Course Listing

An exploration of philosophical treatments of love and desire, in order to consider fundamental questions of human nature, happiness and moral practices. Readings in classic and contemporary texts may include such topics as the nature of love, the relationship between what we value and what we desire, and the ethics of relationships. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

A philosophical study of sport and recreation. Topics include conceptual, ethical, political, and aesthetic perspectives on sports, games, play, and leisure. Specific attention is paid to philosophical issues concerning human movement and physical activity, embodiment and the mind-body relationship, and well-being and quality of life. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: KINE-2020H

An exploration of philosophical treatments of death and dying, including their implications for a meaningful life. Readings in classical and contemporary texts may include such topics as the nature of death, our attitudes toward mortality, and end-of-life issues. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

An engaged study of philosophical responses to ethical problems in contemporary society. Topics may include abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, animal rights, censorship and pornography, poverty and civil disobedience, and war and terrorism. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

A study of philosophical theories concerning the nature of law, legal systems, and legal reasoning. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: POST-2150H

A study of Buddhism as philosophy. Topics include the roots of Buddhism in Indian philosophy, the four noble truths, no self, impermanence, dependent origination, compassion, skillful means, the role of meditation practice, gender and Buddhism, socially engaged Buddhism, cultural influences on Buddhist philosophy, Buddhist art and aesthetics, and secular Buddhism and mindfulness-based stress reduction. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits.

Introduces students to the field of political leadership. Some classic texts on the challenges of leadership are engaged. The course focuses on key ethical dilemmas and strategic choices that leaders face in the real world, considers the complexity of leadership in a globalized world, and surveys the role of trust in positive, transformational leadership. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: POST-2250H, CAST-2250H

An introduction to some of the central themes in philosophy of mind. Answers to ontological questions (what kinds of things are minds?) and epistemological questions (can we know that we and others have minds?) are used to focus discussions concerning personal identity, responsibility for action, animals' minds, and artificial intelligence. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: PSYC-2270H

A study of selected figures in Existentialism. Topics may include nihilism, creation, the birth of the individual, the meaning of life, freedom, choice, and commitment. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

This course surveys the history of political thought from ancient Greece to the end of the nineteenth century. Students will be introduced to how political theorists defined key concepts, such as natural right, sovereignty, contract, political rights, freedom, domination, and equality. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: POST-2351H

This course is a selective survey that introduces students to central texts, questions, debates, and concepts in contemporary political theory. It examines how thinkers from diverse vintage points have developed different theoretical frameworks to grapple with and make sense of the political reality and pressing political questions they face. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: POST-2352H

An examination of central issues in the field of biomedical ethics. Topics may include abortion; euthanasia and assisted suicide; stem cell research; genetics; reproductive technologies; scarce resources; research using human subjects. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

An introductory study of formal logical systems, together with their use in the analysis of various types of arguments. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: COIS-2410H

A study of early Greek philosophy focusing on Socrates, Plato, and their most influential predecessors. Complements PHIL-AGRS 2430H. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair. Equivalent to AHCL 2420H.

Cross-listed: AGRS-2420H

A study of Greco-Roman philosophy focusing on Aristotle and the Hellenistic philosophers including the Epicureans and Stoics. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of department chair. Recommended: PHIL-AGRS 2420H. Equivalent to AHCL 2430H.

Cross-listed: AGRS-2430H

An exploration of philosophy in film and of the relationship between philosophy and film. The focus is on the ability of films not only to illustrate philosophical ideas, but also to advance our understanding of philosophical problems in ways unique to cinema. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: MDST-2590H

A critical examination of social and legal responses to violence. Specific attention is paid to legal punishment as a response to violence, and punishment as a form of violence. Retributive and restorative conceptions of justice are considered. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits including CRIM 1615H, or permission of the instructor.

Cross-listed: CRIM-2618H

An examination of theories of emotion in classical and contemporary philosophical texts. Topics may include the relation of emotion to belief, motivation, and desire; the rationality of emotion; emotions, self-knowledge, and self-deception; and the relations between different emotions and between emotions and the body. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including PHIL 2010H, PHIL-PSYC 2270H, or PSYC 2400H.

Cross-listed: PSYC-3020H

An exploration of the ethics, meaning, and value of nature sports and recreation. Students study concepts of nature sport, outdoor recreation, nature and wilderness, embodiment, exploration, self-transcendence, and the freedom to roam alongside ethical, aesthetic, environmental, political, and social values in the pursuit of nature sport and recreation. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits. Recommended: PHIL 2020H.

Cross-listed: KINE-3025H

An examination of ways of thinking about and ways of answering the question, "What is the meaning of life?" Classical attempts to account for the meaning of life in Eastern and Western philosophies, religious thought, and Indigenous knowledge systems are considered in relation to accounts defended in contemporary philosophical literature. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

A study of philosophical concepts of gender, sex and sexuality, feminist critique, and developments in feminist philosophies. Prerequisite 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: GESO-3050H

A study of texts in the foundations of morals and particular ethical theories, including virtue ethics, Kantianism, and utilitarianism. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

A study of the nature and value of rights in relation to competing theories of justice. Attention is given to the nature of power and oppression in relation to social change; topics may include class, ability, age, gender, and race. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: POST-3140H

An examination of philosophical theories related to political institutions and practices. Topics may include the foundations of the state, justified use of force, and limits to freedom. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: POST-3180H

This course introduces philosophical articulations of race, racism, and racialization. Students learn how political philosophers have made sense of race as a structural condition of the modern and contemporary world, as a force that shapes individual lives in different ways, and how they have explored the different ways in which racialization takes place. A wide range of philosophical approaches are explored. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including PHIL 1100H, or permission of the instructor.

Cross-listed: POST-3190H

A wide-ranging introduction to the theory of knowledge. Topics may include the nature and limits of knowledge, external world skepticism, truth and objectivity, relativism, the possibility of moral knowledge, induction and the status of scientific theories, and the nature of rationality. Readings include classical as well as contemporary readings, with an emphasis on the latter. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

An examination of philosophical questions pertaining to artificial intelligence (AI) and the role AI plays in society. The first part treats the history, nature, and limits of AI. The second part turns to more applied questions related to ethics, and the social and political implications of AI. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of the department chair.

Cross-listed: COIS-3270H, AIST-3270H

An interdisciplinary study of the philosophy of dreams, incorporating perspectives from philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. The course focuses on epistemological issues relating to the nature of dreams, our knowledge of dreams, the self in dreams, and the science of dreaming. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including 1.0 PHIL credit or permission of department chair. Recommended: PHIL 2270H. Not open to students with credit for PHIL 4280H.

Provides a consideration of the moral dimensions of human/nonhuman relationships. We critically examine a range of systems of thought that address such ethical questions, including deep ecology, ecofeminism, Indigenous perspectives, and animal rights, with specific cases on each philosophical orientation. Deals explicitly with the ethical dimensions of ecological restoration. Prerequisite: 1.0 ERST and/or PHIL credit at the 2000 level or beyond.

Cross-listed: ERST-3301H

Provides an introduction to animal studies. Topics considered include the constructed divide between humans and non-human animals, societies' use of animals-for food, clothing, entertainment, companionship, research-and the implications of these relationships. The course will also discuss animal rights, animal protection, and posthumanist perspectives. Prerequisite: 1.0 ERST or PHIL credit at the 2000 level or beyond.

Cross-listed: ERST-3302H, SAFS-3302H

Enables students to develop their own positions about the most important social and moral problems raised by computer use and technologies, including the fragmentation of society into computer "haves" and "have-nots," Internet censorship, pornography, intellectual property rights, and software piracy. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Cross-listed: MDST-3370H, COIS-3370H

Introduces students to critical perspectives that push thinking about disability beyond medical and social models. Focuses on connections between gender and disability. Explores feminist challenges to ableism. Other topics include bodies, race, sexuality, education, creativity, access, eugenics, intersections, and austerity. Prerequisite: 6.0 university credits. Equivalent to WMST 3300H, 3400H.

Cross-listed: GESO-3400H, SOCI-3400H

Building on classical propositional and first-order logic, this course introduces students to a variety of non-classical logics including modal logic, intuitionistic logic, and many-valued logic, as well as fuzzy logic. Prerequisite 7.0 university credits including PHIL 2410H or or COIS 2320H.

Cross-listed: AIST-3410H, COIS-3410H

The seventeenth century in Western Europe was an era of important revolutions in scientific, religious, and political thinking. This course studies the role that philosophers and their works played in these revolutions. Authors may include, but are not limited to, Descartes, Princess Elisabeth, Hobbes, Spinoza, Leibniz, and Conway. Complements PHIL 3430H. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

The eighteenth century in Western Europe witnessed the rise and then critique of the intellectual movement called the "Enlightenment," characterized by its promotion of freedom, equality, and the scientific method. This course studies philosophers sympathetic to and critical of the Enlightenment, such as Locke, Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, and Kant. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair. Recommended: PHIL 3420H.

A seminar devoted to in-depth investigation of selected central metaphysical and epistemological themes. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.

Examines a number of ethical issues raised by for-profit corporations, including whether corporations are moral agents and the purpose of corporations. Considers stakeholder theory, stockholder theory, Integrative Social Contact Theory, and CSR. Analyzes numerous case studies of corporate actions. Prerequisite: 12.0 university credits, of which 5.0 must be ADMN credits including ADMN 3300H; or both PHIL 1200H and 2110H.

Cross-listed: ADMN-4250H

An interdisciplinary study of the philosophy of dreams, incorporating perspectives from philosophy, psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. The course focuses on epistemological issues relating to the nature of dreams, our knowledge of dreams, the self in dreams, and the science of dreaming. Prerequisite: Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including 1.0 PHIL credit or permission of department chair. Recommended: PHIL 2270H.

This is an advanced political theory course that surveys how Black, Indigenous, and other colonized and racialized peoples across the globe have theorized and critiqued structures of racial and colonial domination, and in so doing articulated unique visions of freedom and justice, from the nineteenth century to the present. Prerequisite: 12.0 university credits including 1.0 POST, GESO, and/or PHIL credit; or permission of instructor.

Cross-listed: POST-4332H

An in-depth examination of a specific issue in biomedical ethics. Topics vary each year and may include cloning and stem cell research; reproductive technologies, including abortion; genetics; end-of-life issues; justice in health care delivery. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including PHIL 2390H, or permission of instructor.

An advanced study of some of the central themes in philosophy of logic or philosophy of language. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including PHIL-COIS 2410H or permission of instructor.

A study of some central themes and important philosophers of the nineteenth century. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including PHIL 3420H or 3430H, or permission of instructor.

A close study of one or more central texts by one or more important philosophers. Texts and philosophers to change annually. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including 1.0 PHIL credit at the 3000 level or beyond, or permission of instructor.

An in-depth investigation into some of the central issues in philosophy of mind, e.g., consciousness, embodiment, reasons for actions, the emotions, free will, zombies, thinking machines, conscious animals. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits including PHIL-PSYC 2270H or permission of instructor.

Students are encouraged to pursue a special interest, largely through independent study, for a half- or full-course credit. Students must arrange details in consultation with faculty in Philosophy at least one month prior to the start of the semester in which the course is to be started. Subject to departmental and decanal approval. Prerequisite: 7.0 university credits or permission of department chair.