Philosophy courses and programs

 

PHIL 1611: Self, Society, and Freedom 

Instructor: Dr. J. Dryden

This course investigates ideas about the self in the western philosophical tradition, including work in contemporary philosophy. Issues may include freedom and responsibility, otherness, the relationship between mind and body, the relationship between humans and animals, the impact of trauma, suffering or oppression on self- identity, and the existence or non-existence of the soul. (3 credits) (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) (Distribution: Humanities-a) Exclusion: Any version of PHIL 1611 previously offered with a different title)

PHIL 1621: Reason, Will, and World 

Instructor: Dr. S. Beiweis

 

This course is an introduction to the study of philosophy that looks at some major thinkers in the Western philosophical tradition. We examine fundamental and enduring questions raised about human beings and the world. The specific topics to be discussed include the nature of the universe, human knowledge and desire, goodness and morality, the existence of a divine being, human flourishing and freewill, and the nature of philosophy. Students learn about and compose essays on these themes to discover the interconnections among theories of reason, will, and world. (3 credits) (Format: Lecture 3 Hours)Exclusion: Any version of PHIL 1991 previously offered with the title ‘The Story of Reason’.

 

 

PHIL 2511: Introductory Philosophy of Science

Instructor: Dr. A. Inkpen

 

Prereq: 3 credits from Humanities 1600 Series; or permission of the Department
This course explores competing philosophical explanations of scientific theory and practice. Based on historical and contemporary cases, it compares philosophical theories including logical positivism, scientific realism, scientific pluralism, sociology of scientific knowledge, and the most recent critiques from social constructivism and feminism. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours)

 

 

PHIL 2701: Introduction to Ethics 

Instructor: Dr. R. Majithia


 

An introduction to the history and philosophical problems of ethics in the western tradition. This will acquaint the student with a number of received traditions based on metaphysical, religious, rational, and pragmatic grounds, as well as introduce certain fundamental perennial problems of moral decision-making. (3 credits) (Format: Lecture 3 Hours)  Prereq: Three credits from Humanities 1600 Series; or permission of the Department.

PHIL 3101: Mediaeval Philosophy
Instructor: Dr. S. Beiweis

This course examines themes and developments in the mediaeval monotheistic tradition of philosophy (ca. 350-1400 CE). The enduring philosophical topics discussed may include knowledge of God, universals, the nature of the human person, freedom of the will, the scope of philosophy, and the relationship between faith and reason. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) Prereq: 3 credits from PHIL; 3 credits from PHIL at the 2000 level excluding PHIL 2611; or permission of the Department.

 

 

PHIL 3250: 19^th Century German Philosophy (6 credit, full year)

Instructor: Dr. J. Dryden

 

This course provides an overview of the philosophical revolution that followed in the wake of Kant, often referred to as Germany's counterpart to the French Revolution. This strain of philosophy challenged the traditional understanding of the relationship of mind and world and the nature of reality itself. The course begins with J.G. Fichte's late eighteenth-century attempt to carry on the spirit of Kantian critical philosophy by grounding it in the radical freedom of the 'I' before considering such figures as the early German Romantics, Schelling, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours, Full year, 6 credits)

 

 

PHIL 3991A: Renaissance Philosophy

Instructor: Dr. S. Beiweis

Renaissance philosophy spans from the mid-14th century to the mid-17th century, during which historical events (e.g., the fall of Constantinople in 1453), new technological achievements (e.g., the printing press), and the introduction of new knowledge practices, along with the rediscovery of classical Greek and Latin texts transformed philosophy. In this course, we will examine the views of some of the most important Renaissance philosophers – especially Lorenzo Valla, Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Pietro Pompanazzi, Juan Luis Vives, Giordano Bruno – on the cosmos, humanity’s place in nature, religion, philosophy, and science. (Format: Lecture 3 hours)

 

 

PHIL 4111: Philosophy as a Way of Life 

Instructor: Dr. R. Majithia

 

Pierre Hadot has argued that ancient schools of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy were interested not just in constructing theoretical frameworks to get at the truth, but also in their having a certain kind of psychic effect on the students of philosophy, to shape their living, and to form, therefore, as much as to inform. In this course, we will think together about the plausibility of this perspective by looking at texts, for instance, from Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, the Stoics and the Skeptics. We will also look at texts from beyond the western tradition (where a similar perspective may be found) that could include, depending on student interest, early Buddhism, Brahmanism, Daoism, and more. (Format: Seminar 3 hours) Prereq: PHIL 2701; or PHIL 3000; or permission of the Department.

PHIL 1601: Plato’s Republic (3 credits)
Instructor: Dr. R. Majithia

Plato's Republic is a seminal text that originates, discusses and unifies important philosophical concerns that are perennially relevant. In addition to giving us an introduction to issues such as the nature of morality, mind, God, reality and knowledge, it provides us with an excellent point of departure for examining how other traditions of the world have originated and discussed these issues in their own contexts. Grounding our wide-ranging examination in the Republic will allow us to examine these issues in a dialogical fashion. More importantly, the use of non-western sources will throw light on some of the central presuppositions and concerns of the western philosophical tradition that are still with us today.  (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) (Exclusion: Any version of PHIL 1611 previously offered with a different title.
 

PHIL 1651: Knowledge, Nature, and Science
Instructor:  Dr. A. Inkpen

This course introduces the study of philosophy in the Western tradition through an investigation of how and why humans come to know the natural world. Readings will include historical and contemporary sources. Specific topics may include the development of science, the relation between humans and nature, the relation between science and technology, and the nature of ideas like progress, realism, truth, pseudoscience, explanation, objectivity, responsibility, and justice. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) (Exclusion: Any version of PHIL 1651 previously offered with a different title)

PHIL 2401: Intro Aesthetics
Instructor: Dr. S. Beiweis

This course focuses on aesthetics and the philosophy of art, drawing on both the history of philosophy (including figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Nietzsche) and on contemporary theories about art. Topics may include the problem of defining art, the role of art and the artist in society, the experience of the sublime, and the nature of aesthetic judgment and taste. [Note 1: This course may count as 3 credits in Art History.] (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) Prereq: 3 credits from Humanities 1600 Series; or permission of the Department.


PHIL 2611: Introductory Logic
Instructor: Dr. S. Beiweis

​​​This course introduces the study of logic, examining the basic structure of arguments, common reasoning fallacies, truth tables, and propositional logic. Further topics may include an introduction to quantification theory, syllogistic reasoning, Venn diagrams, Mill's methods, and issues central to inductive and deductive reasoning. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) (Exclusion: Any version of PHIL 2611 previously offered with a different title; PHIL 2621)


PHIL 3221: Modern Philosophy: The Rationalists
Instructor: Dr. R. Majithia

This course investigates the thought of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, the leading seventeenth-century continental thinkers who formulated the great a priori systems. The capacity and function of human reason fully to understand the world is a theme common to these thinkers; it constitutes one of the major concerns of the course, a concern balanced by investigation of why these systems have reached such diverse answers to the substantive issues of how the world is to be understood. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) Prereq: 3 credits from PHIL; 3 credits from PHIL at the 2000 level excluding PHIL 2611; or permission of the Department.


PHIL 3250: 19^th Century German Philosophy (continued from the fall term)
Instructor: Dr. J. Dryden

This course provides an overview of the philosophical revolution that followed in the wake of Kant, often referred to as Germany's counterpart to the French Revolution. This strain of philosophy challenged the traditional understanding of the relationship of mind and world and the nature of reality itself. The course begins with J.G. Fichte's late eighteenth-century attempt to carry on the spirit of Kantian critical philosophy by grounding it in the radical freedom of the 'I' before considering such figures as the early German Romantics, Schelling, Hegel, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours, Full year, 6 credits)


PHIL 3511: Philosophy of Life Sciences
Instructor: Dr. A. Inkpen

Prereq: PHIL 2511; B.Sc. students already doing 3/4000 level work in their own field, and students with declared programs in Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, or Cognitive Science will be admitted; or permission of the Department.
In recent decades the philosophical assumptions underlying the life sciences have been seen increasingly as distinct from the physical sciences. This course will examine this difference as well as the linkage between them, then turn to the philosophical issues within evolutionary theory, the notion of species and problems of classification, persistent controversies surrounding sociobiology, genetic control, use of animals in research, and the application of bioethics. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours)


PHIL 3741: Philosophy of Disability
Instructor: Dr. J. Dryden

This course introduces the philosophical study of disability. It raises important questions that challenge our thinking and assumptions in a range of ways and explores issues such as: social versus medical models of disability; definitions of impairment and disability, including how they have changed through history; disability as identity and how it interacts with other identities; the relationship between concepts of disability and concepts of well-being; disability and culture; and philosophy's treatment of intellectual disability in the context of philosophy's traditional valorization of reason. (Format: Lecture 3 Hours) (Exclusion: PHIL 4991 Philosophy of Disability).


PHIL 3991B: Non-Ideal Theory
Instructor: Dr. J. Dryden

This course explores what non-ideal theory might be and what methodologies it might be associated with. What happens to our approach to ethics, epistemology, and social and political philosophy when we focus, not on how ideal practices, relationships, and institutions might function, but on specific, concrete, and historical situations? How might this change affect our conceptualization of justice, virtue, and the role of philosophy? In addition to readings about non-ideal theory itself, the course will examine work that explicitly or implicitly takes a non-ideal theory approach.


PHIL 4521: Technology, Society, and Artificial Intelligence
Instructor: Dr. A. Inkpen

My philosophy of science seminar this year will explore themes related to the implications and ethics of emerging technology, with a special emphasis on artificial intelligence. We will begin with broader themes about the relations between society, technology, and organisms (humans included, but not limited to humans). Then we will turn to recent themes in the philosophy of artificial intelligence, such as how we build ethics into artificial intelligence systems, how we define intelligence, the relation between machines/programs and organisms, how we manage biases and discrimination, whether machines will/should have legal or moral rights, what the future of technological developments might mean for human well-being and the meaningfulness of human activities, like work or art. We will read a diversity of sources that interrogate these themes, including science, utopian science fiction, and philosophy. (Format: Seminar 3 hours)