PHIL Course Descriptions

Philosophy (2009-2010)

An introduction to central issues in metaphysics and epistemology. Questions to be considered might include: "Can we know anything?" "Does God exist?" "Is the mind just a brain?" "Do human beings have free will?"

This course seeks to introduce students to the nature of philosophy. This is done through the examination of core texts and figures in the history of philosophy as well as in the discussion of perennial philosophical questions.

An introduction to central issues in ethics and value theory. Questions considered might include: "What makes actions right or wrong?" "Are there facts about what is beautiful?" "Can our social institutions be justified?"

An examination of the importance of virtue in general and of the cardinal virtues in particular for the development of character and the enjoyment of the good life.

A study of what some of the great philosophers have said about the meaning of life and death and the transition from life to death. Students are urged to raise questions and help direct discussion.

An analysis of basic types of reasoning, structure of arguments, critical assessment of information, common fallacies, problems of clarity and meaning.

Outstanding works from the ancient and medieval periods.

Outstanding works on metaphysics and epistemology from the early modern period (1600-1800).

An introduction to the understanding of how words are used, the formation of propositions, the construction of arguments and the examination of fallacies to help the student argue with order, facility and without error.

A philosophical analysis of different forms and functions of love. Among the topics to be considered: love and sexuality, religious love, love and knowledge. Classical and contemporary sources will be treated.

Issues arising in our lives as gendered human beings: oppression, language, looks, the work place, sports, love, relationships, bonds, sex, AIDS, rape, sexual harassment, prostitution, pornography, contraception, abortion, reproduction, raising children, youth and aging.

An analysis of the philosophical assumptions of Western popular culture as reflected in various mass media and in current models of production and consumption.

An exploration of issues in philosophy via science fiction. The stories provide thought experiments like those used by the great philosophers in considering knowledge, mind-brain identity, space, time, causality, ethics, and politics (among others).

Philosophical themes (such as alienation, freedom and responsibility) will be explored through appropriate literary works (for example, works by Aeschylus, Dostoevsky, Kafka, and Twain).

What is a human being? What is the place of humans among other creatures? Are human beings accidents of evolution? What are the major theories of human nature? How are love and sex aspects of human life?

Study of ethical and moral issues that typically arise in professional and business activity. What responsibilities to society at large do people in such business and professional activities as teaching, engineering, planning, architecture and accounting have? How far should professional autonomy extend?

An elementary introduction to the subject of 'rational' behaviour and decision-making for individuals and groups. Emphasis is on the definition and measurement of utility functions and various criteria employed in models of decision-making. This course is intended to help those whose work will involve them in making decisions in either the public or private sectors.

The search to establish a rational basis for ethics. Consideration will be given to ethical theories which help to shed light on the most fundamental problem of ethics: the existence and the nature of the good, understood as the question of what makes a human life a good life.

This course will examine a variety of applied ethical issues. The topics that may be discussed include abortion, euthanasia, pornography, environmentalism, animal rights, poverty, and reproductive technologies.

The aim of this course is to improve the student's understanding of ethical ideas and principles by careful discussion of selected concrete moral issues, such as abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, and violence. Choice of issues is partly determined by student interest.

This course is intended to be both a history of and an introduction to moral philosophy. Views on the foundations of ethics of the great philosophers from classical antiquity to about 1900 are systematically examined. Writers studied include: Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, Mill and Nietzsche.

Philosophical perspectives on current environmental concerns: pollution, use of scarce resources, relations to animals and future generations, the significance of biodiversity and wilderness areas, bioactivism and other approaches to environmental problems.

An investigation of some critical ethical issues in human research and therapy. Includes discussions of the right to live and the right to die, behaviour control (e.g. psychosurgery, behaviour modification and psychotherapy), human experimentation (including 'informed consent' and fetal research) and genetic engineering.

An investigation of several aspects concerning the meaning and existence of God. Is God-talk possible? Can faith and reason be reconciled? Is religious experience a meaningful argument? A wide range of different views will be considered.

A critical examination of reports of extraordinary experiences such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, mysticism, prophecy, and miracle-working will lead to philosophical discussion of rationality, causation, free will, survival of death, and other topics.

A critical discussion of basic religious concepts. Among the topics covered will be faith, miracles, religious experience, immortality, and arguments for the existence of God.

A survey of significant philosophical problems posed by religious belief. These include: the basis for religious belief in contemporary theories of knowledge, the relationship between science and religion, the idea of special revelation, the problem of freedom and determinism, the relation between religion and ethics, and the role of religion in a pluralistic society.

An examination of classical propositional logic, covering proof methods, expressive completeness, soundness, and completeness. Also introduction to quantificational logic.

Problem solving, including Assessment of Risk, Uncertainty and Value form one part of the course. Other subjects include Individual and Group Process for Finding and Weighing Alternatives; Organization of Data, its Presentation and Analysis.

This course will discuss fundamental questions concerning the nature of mind, including the relation between mind and body, the plausibility of commonsense views of the mind, and knowledge of other minds.

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence. This course will draw on philosophy, psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, neuroscience, and anthropology to address central questions about the nature of thinking. Topics discussed will include mental representation, computational models of mind, and consciousness.

A discussion of the fundamental concepts on which science is based. Consideration is given to such topics as scientific theories, the nature of law-likeness, the grounds for scientific confirmation, and the debate between rationalism and empiricism in science. [Offered: W]

What is technology? What is its relationship with modern science? Is technology a means or an end? Does the development of technology require a change in the way we conceive human nature and its place within the natural world? What new moral and metaphysical dilemmas does technology raise? Contributions from a wide range of thinkers - such as Aristotle, Descartes, Bacon, Ellul or Heidegger - will be studied.

An introduction to the existentialist view of humans using both literary and philosophical texts from such authors as Kierkegaard, Unamuno, Nietzsche, Ortega y Gasset, Camus, Sartre, Heidegger and others.

An examination of ancient and modern accounts of the natural world. Problems include whether matter alone can account for change, whether there is more than one cause, whether nature operates by purpose or chance.

A philosophical study of the approaches to the material world used by contemporary physical science. The nature and the value of the experimental method in the writings of scientists past and present will be examined.

A philosophical analysis of classical and contemporary theories of education, with a view to formulating a clear workable concept of education, its aims and methods.

An introduction to current work in the field. Issues to be considered may include: the desirability and content of a core curriculum, methods of moral development, the problem of indoctrination, gender and education, computers and education, and peace education.

An analysis from the standpoint of philosophical ethics of moral issues arising in professional engineering practice. Issues include the social responsibility of engineers, conflict of interest and obligation, morally acceptable levels of risk, and moral implications of technology. [Offered: W]

A philosophical examination of the family: its foundation, its purpose, its importance in personal growth and its relation to political community.

Examination of the principles of philosophical ethics that are applicable to some of the problems posed by the new methods and technologies used in the biological sciences (e.g., medicine and pharmaceutical research). The issues that may be discussed include genetic engineering, animal experimentation, reproductive technologies, and medically assisted suicide.

Continues the history and discussion of ethics begun in PHIL 221 with writings from 1900 to the present. Theories such as intuitionism, emotivism, utilitarianism, and relativism are examined via the writings of such people as Moore, Hare and Warnock.

An investigation of concepts and principles via readings in classical and contemporary social and political philosophy. Concentration is on the justification of the state, with specific attention to socialism, capitalism, and democracy. Does society create problems which political institutions are necessary for solving?

Basic themes in the philosophy of law. Issues include the nature of law and its relation to morality and politics, legal reasoning, the justification of punishment, and theories of rights, responsibility and liability.

What are human rights? Which do we have, and why? What are the practical implications of human rights, for both individuals and institutions? A comprehensive discussion of theory and history, of law and morality, and of national and international applications.

An exploration of the traditional debates concerning the legitimacy of violence and war as instruments in the pursuit of personal and political goals. The course critically examines a continuum of views from religious doctrines of non-resistance, to various forms of pacifism and non-violent resistance, "just-war theory" and political realism. The strategic arguments for political non-violent action are also considered.

Philosophical consideration of works of art and the problems of beauty using selected readings to enable the student to recognize and formulate her/his own views in a philosophic manner.

Axiom systems of logic are developed and compared with natural deduction procedures. Then certain properties of these logical systems, such as consistency, completeness and compactness, will be investigated.

Introduction to Kripke semantics and proof methods for classical modal logic and for intuitionistic logic, with discussion of philosophical issues. May include topics like temporal and relevance logics.

An examination of such problems as meaning criteria, primary data, and the importance of certainty to knowledge.

A selection of topics in metaphysics such as universals and particulars, mind-body problem, and free will.

A study of philosophical problems concerning mathematics. Topics discussed include formalism, intuitionism, logicism, the mathematical paradoxes, and other topics in foundations and metamathematics.

Problems about the fundamental methods and aims of the social sciences generally, and problems specific to Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, etc., and their relations to one another will be considered.

Topics in the philosophy of language such as meaning, truth, reference, speech acts, mental representations of syntax and semantics, psycholinguistics, and relations between logical and natural languages.

A survey of the leading ideas of classical American philosophers, including Peirce, James, Royce, Santayana, Dewey and Mead. Attention will be paid to certain common themes, such as the pragmatic theory of truth, and the concept of democratic community. An effort will also be made to determine what makes these views distinctively American.

From the beginnings to Plato.

From Aristotle to the close of classical antiquity.

The early period to the 13th century. Among those considered will be: Augustine, Boethius, Anselm and Abailard.

The later period from the 13th century. Among those considered will be: Bonaventure, Aquinas, Scotus, and Ockham.

Earlier period beginning with Descartes.

Later period including Hume and Kant.

The 19th-century Philosophers covered may include Hegel, Mill, Schopenhauer, James and Kierkegaard.

A study of major themes of 20th-century philosophy through representative works of Russell, Moore, Carnap, Wittgenstein, Husserl and others.

A critical examination of contemporary feminist thought in philosophy, focusing on topics of current concern to feminist writers and to the class.

Special topics in ancient philosophy, as announced by the department.

Special topics in medieval philosophy, as announced by the department.

Special topics in modern philosophy, as announced by the department.

Special topics in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, as announced by the department.

Special topics in 19th century philosophy, as announced by the department.

Special topics in early 20th century philosophy, as announced by the department.

This course examines the nature and purpose of community living as well as such traditionally controversial issues as private and public morality, the individual good and the common good, personal freedom and group responsibility.

Special topics in ethics, as announced by the Department.

Special topics in ethics, as announced by the Department.

Philosophical analysis of central concepts in political theory and its relation to moral and metaphysical problems of various periods.

A detailed discussion of contemporary theories.

A study of a particular philosopher or problem, as announced by the Department.

A study of a particular philosopher or problem, as announced by the Department.

A rigorous and general development of the propositional and predicate calculus within which alternative calculi are examined. Study of such concepts as completeness, consistency, extensionality, and modality from both formal and philosophical points of view. Intended primarily for those interested in philosophical issues connected with logic.

The second part of PHIL 440.

Special topics in logic, as announced by the Department.

Special topics in logic, as announced by the Department.

An interdisciplinary discussion of central issues concerned with mind and intelligence, such as representation, meaning, inference and consciousness.

A discussion of metaphysics as the kind of examination initiated by the Greeks (e.g., Parmenides and Aristotle) and renewed subsequently by many other philosophers (e.g., Aquinas and Heidegger), understood as ontology or the rational study of being as such. Notions such as reality, essence, existence, and analogy will be discussed.

An examination of the work of Thomas Aquinas and some of the main themes addressed by him, although a particular emphasis will be placed on ethics and metaphysics. His relation to ancient, Arabic, and thirteenth-century thought will also be considered.

Various problems in metaphysics, as announced by the Department.

Various problems in metaphysics, as announced by the Department.

An in depth study of the thoughts of a major figure such as Kierkegaard, Unamuno, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus, Marcel, Jaspers, Ortega y Gasset.

A critical examination of the issues and methods of phenomenology, including the attempts to understand the uses and ramifications of phenomenological methods through the working out of particular analyses. The basic writings of phenomenologists such as Husserl and Merleau-Ponty will be used.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

One or more term courses will be offered at different times, as announced by the Department.

Readings in selected topics chosen in discussion with instructor.