Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophical Classics and Contemporary Life
Contemporary problems viewed through a variety of philosophical writings. Students are encouraged to formulate and examine their own beliefs about freedom, knowledge, religion, love and questions of right and wrong.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 1F91, 1F93 and 1F94 except with permission of the department.
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophies of Human Nature
How do we see ourselves? Who are we? What are we? A critical analysis and evaluation of classical and contemporary views of human nature from a variety of philosophical and religious traditions.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 1F90, 1F93 and 1F94 except with permission of the department.
Introduction to Philosophy: The Foundations of the Present
An attempt to place the philosophical issues which confront the reflective individual today in their historical context by examining the teachings and arguments which shape our views of such matters as body and soul, life after death, truth and knowledge, faith and moral responsibility.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 1F90, 1F91 and 1F94 except with permission of the department.
Introduction to Philosophy: Philosophical Problems
Central problems of philosophy as living questions for reflection, dialogue and debate, including: Is the external world really there? Does God exist? Can I really know anything? What is a person? Is everything permissible? Can my life have meaning?
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 1F90, 1F91 and 1F93 except with permission of the department.
Philosophical Psychology
Philosophical and historical foundations of Freudian and post-Freudian theories concerning the nature of the human psyche. Theories and theorists include exorcism (Gassner), animal magnetism (Mesmer), the school of Nancy (Bernheim), Charcot, Freud, Jung and Adler.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL or PSYC credit or permission of the instructor.
Selected Topics in Philosophy
Topics chosen to reflect areas of occasional interest which are not represented in the regular program of studies. Proposals from students are welcome.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Beginnings of Greek Philosophy: Pre-Socratics to Plato
Survey of Western philosophy from its birth in the Pre-Socratics (sixth century BC) to Plato.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 2F01.
Growth of Greek Philosophy: Aristotle and Beyond
Survey of Western philosophy from Aristotle, the Hellenistic schools (Epicurean, Stoic, Sceptic) to Plotinus (third century AD).
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 2F01.
Early Modern Philosophy: The Rationalists
Classical philosophies of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries as found in the writings of the Continental Rationalists (Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz).
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Early Modern Philosophy: The Empiricists
Classical philosophies of England, Ireland and Scotland in the 17th and 18th centuries as found in the writings of the British Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley and Hume).
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Ethics: Foundation and Cases
Investigation into the basis of our beliefs about right or wrong, good or bad. In contentious moral issues, such as abortion, euthanasia and animal rights, disagreements and attempts to explain the ultimate basis of such disagreements, and concludes with an attempt to explain why consensus eludes us.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 2F09.
Ethics: Major Ethical Theories and Philosophies of Life
Examines Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Mill and contemporary thinkers.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 2F09.
Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu Thought
(also offered as INTL 2P12)
Hindu thought beginning with the Vedic myths, through the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita to the systems of the Vedanta. Topics include Karma, reincarnation, altered states of consciousness, Maya, the problem of knowledge, the role and nature of God, the theory and practice of yoga.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Buddhist Thought
(also offered as INTL 2P13)
Buddhist thought from Prince Siddhartha's enlightenment and subsequent Deer Park Sermon (the basis of Hinayana) through the Perfection of Wisdom to Madhyamika Buddhism (the Mahayana representative) to Zen (the silence of the Buddha). Topics include Nirvana, non-self, one-hand clapping.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
The Beginnings of Existential Thinking
The sources of both theistic and atheistic lived philosophy in such figures as Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
The Growth of Existential Thinking
The work of such philosophers as Scheler, Heidegger, Marcel and Sartre.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Introduction to Chinese Philosophy
(also offered as INTL 2P17)
Confucian, Taoist and Chinese Buddhist philosophical traditions examined in conjunction with appropriate texts.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Introduction to Postmodernism
Origin and development of postmodern thinking with particular reference to the issues of ethics and the role of women. Writers may include Nietzsche, Derrida, Levinas, Irigaray, Kristeva, Cixous and Wyschogrod.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Western Religious Thought
(also offered as GBLS 2P20)
Roots of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Who and what is God? What is our relationship to God? What are the ethical bases of monotheism? What is the nature of faith?
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one of PHIL 1F90, 1F91, 1F93, 1F94.
Introduction to Logic
Modern deductive logic; the objective is to develop the ability to analyze arguments in order to determine their worth. Arguments will be symbolized in order to clarify their form and to determine their validity or invalidity.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Ethics in Film
(also offered as FILM 2P81)
Critical examination of the development and resolution of moral problems and ethical dilemmas arising in selected (mostly recent) films.
Lectures, seminar, lab, 4 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or FILM 1F94 or permission of the instructor.
Business Ethics
(also offered as MGMT 2P82)
Evaluation of the contribution of business practices, institutions and actions to the general human good. Topics include false or misleading advertising, product safety, monopolistic price schemes, effects of pollution, discriminatory hiring policies, the role of shareholders, management, government and the public in determining corporate policy and economic justice.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: not open to BAcc and BBA majors.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in MGMT 3P82.
Philosophy of Love
Consideration of the question "What is love?" in such philosophical texts as those of Plato, Aquinas, Kierkegaard and Scheler and in literary figures of the student's choice, including Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe and Byron.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Mass Media and Philosophy
Different philosophical reactions to various types of mass media and computer-mediated communication that challenge the traditional concepts of "identity", "freedom", and "human nature", including critical theory (Adorno/Horkheimer), media theory (McLuhan), postmodernism (Baudrillard) and systems theory (Niklas Luhmann).
Lecutres, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Bioethics
(also offered as BIOL 2P95)
Value conflicts and moral dilemmas in biology and medicine. Emphasis on specific case studies in reproductive interventions, medical experimentation, concepts of "health" and "disease", modification of behaviour, lifestyle choices, allocation of scarce or expensive medical resources, and death and dying.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one BIOL or PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Note: may count as an elective, but not as a major credit in an Honours BIOL (single or combined) program.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL (BIOL) 2F95.
Philosophy of Human Nature
Major philosophical orientations regarding the concept of humanity across the Western and Eastern traditions. Examination of basic issues involved in reaching a philosophical understanding of human nature and its place in the scheme of things.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 2F96.
Philosophy of Religion
Traditional issues, such as the proofs for the existence of God, the problem of evil, the relationship of faith to reason and the nature of religious knowledge.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one credit in PHIL or permission of the instructor.
Philosophy in Literature
Philosophical issues in literature, such as creation stories in ancient and contemporary mythology, the nature of human freedom versus externally determining forces, conflicts of values, the encounter of opposing world views.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one credit in PHIL or permission of the instructor.
Gender Ethics and Sexuality
Application of ethics to questions of human sexuality. Topics include sexual values, the semantics of sex, the concepts of the romantic and eternal-feminine, respect for the personhood of women, censorship, pornography, legal enforcement of morality, sex in advertising, prostitution and AIDS.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in WISE 2P99.
The Artistic Experience
(also offered as GBLS 2Q98 and VISA 2Q98)
Classical theories of art through analysis of painting, photography, video, film, music, and drama examing concepts such as beauty, creativity, artistic intention, perception, interpretation, and the nature and possible role of art.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or VISA 1F98 or permission of the instructor.
Contemporary Social Issues
Problems arising in the areas of social ethics and public policy. Topics include the morality of deceit, overpopulation, obligations to future generations and the environment, nuclear deterrence, animal liberation, moral enforcement and world hunger. Whenever possible, topics are selected in accordance with student interests.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one credit in PHIL or permission of the instructor.
Philosophy of Science
Historical introduction to the metaphysical foundations of modern physical science. Concepts of space, time and matter as they evolved from the theories of the pre-Socratics to those of Bohr, Heisenberg and contemporary exponents of quantum mechanics.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one credit in PHIL or permission of the instructor.
Selected Topics in Philosophy
Selected issues on the basis of faculty expertise.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one credit in PHIL or permission of the instructor.
Theory of Knowledge
Fundamental distinctions in the theory of knowledge, such as knowledge and belief, the empirical and the a priori, analytic/synthetic, scientific versus metaphysical knowledge.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Metaphysics
Major problems of metaphysics, considering the question of what there is. Topics may include the nature of space and time, the mind-body relation, substance and property, universals and particulars, causation, identity and personal identity.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Gandhi and Non-Violence
Gandhi as an original philosopher who has contributed to contemporary ontology. Implications of his thought for applied philosophy of personal, social and international reform, especially in light of its encounters with the forces of violence. Universal relevance of his thought to our technological times, and the relation between his ideas and the Indian tradition.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
The Rise of Christian Philosophy
Philosophy from the patristic period through Erigena and Anselm up to and including the 12th-century Renaissance. Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Scholastic Philosophy
Great Islamic, Jewish and Christian philosophers of the 13th century.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Phenomenology
The work of such philosophers as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Scheler and others.
Lectures, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2P14, 2P15 or permission of the instructor.
Environmental Philosophy
Ethical and conceptual problems in connection with humanity's relations to nature, in terms of survival and future social organization. What are the costs of progress and development? What kind of ethical responsibilities do we have for future generations and for non-human living creatures? Examination of economic, political, human-ecological and eco-philosophical theories.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Critical Study of a Classical Philosophy: Plato
In-depth examination of the works of Plato.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisites: PHIL 2P00 and 2P01 (2F01) or permission of the instructor.
Critical Study of a Classical Philosophy: Aristotle
In-depth examination of the works of Aritstotle.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisites: PHIL 2P00 and 2P01 (2F01) or permission of the instructor.
Hermeneutics
Philosophical theory of interpretation and understanding, with special reference to the methods employed in the humanities (history, literary criticism); the problems of hermeneutics in the works of such thinkers as Gadamer, Ricoeur, Heidegger and Habermas.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2P14, 2P15 or permission of the instructor.
Taoism
Taoist philosophy of the classical period focussing on the Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching) and the Chuang Tzu.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2P17, one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Consciousness and Society
(also offered as PSYC 3Q90)
Psychodynamic approaches to modern clinical pathologies of narcissism, transpersonal psychologies of meditation and consciousness, and socio-cultural approaches to spiritual movements are used to examine both the natureof religious-mystical experience and the repeated appearance of mysticism throughout the 20th century using the personal, social, and political conflicts associated with the life histories of Nietzsche, Emerson, Thoreau, Heidegger, Jung, Blavatsky, Gurdjieff.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PSYC (single or combined) and PHIL (single or combined) majors until date specified in BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits or 3.0 PSYC credits above PSYC 1F90.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1F90.
Note: students minoring in Psychology may register prior to date in BIRT guide. Contact the Psychology Department.
Theories of Personality: Freud and Jung
(also offered as PSYC 3Q95)
Major clinically derived theories of personality with special attention to their bases in case study/life history methodology; focus on Freud and Jung and their continuing relevance for current personality, developmental and transpersonal psychology. The possibly unique relation of "depth psychology" to numinous experience (mysticism, creativity, psychosis).
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PHIL (single or combined) and PSYC (single or combined) majors until date specified in BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits or 3.0 PSYC credits above PSYC 1F90.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1F90.
Note: students minoring in Psychology may register prior to date in BIRT guide. Contact the Psychology Department.
Theories of Personality: Developments in Psychodynamic and Transpersonal Psychology
(also offered as PSYC 3Q96)
Major developments in the psychoanalytic and clinical tradition (Kohut, Winnicott, Klein) as they relate to analogous developments within transpersonal and Jungian approaches to "higher" states of consciousness. Conflicts and congruences between these perspectives illustrated by selected life histories (Melanie Klein, Wilhelm Reich, G. Gurdjieff).
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PHIL (single or combined) and PSYC (single or combined) majors until date specified in BIRT guide. Students must have a minimum of 8.0 overall credits or 3.0 PSYC credits above PSYC 1F90.
Prerequisite: PSYC 1F90.
Note: students Minoring in Psychology may register prior to date in BIRT guide. Contact the Psychology Department.
Comparative Studies in Philosophy
Historical and systematic study of one or more important themes as developed in ancient Greek, modern and contemporary philosophy and/or eastern thought.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: one PHIL credit or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 3M95-3M99.
Issues in 17th- and 18th-Century Philosophy
Special issue or a particular thinker of central importance in the classical period of modern philosophy. Where it does not focus upon one individual (e.g., Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant), the course will trace the development of an issue (e.g., causality, mind-body union, the doctrine of substance, personal identity) through its classical origins.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2P02, 2P03 or permission of the instructor.
Kant and the 18th Century
Historical study of the thought of Immanuel Kant in the context of the 18th-century enlightenment, focussing primarily on Kant's Critique of Pure Reason.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2P02, 2P03 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 3P56 and PHIL 3P96.
Hegel and the 19th Century
Historical study of the thought of Georg W. F. Hegel in the context of the 19th century.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2P02, 2P03 or permission of the instructor.
Completion of this course will replace previous assigned grade in PHIL 3P58 and 3P98.
Contemporary Approaches to Consciousness
(also offered as PSYC 4P47)
Cognitive, philosophical, neuropsychological, physical and phenomenological perspectives on consciousness, including the work of James, Sperry, Gibson, Penrose, Wittgenstein, Husserl and Heidegger, and research on metaphor and self-organizing natural systems.
Lectures, seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: open to PSYC (single or combined) and PHIL (single or combined) majors with approval to year 4 (honours).
Honours Tutorial I
Directed intensive and individual study in an area in which a student has developed and displayed a particular interest.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Note: to be chosen in consultation with a faculty member able to supervise the study. Proposals for a tutorial course must be approved by the Chair of the department by the last day for late registration.
Honours Tutorial II
Directed intensive and individual study in an area in which a student has developed and displayed a particular interest.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Note: to be chosen in consultation with a faculty member able to supervise that study. Proposals for a tutorial course must be approved by the Chair of the department by the last day for late registration.
Advanced Studies in Political Philosophy
Examination of either a particular thinker or a problem in political philosophy. Political philosophers may include Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, J. S. Mill, Rawls and Nozick. Problems may include liberty and political obligation, justice and equality, human nature and the political order, civil disobedience, participation and consent, liberalism, anarchism, socialism and conservatism.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Studies in Contemporary European Philosophy
The work of one or more thinkers prominent in recent Continental thought.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Modern Philosophical Studies
Advanced course devoted to one or more of the major thinkers of the tradition from Descartes to the present day.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Advanced Studies in Eastern Philosophy
Concentrated critical and interpretative study of selected texts in the areas of Advaita, Vedanta, Yoga, etc., Madhyamika and Yogacara schools of Buddhism, Daoism, or Confucianism.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.
Advanced Studies in Comparative Philosophy
Selected issues on the basis of faculty expertise.
Seminar, 3 hours per week.
Restriction: students must have a minimum 70 percent major average and a minimum of 10.0 overall credits.