200-Level Courses (25-26) - Department of Philosophy

2025-26 Fall/Winter 200-level courses

Note about prerequisites/co-requisites for 200-level courses:

Only PHL201H1 has a prerequisite: it requires the completion of four Arts and Science full-course equivalents (FCEs).

PHL233H1 has a co-requisite: it requires one FCE in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, or Computer Science.

PHL200Y1Y — ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

Prof. Jessica Gelber
Mondays and Wednesdays 14:00-15:00

This course is an introduction to some of the main figures and problems in Ancient Greek Philosophy. We will read texts spanning from Thales to Sextus Empiricus, though most of our attention will be given to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Our goal will be to understand not only what the views these thinkers held were, but also why they held them and how they argued for them. When we engage in this activity, we are doing philosophy. So, this course is also an introduction to philosophy itself. There are no pre-requisites.

Readings: TBD, but will include selections from Plato’s Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Protagoras, Phaedo, Republic; Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Categories, Posterior Analytics, Physics, Metaphysics, On the Soul; we will use collections of ancient sources for pre-Socratic and Hellenistic philosophical views.

Evaluation: Essays, in-person final exam, and weekly discussion questions and tutorial participation. Your tutorial session (in-person) is an essential part of this course and attendance is required for a passing grade in the course.

PHL201H1S — INTRODUCTORY PHILOSOPHY

Prof. Andriy Bilenkyy
Thursdays 14:00-17:00

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 Year 1 in any area of study.

Readings: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL205H1F — EARLY MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

Prof. Deborah Black
Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00-13:00

In this course we’ll read a variety philosophers from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions covering the period from the 4th to the 12th centuries CE. Among the Christian authors will be Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Abelard; Islamic and Jewish authors will include Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon), and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). We’ll focus on the issues of central concern to these philosophers, such as the relation between philosophy and religious belief; the existence and nature of God; freedom and determinism; human nature and knowledge.

Required Text: Arthur Hyman, J. J. Walsh, and Thomas Williams, eds. Philosophy in the Middle Ages. 3rd ed. (Indianapolis: Hackett, 2010)

Evaluation: To be determined

PHL206H1S — LATER MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

Prof. Simona Vucu
Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00-13:00

In this course, we will cover philosophers from the late medieval period, roughly the 13th to 16th century, who worked in very different traditions, Christian, Islamic and Judaic. The course will deal with how some of these philosophers understood Aristotle’s views about the nature of the soul and its relation to the body, the nature of human capacities, especially those of knowing and willing, and our morality, and how they used these insights to answer questions stemming from their religious commitments as well as historical events. For example, we will look into how they interpreted episodes from the Bible about the creation of women (about whom Aristotle says that they are “misbegotten males”) or the puzzling case of the hardening of the Pharaoh’s heart (in an episode in which God seems to remove the free will of a person), or how they thought about the role of virtues in attaining union with God. We will also inquire into how they used Aristotelian insights to address political questions about the equality between women and men or the role of good manners in society.

Possible grading scheme: Participation and Attendance 15%; Essay 25 %; Midterm 25%; Final exam 35%

Textbook: TBD

PHL210Y1Y — 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHY

Prof. Michael Rosenthal
Tuesdays 15:00-17:00

Central texts of such philosophers as Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant.

Reading: TBD

Evaluation (tentative): TBD

PHL217H1S — INTRODUCTION TO CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Prof. William Paris
Tuesdays 13:00-15:00

This course will survey a number of post-Hegelian philosophers who constitute what has become known as “Continental philosophy.” We will canvas questions concerning the nature of experience, the possibility of freedom, and the relationship between desire and reason in phenomenology, existentialism, and psychoanalysis. We will read Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, Sartre, Beauvoir, Fanon, and Merleau-Ponty.

Readings: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL232H1F — KNOWLEDGE AND REALITY

Prof. Michael Caie
Mondays and Wednesdays 11:00-12:00

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.

Reading: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL232H1S — KNOWLEDGE AND REALITY

Prof. Yonathan Fiat
Mondays and Tuesdays 12:00-13:00

Reading: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL233H1S — PHILOSOPHY FOR SCIENTISTS

Prof. Imogen Dickie
Tuesday and Thursday 12:00-13:00

An introduction to philosophy tailored for students with backgrounds in mathematics and science. Topics include causation, explanation, the relation between scientific and mathematical theories and reality, the role of mathematics in scientific theories, the relevance of scientific and mathematical discoveries to ‘big’ traditional philosophical questions such as the nature of consciousness, whether we have free will, and the meaning of life.

Readings: TBA

Evaluations: TBA

PHL235H1S — PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Prof. Elisa Freschi
Tuesdays 17:00-20:00

This course is an introduction to topics, schools and figures in philosophy of religion. We will read texts (in their English translation) spanning from Medieval Christianity to contemporary analytic philosophy, and I will introduce you to the main topics thinkers particularly dealt with, from divine omnipresence to soteriology and from God-as-Thou to rational theology. We will particularly focus on God’s nature, arguments for God’s existence, theodicy, soteriology, afterlife, God’s silence and churches and communities. Besides, we will find time to discuss also the theological status of super-human beings like saints and angels, animal theology and free will.

Readings: Swinburne (Is there a God?, 1996), Plantinga (Against Naturalism, (chapter 1 of Knowledge of God), 2008), Thomas Aquinas (question 2: The existence of God, from the Summa Theologiae), Udayana (extracts from Extracts from the Nyāyakusumañjali published in G. Chemparathy, An Indian rational theology: Introduction to Udayana’s Nyāyakusumañjali, 1972) Anselm of Canterbury (chapters 1–3 of the Proslogion), Kelly (Consensus Gentium, 2011), Hume (extract on miracles from Enquiry on Human understanding), Pascal (extract from Pensées), Kant (TBA), Kierkegaard (extract from Fear and Trembling), Buber (extract from I and Thou), Descartes (extract from Meditations on First Philosophy), Law (The evil-god challenge, 2010), Swinburne (A theodicy of heaven and hell, 1983), Rosenthal (Reflections on Love in Paradise, in Man versus Society in Medieval Islam, 2014), Talbott (The doctrine of everlasting punishment, 1990), Brown (A Thomistic Solution to the Problem of the Tedium of Heavenly Immortality, 2021), extract from the Pāli Canon, Upaddha Sutta, Thich Nhat Hahn (What is saṅgha?).

Evaluation: 2% (optional: initial survey); 24% (at least 9 out of 12 weekly reading assignments); 6% (optional: in-class presentation); 4% (summary of a talk); 24% (in-class participation); 18% (two papers); 4% (peer reviews of each other’s paper); 30% (final test), 2% (optional: final reflection).

PHL237H1F — HISTORY OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

Instructor: TBD
Thursdays 18:00-21:00

A historical introduction to Chinese philosophy, covering selected figures and texts from the Warring States period through the Qīng dynasty. Schools of thought covered include Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, Legalism, “Profound Learning,” Neo-Confucianism, and “Evidential Learning.” Texts and thinkers include the Confucian Analects, Mòzǐ, Mèngzǐ, Xúnzǐ, Dàodéjīng, Zhuāngzǐ, Hán Fēi, Guō Xiàng, Zhū Xī, Wáng Yángmíng, and Dài Zhèn.

Readings: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL238H1S — REASON AND IRRATIONALITY

Prof. Matthew Scarfone
Fridays 10:00-13:00

How does one live one’s life without falling victim to various forms of irrationality? This course offers theoretical insight and practical guidance regarding norms of rationality and how we can live by them. Topics to be addressed include: informal logic; criteria for the assessment of arguments; common fallacies; truth and noncontradiction as norms; cognitive biases; “thinking fast and slow” and behavioral economics; conspiracy theories; and media ethics.

Readings: TBD

Evaluation: TBD

PHL239H1F — Introduction to South Asian Philosophy

Prof. Elisa Freschi
Tuesdays 14:00-17:00

This course is an introduction to the main topics, schools and figures in Sanskrit philosophy. We will read texts (in their English translation) spanning from ancient to contemporary Indian philosophers, and I will introduce you to the main topics thinkers particularly dealt with, from epistemology to philosophy of language and aesthetics and from ontology to rational theology. We will also discuss the structure of their arguments and debate what it means to speak of “philosophy” outside of the Euro-American traditions. You may be here because you are curious about the millenary culture of India, the theory of karman, Yoga, brahman and the Upaniṣads. If this is the case, beware of the fact that I am going to disappoint you, explaining that there are multiple theories of karman, that Sanskrit philosophy is not a monolith, and discussing Yoga as a philosophy and not as a soteriological path. However, like Ariadne abandoned on an island by Theseus and then ending up marrying Dionysus, the disappointment might open the door to a deeper fascination.

Readings: TBD

Evaluation: 2% (optional: initial survey); 24% (at least 9 out of 12 weekly reading assignments); 6% (optional: in-class presentation); 4% (summary of a talk); 24% (in-class participation); 14% (two papers); 4% (peer reviews of each other’s paper); 30% (final test), 2% (optional: final reflection).

PHL240H1S — PERSONS, MINDS AND BODIES

Prof. David Barnett
Mondays 11:00-12:00 and Thursdays 10:00-11:00

A traditional view holds that human life begins at conception, that an adult at the end of his or her life can be the same person who was once a child and who was before that that an embryo, and that this same person will go on to survive the death of his or her body. Does this traditional conception of human existence hold up to scrutiny? In this advanced introductory course, we will address such fundamental questions of human existence as: When does life begin? When during the development of an embryo into an adult human being does one acquire moral rights? What is a mind, and what is the mind’s relationship to the brain? Do animals have minds? Could robots or computers have minds someday? Do you have an immaterial soul that is capable of surviving the death of your body and brain? When does life end, and why is it bad? No prior background in philosophy will be presupposed, although a willingness to ask difficult questions and develop careful and methodical reasoning in support of one’s answers will be essential.

Evaluation: TBD

Readings: TBD

PHL243H1S — PHILOSOPHY OF SEXUALITY

Prof. Allison Balin
Thursdays 18:00-21:00

In this course, we will cover philosophical issues related to sex, love, and friendship from a contemporary analytic perspective. We will use philosophical tools to investigate the following sorts of questions: What makes a relationship a friendship? What does it take to be a good friend, and how does this relate (or not) to what it takes to be a good person more generally? What is love? When is love bad, and when is it good? What is sex? When is sex wrong, and when is it good? Some more particular issues we may investigate include sexual consent, sexual promises, sexual deception, sexual perversions, and sex work.

Readings: TBA

Evaluations: TBA

PHL244H1F — HUMAN NATURE

Prof. Andriy Bilenkyy
Wednesdays 13:00-15:00, Thursdays 13:00-14:00

Things can be grouped into kinds, and some of these kinds seem to have stable, fundamental, and explanatorily important features, “natures”. Humanity, as a kind, seems to be of that sort. After all, appeals to human “nature” are common: speakers say things like “Human beings are, by nature, selfish” or “It’s in the nature of human beings to seek knowledge.” But what, if anything, is the human nature? Perhaps, to be human is to be a rational animal; perhaps, it’s to have a peculiar mental architecture; perhaps, it’s to be an agent capable of autonomous action. Each option raises a host of further questions. What is rationality? What are mental states? What is autonomous action?

This course will explore the notion of nature, historical and contemporary accounts of the human nature, and related questions in ethics, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind.

Readings: Readings will include excerpts from works by historical figures such as Aristotle, Xunzi, Hume, and Kant, and works by contemporary thinkers such as Nagel, Quine, Putnam, and Strawson.

Evaluations: TBA

PHL245H1F — MODERN SYMBOLIC LOGIC

LEC0101 – Tuesdays 09:00-11:00; Fridays 13:00-14:00 (Prof. Alex Koo)
LEC0201 – Wednesdays 13:00-15:00; Fridays 14:00-15:00 (Prof. Alex Koo)

Logic is a central pillar of philosophy that has its roots in ancient civilizations. Aristotle was one of the first to formalize the discipline into a highly applicable system for analyzing arguments. Logic was modernized by Frege at the end of the 19th century and by Russell and Whitehead at the start of the 20th century. Since then, logical tools have become essential in many areas of analytic philosophy such as philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and epistemology.

Modern Symbolic Logic is a technical course in first-order logic. Students will learn the meaning of logical symbols and develop the skills for performing derivations in both sentential and predicate logic. We will begin with truth tables of basic logical operators and end with polyadic predicates, identity, and operations. Mastering these tools foster critical thinking and argumentation skills, lead to a precise understanding of natural language, and result in better reading and writing skills. All of these skills are essential to the practice of philosophy and other academic disciplines, critical for excelling on standardized tests such as the LSAT, and are useful in everyday life.

This is a hybrid and flipped course. Lectures will be posted online for asynchronous viewing and in-class time will be dedicated to practicing and improving skills. Term tests will be done in-person during the 1-hour timeslot.

Readings: Text provided online

Evaluations: 4 term tests, 11 weekly quizzes, final exam

PHL245H1F — MODERN SYMBOLIC LOGIC

Prof. Eamon Darnell
Mondays 18:00-20:00; Wednesdays 18:00-19:00

Readings: TBD

Evaluations: TBD

PHL245H1S— MODERN SYMBOLIC LOGIC

Prof. Eamon Darnell

LEC0101 – Mondays 15:00-17:00; Wednesdays 15:00-16:00
LEC5101 – Mondays 18:00-20:00; Wednesdays 18:00-19:00

Modern Symbolic Logic is a technical course in first-order logic. Students will learn the meaning of logical symbols and develop the skills for performing derivations in both sentential and predicate logic. The course will begin with truth tables of basic logical operators and end with polyadic predicates, identity, and operations. Learning these tools will foster critical thinking skills, lead to a precise understanding of natural language, and result in better reading and writing skills. All of these are essential to the practice of philosophy and other academic disciplines, critical for excelling on standardized tests such as the LSAT, and are useful in every day life.

Readings: TBD

Evaluations: TBD

PHL246H1S — PROBABILITY AND INDUCTIVE LOGIC

Prof. Franz Huber
Thursdays 18:00-20:00

Probability and Inductive Logic is an introduction to the mathematical theory of probability and its applications in philosophy. On the philosophical side we will mainly be concerned with the so-called problem of induction and its reception in the philosophy of science, where it is normally discussed under the heading of “confirmation theory.” On the mathematical side we will study propositional and predicate logic, as well as elementary set theory, to be able to formulate the theory of probability.

The first two weeks will provide us with the relevant background in logic and set theory.

During the next three to four weeks, we will cover Hume’s argument for the thesis that we cannot justify induction; Hempel’s work on the logic of confirmation and the ravens’ paradox; Popper’s falsificationism and hypothetico-deductive confirmation; as well as Kolmogorov’s axiomatization of the probability calculus.

During the following three to four weeks, we will cover Carnap’s inductive logic and philosophy of induction; Goodman’s philosophy of induction and the new riddle of induction; Haack’s comparison between deduction and induction; as well as the Dutch Book argument for subjective, or Bayesian, probabilities.

Prof. Andrew Franklin-Hall
Mondays and Wednesdays 12:00-13:00

This course will examine ethical and political issues relating to health care and medical research from a philosophical point of view. Some of the questions examined include: Should doctors ever act contrary to the will of the patient? How should decisions be made for patients without decision-making capacity? Under what circumstances is it legitimate to perform experiments on human subjects? How should we balance individual liberty and public health, particularly amidst a pandemic? What is the just way to distribute health care resources? Is abortion morally defensible? Under what circumstances, if any, should doctors assist patients in dying? Should genetic enhancement of human beings be permitted?

These are all urgent moral issues. Many of them are directly relevant to everyday medical practice, and some are of particular importance during a time of a pandemic. But they also raise profound theoretical questions about the nature of life and death, the contours and limits of our right to autonomy, our responsibilities for the well-being of others, the relationship between health care and knowledge production, and what it is to be human. Thus, the course is addressed to both future health-care workers and students of philosophy.

Readings: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL281H1F LEC 5101 — BIOETHICS

Prof. C Dalrymple-Fraser
Mondays and Wednesdays 12:00-13:00

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.

Readings: TBD

Evaluation: TBD

PHL285H1S — AESTHETICS

Prof. Andriy Bilenkyy
Fridays 09:00-12:00

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.

Reading: TBA

Evaluation: TBA

PHL295H1F — BUSINESS ETHICS

Instructor: TBD
Mondays 18:00-21:00

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?

Reading: TBA

Evaluation: TBA