Current Courses

To do philosophy is to reflect critically on our underlying beliefs (e.g., about reality, knowledge, freedom, responsibility) and to modify whatever doesn't stand up to scrutiny.  Whether we realize it or not, the very way we think is shaped by past thinkers -- which is why studying philosophy's history is a crucial part of doing philosophy.  In this course, we will focus on Ancient and Medieval thinkers as we strive to evaluate our views critically. This course has no prerequisite.

To do philosophy is to reflect critically on our underlying beliefs (e.g., about reality, knowledge, freedom, responsibility) and to modify whatever doesn't stand up to scrutiny.  Whether we realize it or not, the very way we think is shaped by past thinkers -- which is why studying philosophy's history is a crucial part of doing philosophy.  In this course, we will focus on Ancient and Medieval thinkers as we strive to evaluate our views critically. This course has no prerequisite.

Should we have sex with robots? Is it okay to use a robot prostitute? Can we force them to serve us or use them in warfare? And what about animals-do they have rights? Should we eat them, experiment on them or stick them in zoos? These are some of the fascinating and strangely important questions to be addressed in this course. We will learn how to do philosophy by thinking about the social, psychological and ethical implications of our relationships with these two very different kinds of creatures.

A lecture course in which students learn how to identify and evaluate arguments drawn from a wide variety of sources. It will develop informal methods such as the identification of argument structure and informal fallacies. It will also develop formal methods that involve taking arguments in English, symbolizing them in a formal language, and evaluating strengths and weaknesses of the argument forms. Also covered are basic probability theory, inductive logic, and statistical reasoning.

In this course, we investigate and critically assess some of the most influential attempts in the history of philosophy to respond to art and artistic expression. Readings include selections from a variety of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, and Benjamin. Prerequisites: None.

What is a mind? Is the mind reducible to the brain? If not, how are they related? Various answers to these questions will be considered in the course. Topics will normally include: behaviourism, functionalism, dualism, identity theory, representational theory, consciousness, the intentional stance, eliminativism, property dualism, non-reductive physicalism. The course presupposes no background in philosophy and may be of interest to students in psychology and the life sciences, as well as philosophy. Prerequisites: none.

A study of existential thinking, its fundamental structure, and its importance for a contemporary understanding of the human situation. Prerequisites:Take any 1000-level PHIL course or permission of instructor

This course provides an in-depth analysis of Augustine's Christian philosophy through a close reading of his most widely read work, the Confessions. The course focuses on themes like the relation between addiction and free will, the invention of the concept of selfhood, truth as an integration of universality and particularity, the problems that friendship creates for selfknowledge, and the Christian take-over of Platonism and Stoicism. Prerequisite:PHIL 1013 or 1023 or 1053 or 2263 or permission of the instructor.

To do philosophy is to reflect critically on our underlying beliefs (e.g., about reality, knowledge, freedom, responsibility) and to modify whatever doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Whether we realize it or not, the very way we think is shaped by past thinkers -- which is why studying philosophy's history is a crucial part of doing philosophy.  In this course, we will focus on Modern and Contemporary thinkers as we strive to evaluate our views critically.  This course has no prerequisite.

To do philosophy is to reflect critically on our underlying beliefs (e.g., about reality, knowledge, freedom, responsibility) and to modify whatever doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Whether we realize it or not, the very way we think is shaped by past thinkers -- which is why studying philosophy's history is a crucial part of doing philosophy.  In this course, we will focus on Modern and Contemporary thinkers as we strive to evaluate our views critically.  This course has no prerequisite.

An historically-conscious analysis of various normative stances in environmental ethics integrated with a sustained consideration of how to apply this ethical theory to modern life. Topics may include deep and shallow ecology, biocentrism, eco-feminism, environmental justice, environmental virtue ethics, the ambiguous role of technology in the environmental crisis, the ethics of the green economy, the ethics of green public policy, a survey of various locally-employed environmental initiatives. Recommended preparation: PHIL 2213.

This course is meant to complement PHIL 3663, but it may be taken independently. It is a lecture course covering topics of current interest in Analytic Philosophy, a movement in, and a style of doing, philosophy that has been prominent in the English-speaking world since the beginning of the 20th century. Topics will vary and will normally be drawn from one or more of the following sub-disciplines: epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science. Prerequisites:Take any 1000-level PHIL course or permission of instructor

In this course, we will engage in a close reading of selected works by Martin Heidegger. We will consider Heidegger's attempt to raise anew the urgent question of being; specifically, how his development of this question demands a radical assessment of many of our most dearly held assumptions about truth, human nature, knowledge and reality, freedom and responsibility, history and time. Pre-requisites:PHIL 3543 OR 3583, OR permission of the instructor

A survey of intermediate topics in formal logic. The aim is to acquaint students with the formal language of modern deductive logic and to develop the basic techniques of good deductive reasoning. The course will be of interest to philosophy majors in particular (especially those who are planning to do graduate work in philosophy) but will benefit anyone who wants to acquire skills in abstract thinking. Prerequisite: PHIL 2513, or permission of the instructor.