Detailed Course Descriptions

PHILOSOP 4052G - Kant and the Philosophy of Mind

Kant's Critique of Pure Reason contains analyses of spatial perception, synthesis, mental unity, consciousness, and self-consciousness, not to mention an account of the proper methodology, and limits, of the pure and empirical investigations of the mind. Contemporary philosophers of mind and cognitive scientists have found that much that is of value in Kant's discussions, and, in this course, we will attempt to do justice to Kant's insights on these topics.

Instructor: C. Dyck

Course Outline (pending)

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PHILOSOP 4055G - Mill's Moral and Political Philosophy

Instructor: A. Skelton

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) is perhaps the most important nineteenth-century British moralist. He argued that social and political reform should be guided by utilitarianism, the view that our most basic moral obligation is to promote aggregate happiness. On the basis of this view he gave influential defenses of the moral foundation of rights, individual liberty, freedom of expression, and feminism. This course will focus upon both Mill's defense of utilitarianism and its practical implications as they appear in On Liberty, Utilitarianism, The Subjection of Women and relevant essays.

Course Outline (pending)

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PHILOSOP 4080E - Contemporary Analytic Philosophy

A seminar devoted to the investigation of selected philosophical problems in the Analytic tradition. In 2011-12, the focus will be on epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language and philosophical methodology.

Instructor: R. Stainton

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PHILOSOP 4210F - The Semantics-Pragmatics Boundary

Instructor: R. Stainton

Arguably, the central issue in Analytic Philosophy of Language of the last quarter century has been the semantics/pragmatics boundary - i.e. which aspect of language use in general, and utterance content in particular, trace to linguistic meaning, and which trace to other factors. This seminar will provide an overview of the issue, beginning with an introduction to the semantics/pragmatics boundary, then turning to the role of pragmatics in literal speech acts and to alleged pragmatic determinants of truth conditions and ending with a discussion of applications of the semantics/pragmatics boundary to philosophical concerns more broadly.

Course Outline

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PHILOSOP 4410F - Concepts

Instructor: A. Mendelovici

This course addresses contemporary issues in philosophy pertaining to concepts. We will read works by Jerry Fodor, Edouard Machery, Christopher Peacocke, Susanna Siegel, and others

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PHILOSOP 4610F - Problems in Metaphysics

Topic: Oppositions and Paradoxes in Philosophy and Mathematics

Instructor: J. Bell

An advanced treatment of a particular problem arising in metaphysics.

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PHILOSOP 4850F - Philosophy of Law: Property

Instructor: D. Klimchuk

The first half of the course will be a survey of treatments of property from Aristotle through to the early modern period. Against that background we will consider a number of topics in the philosophy of present-day property law, including the structure of property rights and their limits, the basis and scope of claims of those in need to the property of others, and the question whether taxation is a kind of theft.

Course Outline

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PHILOSOP 4991G - Philosophy of Time

Instructor: J. Thorp

This seminar will consider some main issues in the philosophy of time: fatalism, reductionism, the topology of time, temporary becoming, the reality of the past, the direction of time, the nature of the present, temporal infinity. The readings will be drawn from both classical and contemporary thinkers.

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PHILOSOP 4993F - Environmental Philosophy

Instructor: E. Desjardins

This course in environmental philosophy explores some ethical and epistemological issues that arise in the contexts of conservation and restoration of ecological systems.

Course Outline.