Department of Philosophy

300 Level Courses                       

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Course Offerings for 2013-14:

 

PHIL 301* Biomedical Ethics 3L/S

K. Gordon-Solmon    Fall Term

PREREQUISITE: (Completed 60.0 or more units) or (Registration in a "Faculty of Medicine" plan).

This course will be built around the observations that we now have unprecedented control over how we are born, live, and die, and that we will soon have even more control.  It asks what limits there should be on the exercise of this control.  Topics will include parents designing their (future) children, the use of performance enhancing drugs (in sports and otherwise), memory tampering, abortion, and euthanasia.  We'll read a selection of articles from the contemporary philosophical literature, supplemented by a small number of articles from the popular press.  Evaluation will be based on an 8-page term paper (50%), two 4-6 page papers, and, possibly, class participation (10%).  There will be no final exam. 

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PHIL 307* Latin American and Caribbean Philosophy 3L

S. Babbitt Winter Term

PREREQUISITE: Level 3 and 12 units in PHIL, ENGL, HIST, or POLS. 

In this course we consider key themes and thinkers from Latin America and the Caribbean.  We discuss the work of nineteenth century Cuban philosopher José Martí and 20^th century Argentinean philosopher Ernesto “Che” Guevara  as well as Simón Bolívar, José de la Luz y Caballero, Félix Varela,  José Carlos Mariátequi and others.  In considering the relevance of such ideas to North American and European analytic traditions, we will ask why such philosophy is so little known and how the answer to this question matters more broadly.

Texts  

José Martí: Selected Writings(Penguin Books 2002)

Che Guevara,Global Justice, Liberation and Socialism(Ocean Press, 2002)

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PHIL 311* Philosophy of Psychology 3L

D. Bakhurst  Fall Term

PREREQUISITE: PHIL250/6.0 or permission of the Department. 

What is the nature of mind and to what extent can it be disclosed by natural-scientific methods?  The course draws on the ideas of a variety of thinkers - including Bruner, Davidson, Hacking, McDowell, Vygotsky, Wiggins, and Wittgenstein - to explore the nature of psychological explanation.  We will examine the social dimensions of the human mind, addressing questions of personhood, identity, rationality, freedom, and self-knowledge.  Finally, we shall consider how these issues illuminate the psychology of learning, development, and education.   

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PHIL 316* Philosophy of Art 3L

D. Knight Winter Term

PREREQUISITE:  (12.0 units in PHIL of which 6.0 units in PHIL must be at the 200-level or above) or (18.0 units in ARTF; ARTH; DRAM; ENGL; FILM; or MUSC). 

PHIL 316 Philosophy of Art:  But is it Art?

This is a wide-ranging introduction to the philosophy of art and philosophical aesthetics.  Our main goal is to figure out just how to think about and talk about art.  The course is designed for active learners.

Key issues we will consider include:  how historical views about taste, beauty, and disinterestedness are challenged by works of art that deliberately raise issues that are morally challenging; how (and whether) “we” can talk about the art of “other” cultures; the complex questions surrounding women and/in art; what is involved in the interpretation of works of art; and how to understand the notion of “aesthetic value.”

We will read a selection of primary texts, both historical and contemporary, from Plato to Danto.  Running in parallel to our primary texts, we will also read Cynthia Freeland’s introduction to art theory and the philosophy of art, But is it Art? (Oxford). 

Classroom time will be divided between lectures, discussions among and between students on key topics, and consideration of a number of examples from the arts broadly construed. 

Students should anticipate assignments such as an in-class test, a group project that will be presented to the class, a short essay, and a final exam.

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PHIL 318* Philosophy of Law 3L

Justice, Rights and Freedom

C. Sypnowich Winter Term

PREREQUISITE:  Completed 60.0 or more units.

This course introduces students to some of the central concepts in the philosophy of law or jurisprudence.  Jurisprudence concerns the theory of law and as such straddles the disciplines of law and philosophy, both the principles of legal institutions and the ideals of legal order.  At the heart of the philosophy of law is the question of how the rules of the coercive state might justly intervene in individual freedom.  We will consider writings from classic jurisprudence as well as contemporary debates.  Possible topics include the relation between law and morality, the idea of the rule of law, natural rights and legal rights, the idea of an obligation to obey the law, punishment and responsibility.  These problemsuestions and others will be pursued in order to acquire a grasp of the central ideas and arguments of political philosophy as well as the skills to assess and critique them. 

Text:

David Dyzenhaus, Sophia Reibetanz Moreau, Arthur Ripstein (eds.) Law and Morality

Structure: Lectures with some opportunity for discussion in class or tutorials.

Assessment: 

T.B.A. but likely a mixture of in class exams and written assignments.

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PHIL 328* Ancient Philosophy 3L

S. Leighton Winter Term

PREREQUISITE:  (PHIL232/6.0 or PHIL250/6.0 or PHIL257/6.0) or (6.0 units in PHIL and level 3 or above in a CLST Major or Medial Plan) or permission of the Department.

This course will be concerned with the thought of Plato and the response to it by his most important student, Aristotle.  It will be interested in their agreements and disagreements, and the bases for their positions.  Topics to be considered are likely to include metaphysical and epistemological concerns, but a major part of the course will be devoted to their psychological understanding of persons and the role emotions are to take in our lives. 

The course is lecture based, but with considerable time for discussion, both as it concerns interpretation of often difficult texts, and more wide ranging discussion of pertinent matters.  The aims of the class will include coming to grips with the texts, the positions and arguments offered, and, (as far as we can tell) the truth of these matters. 

Evaluation will be based on written work (both papers and exams) and, (if feasible) class presentations. 

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PHIL 335* Introduction to Kant 3L

D.L.C. Maclachlan Fall Term  

PREREQUISITES: PHIL 250/6.0 or permission from the Department.

The Critique of Pure Reason is widely recognized as the most central book in modern philosophy, with enormous influence on both AngloSaxon and Continental philosophy. It is a difficult book, not easy to understand. This is not because Kant is an obscure writer: he writes with extraordinary clarity about straightforward matters. The trouble is that the topics he is discussing are intrinsically difficult and to get a grip on Kant's innovative approach to the problem of our cognitive life requires a radical shift in our normal habits of thought which is not easy to carry out.

The Critique of Pure Reason is a long book as well as a difficult book and we shall not attempt to study the whole thing. I shall concentrate on selected topics to be specified in an outline which will be made available when the class begins. The passages selected will be studied with great thoroughness, often reading a paragraph aloud in class before attempting to explain it and answer questions about it.

The work for this course is designed to make sure that students have a good understanding of Kant's Transcendental Idealism. It will consist of two parts. There will be two short essays (1500 words) each worth 25% of the final mark. There will be a final examination held during the regular December examination period worth 50% of the final mark. The examination paper will contain four questions of which students must attempt three. The four questions on the paper will be drawn from a master list of eight questions will be made available in advance.

Textbook: Immanuel Kant Critique of Pure Reason translated by Norman Kemp Smith.

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PHIL 343* Social and Political Philosophy 3L

K. Gordon-Solmon Winter Term

PREREQUISITE: PHIL 257/6.0 or permission of the Department.

This course will provide an upper-level introduction to contemporary discussions of distributive justice.  The central text will be John Rawls' pioneering book, A Theory of Justice.  We will also look at selections from the critical literature surrounding A Theory of Justice, as well as certain alternative theories that have developed in its wake.  Here, readings will include pieces by Robert Nozick, Ronald Dworkin, and G.A. Cohen. 

Evaluation will be based on 2 papers, an in-class presentation, and class participation

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PHIL 347* Contemporary Moral Philosophy 3L

TBA  Winter Term

PREREQUISITE: PHIL257/6.0 or permission of the Department.

TBA  

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PHIL 352* Metaphysics 3L

Mark Smith Fall Term

PREREQUISITE: PHIL250/6.0 or permission of the Department.

We will be examining the metaphysical idea of form – the idea that there is a form inherent in natural things, that this form tells us how a thing ought to be, and that such forms are captured by our minds and give us a standard for both thought and action. And so we will be investigating the closely connected idea of normativity as well: are there norms in nature? Are there objective norms for (good) action? And are there objective norms governing who we ought to be, and how our selves should be made?

Our main focus will be a recent book by Christine Korsgaard, Self-Constitution (2009), which develops a fascinating view of these questions. Along the way we will also pay close attention to Aristotle and Kant, whom Korsgaard draws on extensively. In fact, this will be a course touching on metaphysics, mind, action, personal identity, and the foundations of ethics.

Readings:

Korsgaard, Self-Constitution

Aristotle, The Basic Works of Aristotle

Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Requirements:

Some combination of short comment sheets, a short paper, and a final paper.  

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PHIL 361* Introduction to Logic 3L

A. Mercier Fall Term

PREREQUISITE: A GPA of 2.0 in 6.0 units in PHIL.

One-way exclusion:  may not be taken with or after CISC 204/3.0.  

This class will cover what is called propositional logic and monadic predicate calculus. The sequel to this class –PHIL 362—will cover polyadic predicate calculus with identity, and (time permitting) an introduction to modal logic. Do not let the pedantic math-sounding vocabulary intimidate you. 

In this course, we attempt to understand two things :

(1) various ways of assessing the goodness (or badness) of reasoning;

and, perhaps even more importantly,

(2) the logic underlying natural language sentences. 

(1) deals with understanding arguments :

the study of logic, as I approach it with a heavy emphasis on natural deduction exercises, increases the reflexive awareness of reasoning processes and our reasoning agility.

The part of this course intended to develop these skills will be known as deduction (to show validity) and modeling (to show invalidity).

(2) deals with understanding sentences :

Natural languages suffer from various forms and degrees of ambiguity and vagueness. By studying logic, a language devoid of ambiguity, we cultivate a sensitivity to ambiguities and vagaries, striking and subtle, that infect the natural languages that are the means humans possess for formulating and expressing their thoughts.

The part of this course intended to develop these skills will be known as symbolization  (from English into Logic), and translation (from Logic into English).

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PHIL 362* Further Studies in Logic 3L

A. Mercier Winter Term

PREREQUISITE:  PHIL361/3.0.

This class is the sequel to PHIL 361 in which students will have covered propositional logic and monadic predicate calculus. This class will cover polyadic predicate calculus with identity and definite descriptions, and (time permitting) an introduction to modal logic. Do not let the pedantic math-sounding vocabulary intimidate you.

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PHIL 376* Philosophy and Feminism 3L

TBA  Fall Term

PREREQUISITE: (12.0 credits in (PHIL; GNDS) including 6.0 units in (PHIL; GNDS) at the 200-level or above) or permission of the Department. 

TBA 

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