Philosophy

A survey of Western Philosophy from Thales of Miletus to Thomas Aquinas.

Survey of Western Philosophy from Francis Bacon to Contemporary Philosophy.

An introduction to informal logic - the logic of ordinary language. Topics covered include inductive, deductive, moral and ethical arguments and fallacies in reasoning. Special emphasis is given to showing the importance of logic and critical reasoning as it relates to our personal and professional lives, the public forum of business, politics and ethical debates, and popular culture and media. 

An historical investigation into such moral and socio-political concepts as goodness, virtue, happiness, justice, choice, duty, custom, natural and civil law, the state, freedom and the individual.

An examination of such notions as good and evil, compassion and social justice, divine and natural authority, community and society, from the perspectives of religious affirmation and moral reasoning.

A study of the principles of symbolic logic and the standard notations and methods used in determining the validity and invalidity of arguments.

A study of issues in the branches of philosophy concerning reality and knowledge: metaphysics (the overall framework of reality) and epistemology (the theory of knowledge).

An examination of early forms of Greek thought from the pre-Socratics and Plato. The Platonic tradition will also be surveyed and assessed. 

A study of Aristotelian thought and of the diverse philosophies of the Hellenistic period. 

A study of some of the basic concepts of argument and reasoning, such as truth and falsity, analyticity, validity, agreement, stating and questioning. 

This course examines the principles and concepts of art, as developed by philosophers and artists themselves, from ancient aesthetic theory, through essays on taste, to more recent views of aesthetic perception and the function of art in society. 

An exploration of the philosophical themes and issues in selected films. 

An in-depth study of the origins of and subsequent developments in Contemporary Continental Philosophy: the European philosophical tradition in western philosophy. 

An in-depth study of the origins of and subsequent developments in Contemporary Analytic Philosophy: the Anglo-American philosophical tradition in western philosophy. Prerequisite: PHIL 1002 or permission of the instructor. 

An exploration of the most influential approaches to contemporary political philosophy and the central issues that are addressed therein. Topics include: liberalism and communitarianism; justice, rights and freedoms; equality; private and public virtues; social responsibilities; citizenship and nationhood; and economic and environmental sustainability.

A wide-ranging look at a variety of claims and issues perplexing moral agents in contemporary society. 

Examines major problems in contemporary medical practice, including confidentiality, informed consent and paternalism, compulsory sterilization and blood transfusions, contraception, abortion and genetic engineering, euthanasia, allocation of scarce resources, moral aspects involved in strikes of medical personnel, and conflict of duty situations. 

A continuation of Health Care Ethics I. Examines major problems in contemporary medical practice, including confidentiality, informed consent and paternalism, compulsory sterilization and blood transfusions, contraception, abortion and genetic engineering, euthanasia, allocation of scarce resources, moral aspects involved in strikes of medical personnel, and conflict of duty situations.  

A study of various philosophical approaches to the nature and concept of mind. Topics to be covered include: Cartesian Dualism, Freudian Psychology, Behaviourism, Cognitive Psychology and Artificial Intelligence. 

An evaluation of a selection of moral problems in business enterprises. Topics include: the state and business; the profit motive; ethics in the workplace; moral development; justice as fairness; social responsibility; wage equity; bribery; discrimination in hiring; ecology; business and the developing world; advertising; sexual harassment. 

A critical examination of the central philosophical issues in the Western Religious Tradition. 

A further analysis and elaboration of issues raised in PHIL 3171.

A philosophical exploration of the nature of history and historiography. Topics include: laws and explanation; objectivity and subjectivity; point of view and value judgements; and narrative. 

An analysis of such scientific concepts as explanation, theory, and law, with special attention to the implications of recent scientific theories. 

An analysis of the methods, theories and presuppositions of such human sciences as economics, psychology, history, and anthropology. 

This course will concentrate on major figures, persistent themes and significant philosophical works of late antiquity and early medieval philosophy, from the rise of Christianity to the Carolingian Renaissance. 

This course will concentrate on major figures, persistent themes and significant philosophical works of the medieval period, from the rise of scholasticism, through the full flowering of medieval philosophy in the 13th century, to the breakdown of the medieval synthesis and the rise of Renaissance thought. 

A study of the phenomenological method and existential inquiries into human existence. Topics include: existence; freedom, angst; alienation; death; meaning and hope. 

A study of the Rationalist and Empiricist traditions of the 17th and 18th century from Descartes to Hume. 

A study of late 18th and 19th century German philosophy from Kant to Marx. 

These courses focus on specialized areas of interest.