatory for both terms (participation counts towards 10% of your overall mark). December and April exams.
PHL101Y1Y – What Should I Believe? An Introduction to Philosophical Issues
Prof. Jim John
Mondays and Wednesdays 10:00-11:00
This course will introduce you to philosophy. Its main purpose is to acquaint you with the kinds of questions philosophers ask and to impart an understanding of why those questions matter. A secondary purpose is to improve your skills as a critical reader, thinker, and writer. We will consider some of the perennial philosophical problems: problems to do with (among other things) the existence of God, free will, personal identity, knowledge, the relation between mind and body, science, morality, justice and political authority, and the meaning of life.
Reading: TBA
Evaluation: TBA
PHL197H1F – Introduction to Philosophical Anthropology
Prof. Joseph Heath
Wednesdays 15:00-17:00
Humans are a unique species in the extent to which we rely upon social learning in order to acquire the knowledge and skills required to survive and prosper. This is what makes us cultural beings. And yet culture is itself a biological adaptation, one that does not replace, but rather supplements, our more archaic cognitive systems. The question of how these two forces, the biological and the cultural, interact in order to determine our behaviour is one of the most pressing questions in the human sciences. In this course, we will explore this issue, focusing on what is known as the puzzle of human cooperation. We will begin by considering how evolution through natural selection imposes limits on cooperative behaviour. We will then consider what culture is, how it arises, and how the development of cultural transmission creates certain exemptions from the biologically imposed limits on the scope of cooperativeness. We will end by examining the psychological underpinnings of these social systems, using a framework known as “dual-process” psychology. These readings will serve as a basis for reflection upon philosophical topics such as the extent of human freedom, the status of morality, the nature of progress, as well as the meaning of life.
Readings: Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene; Joseph Henrich, The Secret of our Success; Keith Stanovich, The Robot’s Rebellion
Evaluation: 2 Writing Assignments and a Final Exam
PHL198H1F – Philosophy of Time
Prof. Jon McGinnis
Tuesdays 09:00-11:00
Here is question for you: “What is time?” Now try to give an answer that does not already involve some temporal language, language that does not presuppose that one already knows what time is. Augustine famously noted that if no one asks him what time is, he knows, but if asked he is at lost to explain it. Einstein equally famously forewent providing a definition or analysis of time (despite fundamentally changing our way of thinking about time) and simply said that it is what clocks tell us. In this class we will explore a number of historical and contemporary attempts to say what time is. We will ask to what extent is time real or is it perhaps just an illusion (our best science thinks that it is). We also will consider a number of other assorted features and issues that arise when one thinks about time, like how is time related to change and space; is time travel possible (spoiler, our best science suggest that it is!); what role does time play in ethics and more. Very broadly the content of the course is divided into three sections (although there is considerable overlap among the material of all the sections). These divisions are (I) historical accounts of time; (II) contemporary philosophical accounts of time and issues temporal; and (III) cross-disciplinary approaches to time, with an emphasis on (popular) scientific accounts of time (i.e., no math). You will be introduced to these topics through readings, videos (even perhaps a movie) and class discussions. At the end of the course, even if you still cannot answer the opening question, “What is time?” you will have had a chance to think about time and learn what a lot of pretty smart people have had to say about it, and perhaps have had a fun time.
Reading: TBA
Evaluation: TBA
PHL198H1S – Philosophy of Time
Prof. Mike Miller
Wednesdays 15:00-17:00
The passage of time is a fundamental aspect of human experience: we are born, we grow older, and eventually we pass away. During our lives our experience of the past, present, and future are distinct. We can influence the world in the present and the future, but it does not seem that we can influence the past. We have hopes about the future, memories of the past, and experiences of the present. In this seminar we will explore insights from contemporary philosophy and physics concerning the nature of the passage of time. Questions to be considered may include the following: What does it mean to say that time passes? Does time really pass at all? How do we experience time? Why can we influence the future but not the past? Is it possible to travel backward in time? Is time even real? What is time? Restricted to first-year students.
Reading: TBA
Evaluation: TBA
PHL199H1F – Ethics and Fiction
Prof. Mark Kingwell
Tuesdays 13:00-15:00
The goal of this seminar is to investigate ethical questions by considering works of prose fiction, mostly novels, and how literature functions as an ethical medium. We will reflect on what narrative writing can teach us about the pressing challenges of choice and responsibility, and how it can help expand our understanding of human consciousness. The special theme of this iteration of the seminar is friendship: what does it mean, what is its value, what are its limitations?
This is a seminar course, which means it is focused on discussion and group analysis. Please attend meetings prepared to engage with the course reading and your fellow students. There is a lot of reading in the course, basically a novel a week. Try to schedule your time accordingly – I know you will be very busy! If possible, read ahead.
Reading: TBA
Evaluation: two term papers plus in-class participation and short weekly reflection papers.