The nature of science and its development. Topics may include: the contrast between science and religion, between science and pseudo-science; the nature of scientific reasoning; scientific reality; science and objectivity; scientific revolutions; and the interaction between science, society, and values.

Philosophy often begins with a puzzle or paradox. Zeno once convincingly argued that motion was impossible, but people continue to move. The "liar's paradox" seems to show that everything is both true and false, but that cannot be right. In this course, we will examine these and related issues.

A survey of the major political theorists/theories of the Western philosophical tradition. Questions to be addressed include: Why obey the law? What is justice? What is the best form of government?

Main types of feminist theory: liberal, Marxist, Existential and "Radical." A number of ethical, political and psychological issues are considered.

Moral issues in the law, such as civil liberties and police powers, censorship, civil disobedience, the death penalty, inequality, paternalism and the constitutional protection of human rights. Case studies from Canadian law.

The nature, aims, and content of education; learning theory; education and indoctrination; the teaching of morals and the morality of teaching; the role and justification of educational institutions, their relation to society and to individual goals; authority and freedom in the school.

Environmental ethics is a relatively new development in philosophical thinking which focuses on the ethical and value questions arising from our relation to nature. Focal question of the area asks: Is the non-human world of ethical significance only insofar as it is connected with human well-being, or is ethically significant in itself? This course investigates and evaluates anthropocentrim, ecofeminism and radical biocentric theories of the deep ecologists.

The course explores ethical problems posed by social issues such as inequality, poverty, war, corporate responsibility, the treatment of animals, and social media, against the background of major ethical and political theories.

A survey of the major moral theorists/theories of the Western philosophical tradition. Questions to be addressed include: Why be moral? What makes certain actions right or wrong? Can we know what is morally right or wrong?

Classics in moral, social and political philosophy from Plato to the present. Likely readings include Plato on justice in the state and in the individual, Aristotle's ethics, Hume's moral psychology, Hobbes on the social contract, Kant on the fundamental principle of morality, Mill's utilitarianism, Locke on rights, Marx on Capitalism, Nietzsche on the origins of modern morality, and Rawls and Nozick on distributive justice.

(Formerly PHL382H5) An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the philosophical significance of death, the high-tech prolongation of life, definition and determination of death, suicide, active and passive euthanasia, the withholding of treatment, palliative care and the control of pain, living wills; recent judicial decisions.

Moral implications of recent developments in medicine and the life sciences; related legal and social issues. Euthanasia, health care priorities, abortion, fertility control, against the background of some major ethical theories.

What obligations do we have in light of the effects of our food choices? Do we have any obligations to non-human animals; are we obliged to spare them painful lives and deaths? Are we obligated to spare their lives altogether? What about our obligations to our fellow humans, and to the environment that future humans will live in? Are we obligated to choose foods that minimize harm to the environment and to other communities? We will explore these questions at both the individual and the social-policy levels. For example, should we as a society have laws that ban certain foods, or certain treatments of animals? Or do such laws trample the freedom of individual choice? Whatever laws we do have, are we as individuals obliged to take responsibility for what we eat? Or are the effects of our choices just an insignificant drop in the bucket, since they make no real difference given what everyone else is doing?

A study of some of the most important philosophical questions about art. For example, what exactly is a work of art? Can any object whatsoever be, or become, an artwork? Who or what determines whether something is art? Does each person decide for themselves, or does a certain community (the "art world") decide? Can one interpretation or evaluation of a work be better, or more justified, than another? If so, how do we tell which one is better?

An introduction to dream psychology, the psychology of errors, instinct theory, mechanisms of defence, the structure of personality. Philosophical topics include: freedom and determinism, consciousness, the nature of conscience, the status of psychoanalysis.

Topic to vary from year to year. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.

Philosophical issues in ethics, social theory, and theories of human nature insofar as they bear on contemporary conduct of business. Issues include: Does business have moral responsibilities? Can social costs and benefits be calculated? Does modern business life determine human nature of the other way around? Do political ideas and institutions such as democracy have a role within business?

This course provides a rewarding opportunity for students in their second year to work in the research project of a professor in return for 299Y course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, learn research methods and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Participating faculty members post their project descriptions for the following summer and fall/winter sessions in early February and students are invited to apply in early March. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.

A study of some topic or thinker in the ancient period.

This course explores major themes in Plato’s philosophy through a selective reading of his dialogues. Among the areas tackled are the human good, the nature of the soul, knowledge, and the ultimate constitution of reality. Readings may include, though will not necessarily be confined to, the Euthyphro, Protagoras, Euthydemus, Meno, Gorgias, Republic, Phaedo, Phaedrus and Theaetetus.

This course explores major themes in Aristotle’s philosophy belonging to the fields of natural philosophy, metaphysics, ethics and epistemology. Readings may include, though are not necessarily confined to the Ethics, Physics, Metaphysics, Categories, On the soul and Analytics.

A study of some of the principal figures and intellectual problems in the period from the first century to the sixteenth. Figures such as Philo, Augustine, Abelard, Avicenna, Maimonides, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, Ockham and Suarez will be studied on topics in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and philosophy of nature.

A study of a topic or thinker in the 17th or 18th century.

An intermediate-level course on one or more philosophical traditions from the South Asian world, including orthodox Indian schools (Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta) and non-orthodox schools such as Buddhism and Jainism, with a focus on their theories of religion, ethics, epistemology, or metaphysics.

A systematic study of The Critique of Pure Reason.

A study of some topic or thinker in the 19th century.

A study of recent traditions of continental philosophy such as phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory, structuralism and post-structuralism. Figures such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, the Frankfurt school, Lacan, Foucault, Deleuze and Derrida.

An examination of some of the classic texts of early analytic philosophy, concentrating on the work of Frege, Russell and Wittgenstein. Central topics to be covered include: the development of logic and its relation to arithmetic; the nature of language and meaning; truth and objectivity; the distinction between sense and reference; logical analysis; the relation between language and thought; and the bounds of intelligibility.

An examination of the later analytic tradition from logical positivism to Kripke. The course will cover some of the following topics: meaning and verifiability; the relation between science and philosophy; ordinary language and philosophy; the nature and status of the analytic-synthetic distinction; meaning and theories of meaning; theories of truth; the nature of necessity; and reference and identity.

Typical topics: ontological categories; ontological commitment; the objectivity of space and time: causality and determinism; mind and body.