PHL302H5 F – The Philosophy of Aristotle
Instructor: J. Allen T 12-1 PM/R 11 AM – 1 PM
This course explores major themes in Aristotle’s philosophy belonging to the fields of natural philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and epistemology. Readings may include, though are not necessarily confined to the Ethics, Physics, Metaphysics, Categories, On the soul and Analytics.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL200H5 or PHL202H5 and PHL210Y5
PHL307H5 S – Topics in Medieval Philosophy
Instructor: M. Rozemond T 10-11 AM/R 11 AM – 1 PM
A study of some of the principal figures and intellectual problems in the period from the first century to the sixteenth. Figures such as Philo, Augustine, Abelard, Avicenna, Maimonides, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Ockham and Suarez will be studied on topics in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and philosophy of nature.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL309H1
Recommended Prep: PHL200Y5/210Y5
PHL310H5 S – Topics in 17th and 18th Century Philosophy
Instructor: TBD W 12-1 PM/F 11 AM – 1 PM
A study of a topic or thinker in the 17th or 18th century.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL309H5 or PHL310H1 or PHL311H1 or PHL313H5
Recommended Prep: 210Y5
PHL315H5 F – Topics in 19th Century Philosophy (Romanticism)
Instructor: O. Ware M 11 AM – 1 PM/W 12-1 PM
The romantics challenged the notion of reason as the sole guide to life. They celebrated beauty, spirituality, love, and sympathy as essential elements of existence. Rejecting traditional philosophy, they turned to art, poetry, and music for a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world. This course explores early romanticism, a movement that emerged at the turn of the 19th-century in Britain and Germany. It examines their arguments against rationalism and classicism, combining theory, literature, and poetry. Key texts include Schiller’s “Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Humankind,” Novalis’s “Heinrich von Ofterdingen,” Coleridge’s “Kubla Kahn” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” and Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abby.”
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusion: PHL317H5
Recommended Prep: 210Y5 or PHL310H5 or PHL312H5
PHL324H5 S – The Continental Tradition
Instructor: L. Dunford W 3-5 PM/F 9-10 AM
A study of recent traditions of continental philosophy such as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory, structuralism and post-structuralism. Figures such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, the Frankfurt school, Lacan, Foucault, Deleuze and Derrida.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL320H1 or PHL321H1
Recommended Prep: 210Y5 or PHL310H5 or PHL312H5 or PHL317H5
PHL325H5 F – Early Analytic Philosophy
Instructor: G. Rattan M 9-11 AM/W 10-11 AM
An examination of some of the classic texts of early analytic philosophy, concentrating on the work of Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein. Central topics to be covered include: the development of logic and its relation to arithmetic; the nature of language and meaning; truth and objectivity; the distinction between sense and reference; logical analysis; the relation between language and thought; and the bounds of intelligibility.
Prerequisites: PHL245H5 and 1.5 additional credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHLC43H3
Recommended Prep: 210Y5
PHL332H5 F – Metaphysics
Instructor: B. Yi M 11 AM – 1 PM/W 12-1 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: J. Nagel M 9-11 AM/W 10-11 AM
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
PHL343H5 S – Freedom and Determinism
Instructor: L. Fletcher M 11 AM – 1 PM/W 11 AM – 12 PM
This course will examine the question of whether determinism is true, and to which extent and whether, determinism is compatible with the possibility that our will is free as well as the relation between freedom and responsibility. In particular, we will look at the plausibility of views such as compatibilism, hard determinism and libertarianism.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
PHL345H5 S – Intermediate Logic
Instructor: N. Charlow M 1-2 PM/W 1-3 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
PHL346H5 S – Choice and Chance
Instructor: J. Weisberg T 1-3 PM/ R 12-1 PM
An intermediate level look at reasoning and decision making in the face of uncertainty. Topics may include: decision theory, game theory, social choice theory, confirmation theory, foundations of probability and statistics, puzzles of infinity and self-location, and the relationship between knowledge and uncertainty. [36L]
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL246H5 or any first course in probability/statistics/decision-making
PHL355H5 S – Issues in Philosophy of Science
Instructor: A. Koo T 9-11 AM/F 10-11 AM
Central problems and contemporary issues. Topics may include: scientific inference and method; explanation; under-determination; the pessimistic induction; constructive empiricism; entity realism; structural realism; laws of nature.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL355H1
Recommended Prep: PHL245H5 or PHL255H5
PHL358H5 F – Philosophical Issues in Cognitive Science
Instructor: J. Nagel M 1-3 PM/ W 1-2 PM
An examination of philosophical issues that arise in cognitive science, such as: the nature of consciousness, alternative models of computation in theories of cognition, the nature and function of perception and the emotions, the evolution of mind and language, and the relation among various fields of cognitive science such as psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience. [36L]
Prerequisites: (PHL340H5 or PHL345H5 or PHL350H5) and 1.5 additional credits in PHL
Exclusion: COG250Y1
PHL365H5 F – Issues in Political Philosophy
Instructor: B. Brown T 11 AM – 12 PM/R 11 AM – 1 PM
A study of some of the best recent work by political philosophers on topics such as justice, rights, welfare and political authority. [36L]
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL366H1
Recommended Prep: PHL265H5 or PHL277Y5
PHL367H5 F – Issues in Philosophy and Feminism
Instructor: A. Mullin M 3-6 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 S – Issues in Philosophy of Law
Instructor: B. Brown T 12-1 PM/R 11 AM – 1 PM
Major issues in philosophy of law, e.g., responsibility and punishment, the obligation to obey the law, legal positivism, law and morality. [36L]
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Recommended Prep: PHL271H5 or PHL277Y5
PHL376H5 F – Issues in Metaethics
Instructor: F. Fulda W 9-10 AM/F 9-11 AM
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
PHL390H5 F: Special Topics in Philosophy (Comparative Ethical Theory)
Instructor: O. Ware Online, Asynchronous
This course builds a bridge between two philosophical traditions – Western and Indian – through a study of Immanuel Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and one of the most well-known texts of classical Indian philosophy, the Bhagavad Gita. This course fosters a dialogue between Kantian ethical theory and the spiritual teachings of the Gita, highlighting their shared emphasis on moral duty while also drawing attention to their distinctive conceptions of moral action. Kant champions the dignity of individual moral autonomy, defending the intrinsic value of rational moral agents, whereas the Gita advocates for selfless devotion to the supreme divinity, entailing renunciation of the outcomes of one’s actions. As students navigate through this comparative landscape of ideas, they will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of ethical theory and acquire a deeper perspective on the role of cultural contexts in shaping ethical systems.
Prerequisites: 1.5 credits in PHL
Exclusions: PHL395H5