Philosophy (PHIL)

Metaphysics seeks to answer the most general questions about reality. What is it to exist? What is it to be an individual? What are the fundamental kinds of things and relations? Consideration is given to the principal metaphysical theories that form part of the Western philosophical tradition, e.g., materialism, idealism, dualism and monism. The course will also consider the major problems and concepts of metaphysics, e.g., time, space, substance, essence, free will, determinism, and causality.

Contemporary argumentation theory draws upon several disciplines: philosophy of language, cognitive psychology, feminist philosophy and communications theory. This course will examine the concept of argument through the lens provided by argumentation theorists. Alternative conceptions of argument will be critically examined and an overview of the development of argumentation theory will be provided.

Students examine the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and a selection of 19th Century philosophers. Topics include the "death of God", the relation of philosophy to other disciplines and practices (history, psychology, religion, and art), the nature of scientific knowledge, and the natures of objectivity and subjectivity.

Students examine the philosophical repercussions of the scientific revolution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Topics include the relation between science and religion, human freedom, and the foundations of science. Philosophers covered may include Bacon, Descartes, Elisabeth, Spinoza, Conway, Cavendish, Locke, Berkeley, Leibniz, Chatelet and Hume.

Students engage in an intensive study of one or more topics in moral, political, and/or legal philosophy.

This course examines the contributions of feminist philosophers to historical and contemporary thought in diverse areas of inquiry, such as ethics, political theory, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind.

Students engage in an intensive study of one or more topics in social philosophy. Social Philosophy is broadly defined as the study of conceptual and normative issues concerning social relationships, practices, and institutions.

How is it that words and sentences mean what they do? One answer to this question is that linguistic meaning is determined by the speaker’s intentions; another is that it is determined by social practices. Each answer raises issues regarding the relation of language to both thought and reality that this course will aim to address.

This course examines the various concepts of human knowledge and attempts to find the limits of that knowledge. Traditional approaches to problems in the theory of knowledge will be considered as well as current work.

We commonly evaluate beliefs as rational or irrational; justified or unjustified; responsible or irresponsible. But what do these terms mean and when are they correctly applied? Can beliefs be ethical? These and related questions are debated by contemporary epistemologists. This course seeks to interpret and assess the main competing views.

A critical examination of some of the core works in the history of political philosophy, such as those of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Hobbes, Locke, Mill, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche.

This course introduces students to the major schools of contemporary political thought, such as utilitarianism, liberal egalitarianism, libertarianism, Marxism, communitarianism, and feminism. Among the issues addressed are the justification for state power, the role of human nature in determining political arrangements, democracy and the rights of minorities, the tension between liberty and equality, and the just distribution of resources.

This course examines the basic assumptions on which economic theory rests, asks whether economics is a science and explores the extent to which economic analysis can be used in other areas (for example, in medicine and law). No knowledge of economics is presupposed or required.

This course will consider how major theories of justice such as Kantian constructivism, economic contractarianism, and utilitarianism deal with important issues in international justice such as the law of peoples, distributive justice, human rights, and democratization.

Students will study writings on the mind by important philosophers from antiquity to the twentieth century.

This course is a study of contemporary theories in the philosophy of mind. Topics include Behaviorism, Mind/Brain Identity theories, Functionalism, Cognitivism, and various theories of consciousness.

A brief examination of Greek philosophy before the time of Socrates followed by careful readings of selected dialogues by Plato.

A study of Aristotle’s views (focusing on topics in metaphysics, psychology, knowledge and ethics), together with a brief examination of several Hellenistic philosophers.

A critical examination of the works from this movement, focusing on the areas of metaphysics and epistemology. Descartes, Malebranche, Spinoza and Leibniz are among the philosophers typically studied.

A critical examination of the works from this movement, focusing on the areas of metaphysics and epistemology. Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley and Hume are among the philosophers typically studied.

A lecture and seminar course on Kant’s theory of knowledge.

Students consider philosophical questions concerning, or arising in film. Questions include: general issues of perspective, evidence, knowledge, and objectivity, as well as more specific questions, such as: What is the nature of representation in film? Can film be construed as a language? What is the logic of film criticism? These and other questions will be addressed in an effort to clarify the nature of the relation between philosophy and film.

This course addresses issues central to the history of philosophical aesthetics, including those of representation, expression, and the cognitive aspects of art and aesthetic experience. The course will involve a survey of some of the great works of the tradition, including those of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Collingwood, Dewey, and others.

This course addresses issues that dominate contemporary philosophical reflection on the arts, including those of form and content, the logic of taste, aesthetic value, art and knowledge, art and emotion, and so on.

Students explore topics such as: the nature and value of natural beauty, the relationship between art appreciation and nature appreciation, the role of knowledge in the aesthetic appreciation of nature, and the importance of environmental participation to the appreciation of environments.

Students read the founding texts of pragmatism from the late 19th and early 20th centuries (e.g., by Pierce, James, and Dewey). Analysis will focus on the pragmatist critique of traditional western philosophical ideas about meaning, truth, reality, foundations of knowledge, and practice. Students examine the historical reception and impact of pragmatism and assess its continuing importance today.

An introduction to the main problems of the philosophy of science designed to familiarize students with some of the contemporary analyses of scientific concepts and methods.

The course explores methodological, conceptual, metaphysical, and epistemological questions that arise in modern biology. Possible topics include scientific revolutions, experimentation, biological laws, theoretical modelling, objectivity, reductionism, species concepts, evolution vs. creationism, human nature, and biological theories of gender, race, and sexuality.

A critical study of the philosophical views on the course of human history (its pattern, purpose and value) and an examination of the aim, nature and validity of historical knowledge.

A lecture and seminar course examining the 19th century origins of the existentialist movement in contemporary philosophy, with specific investigation of the writings of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

A lecture and seminar course examining the 20th century expression of the existentialist movement in contemporary philosophy, through close study of the writings of Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, and others.

A lecture and seminar course that examines the origins, expressions, and significance of the contemporary analytic movement in philosophy.

Students explore topics in the philosophy of law. Topics may include natural law theory, legal positivism, the separability thesis, relations between law and morality, legal interpretation, the economic analysis of the law, and legal skepticism.

Students investigate normative ethical theories, such as theories about what makes right actions right, good states of affairs good, and virtuous people virtuous. The theories discussed may include: those that evaluate the morality of actions based on intrinsic features such as whether they respect autonomy, and those that evaluate the morality of actions based on the sorts of people who characteristically perform such actions.

The course investigates the moral concepts that are used in the formulation and evaluation of ethical theories, including: ‘morality’, ‘moral value’, ‘virtue’, ‘vice’, ‘moral right’, ‘moral obligation’, ‘justice’, and ‘good’.

The course will involve the study of the nature of moral judgments and the logic of moral reasoning.

Students consider questions such as: Are we ever morally responsible for what we do? When are we exempt from moral responsibility? When do we share responsibility for a harm that has been brought about by a collective? Should we hold organizations morally responsible for wrongfully causing harm? Or can the moral responsibility of organizations always be reduced to the moral responsibility of individual members?

Moral Psychology is an interdisciplinary study that draws on empirical research about human psychology and behavior and conceptual work in philosophical ethics. Some of the central questions include: what are the determinants of our moral judgements? What are the determinants of moral and immoral behavior? What is the connection between moral judgement and moral and immoral behavior? What are the varieties of immorality? Does empirical research support or refute extant normative ethical theories?

Participants will write and discuss research materials which are connected by a common theme. The aim will be to deepen students’ knowledge of the topics studied, while developing effective research methods.

This course accommodates the thesis research and writing required by the Department for any student proceeding to the Master of Arts degree in Philosophy.