PHL301H5 S – The Philosophy of Plato
Instructor: J. Allen T 12-1 PM/R 11 AM – 1 PM
This course explores major themes in Plato’s philosophy through a selective reading of his dialogues. Among the areas tackled are the human good, the nature of the soul, knowledge, and the ultimate constitution of reality. Readings may include, though will not necessarily be confined to, the Euthyphro, Protagoras, Euthydemus, Meno, Gorgias, Republic, Phaedo, Phaedrus and Theaetetus.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL200H5 or PHL202H5 and PHL210Y5
PHL310H5 F – Topics in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy: Leibniz
Instructor: M. Rozemond T 1-2 PM/R 11 AM – 1 PM
This course will examine Leibniz’s views in metaphysics, about issues like the mind-body problem, free will, and the explanation of natural phenomena. But we will also look at his forward-looking views on social and political issues. Leibniz aimed to reconcile religious views at a time of intense religious strife in Europe, he was very supportive of women thinkers, argued against slavery, and had a keen interest in China
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL309H5 or PHL310H1 or PHL311H1 or PHL313H5
Recommended Prep: 210Y5
PHL314H5 F – Kant
Instructor: O. Ware W 3-6 PM
A systematic study of The Critique of Pure Reason.
Prerequisites: PHL210Y5 and 1.5 additional credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL312H5 or PHLC37H3
Recommended Prep: PHL245H5 or PHL310H5
PHL315H5 S – Topics in 19th Century Philosophy: Nietzsche
Instructor: A. Sepielli M 1-3 PM/W 12-1 PM
This course will grapple with some major themes in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche. We’ll focus on Nietzsche’s “genealogical” method, his speculations about the psychology and physiology of philosophers and other inquirers, and his thoughts about the origins of nihilism and the remedies for it. We’ll read large portions of On the Genealogy of Morals, The Gay Science, Beyond Good and Evil, and The Will to Power.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL317H5
Recommended Prep: 210Y5 or PHL310H5 or PHL312H5
PHL327H5 F – Later Analytic Philosophy: Language, Metaphysics, and Meaning
Instructor: D. Raffman M 3-5 PM/W 1-2 PM
This course explores the 20th-Century analytic tradition, starting from the rise of Ordinary Language Philosophy and moving through the backlash against it. We will examine the subsequent emergence of distinctively new ways of thinking about metaphysics, and about the nature of philosophy itself.
Prerequisites: PHL 245H5 and 1.5 additional credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL325H5
PHL332H5 S – Metaphysics
Instructor: B. Yi M 11 AM – 1 PM/W 11 AM – 12 PM
Typical problems: ontological categories; ontological commitment; the objectivity of space and time: causality and determinism; mind and body.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL330Y1, PHL331H1, PHLC60H3
PHL333H5 S – Epistemology
Instructor: N. Das M 1-3 PM/W 12-1 PM
Typical problems: knowledge and belief, perception, the analytic-synthetic distinction, theories of truth, necessity, and the a priori.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL330Y1, PHL332H1
PHL340H5 S – Philosophy of Mind
Instructor: TBD
Typical topics: the brain-mind identity theory; consciousness intentionality and the mental; personal identity; the nature of human action.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
PHL341H5 F – Practical Reason and Human Action
Instructor: P. Clark M 1-2 PM/W 1-3 PM
(Formerly: Freedom, Responsibility, and Human Action) The course will cover various topics in action theory and the nature of practical reason, such as the nature of intentional action and intentional explanations, the relation between morality and practical reason, the distinction between theoretical and practical reasoning, and the relation between motivation and evaluation.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
PHL345H5 F – Intermediate Logic
Instructor: N. Charlow M 11 AM – 1 PM/W 11 AM – 12 PM
A sequel to PHL245H5, developing skills in quantificational logic and treating of definite descriptions. The system developed will be used to study a selection of the following topics: philosophical uses of logic, formal systems, set theory, non-classical logics and metalogic. [36L]
Prerequisites: PHL245H5 and 1.0 credit in PHL/MAT/CSC
Exclusion: PHLC51H3
PHL347H5 S – Modality in Logic and Philosophy
Instructor: J. Weisberg T 1-3 PM/ R 1-2 PM
Study of the concepts of necessity and possibility using extensions of classical logic: modal sentential logic, modal quantification logic, possible-world semantics, the metaphysics of modality. Other possible topics include: counterfactuals, epistemic logic, temporal logic, deontic logic, many-valued logic, and supervaluations. [36L]
Prerequisites: PHL245H5 and 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL347H1
Recommended Prep: PHL345H5
PHL350H5 S – Philosophy of Language
Instructor: B. Yi M 2-3 PM/W 1-3 PM
Topics may include: Different approaches to the study of language; the analysis of central theoretical notions in the descriptions of language; the relation between thought and language; the relation between philosophy of language and metaphysics.
Prerequisites: PHL245H5 and 1.5 additional credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL351H1 or PHLC80H3
PHL358H5 S – Philosophical Issues in Cognitive Science: Natural and Artificial Intelligence
Instructor: J. Nagel M 3-5 PM/ W 3-4 PM
This course examines some of the most philosophically controversial features of human mental life, including social cognition, reasoning, and consciousness. What is distinctively human? We will explore human cognition in contrast with the abilities of other animals, and in the light of new types of artificial intelligence.
Prerequisites: (PHL340H5 or PHL345H5 or PHL350H5) and 1.5 additional credits in PHL
Exclusion: COG250Y1
PHL365H5 S – Issues in Political Philosophy
Instructor: B. Brown T 11 AM – 1 PM/R 12-1 PM
This course considers what it means for us to be good subjects and makers of laws. This course also explores civic ethics, including the duty to vote or obey the law, who should get citizenship, civil disobedience and the value of democracy.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL366H1
Recommended Prep: PHL265H5 or PHL277Y5
PHL367H5 F – Issues in Philosophy and Feminism
Instructor: L. Dunford W 12-1 PM/F 11 AM – 1 PM
This course will examine selected philosophical topics in feminism, such as multiculturalism and women’s rights, feminist epistemologies, ethics of care, the intersection between sexism and other forms of oppression, pornography.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL267H5 or PHL274H5 or PHL277Y5
PHL370H5 F – Issues in Philosophy of Law
Instructor: B. Brown T 3-6 PM
This class considers ethical questions that arise in the making and enforcing of laws such as appropriate punishment, paternalistic laws, and laws restricting speech
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL271H5 or PHL277Y5
PHL374H5 F – Issues in Normative Ethics
Instructor: S. Tenenbaum T 9-11 AM/R 10-11 AM
Most people seem to accept the following basic moral rules: “Do not kill (the innocent)”; “Do not lie”; “Do not torture”. These prohibitions seem to extend even to cases that the benefits of engaged in such acts might be greater than the harms caused by it. This course will examine the nature of such prohibitions that seem to be at the very core of ordinary morality, as well as attempts to determine in which circumstances (if any) it is legitimate to act in violation of them.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL375H5 or PHL376H1 or PHLC05H3 or PHLC06H3
Recommended Prep: PHL275H5 or PHL277Y5
PHL376H5 S – Issues in Metaethics
Instructor: N. Charlow M 11 AM – 1 PM/W 11 AM – 12 P
Metaethics concerns the place of values in the world, and the status of ethics as a field of inquiry. Topics may include: the objectivity of morality; moral psychology; the possibility of ethical knowledge; and meanings of ethical concepts.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL375H5 or PHLC05H3 or PHLC06H3
