98 undergraduate courses in the 2026–27 Undergraduate Calendar, and 14 graduate courses in the Fall 2026 Graduate Calendar.
This course seeks to introduce students to the nature of philosophy. This is done through the examination of core texts and figures in the history of philosophy as well as in the discussion of perennial philosophical questions.
Students will examine influential questions in philosophy, with an aim to think more clearly about our understanding of the world and our place in it. Students will develop skills in philosophical reading, thinking, discussion, and writing. Questions students might grapple with may include: Do we have free will? Is the mind just the brain? Should we be moral? What can we know? Does science describe the world as it really is?
Students taking the course will engage with prominent issues in metaphysics (theory of reality) and epistemology (theory of knowledge). Issues in metaphysics will include the question of God’s existence, the problem of freedom and causal determinism, the relationship between mind and body, and the nature of persons (i.e., personal identity). Issues in epistemology include the problem of skepticism, the distinction between empiricism and rationalism, reasoning from experience (induction and explanation), and our knowledge of the external world. Throughout the course, emphasis is given to the role of philosophical argumentation in addressing the issues covered. Students will develop their skills in analyzing and evaluating philosophical arguments and work toward effectively communicating their learning through written work.
This introduction to philosophy focuses specifically on the field of ethics. Students taking the course will engage with prominent theoretical frameworks in ethics (e.g., utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics), the specific values that these frameworks prioritize, and their applications to real-world ethical issues. Throughout the course, emphasis is given to the role of philosophical argumentation in addressing ethical questions. Students will develop their skills in analyzing and evaluating philosophical arguments and work toward effectively communicating their learning through written work.
An examination of the importance of virtue in general and of the cardinal virtues in particular (practical wisdom, justice, courage, and moderation) for the development of moral character and the enjoyment of the good life.
We may have distinct ideas about the reason why we do this or that, but is there a point to our existence as a whole? What do or should we live for? Or is life essentially meaningless or even absurd? What do such questions mean and how can we best answer them? The views of different philosophers will be explored and compared.
What’s the right thing to do, and how should you decide? In this course, students will explore several complex and contested moral issues affecting the world today. Issues may include such topics as climate change, racial and gender oppression, global poverty and inequality, drugs, and animal rights. Through reading, writing, and discussion, students will be introduced to key ethical values and concepts that are at stake in these moral debates. The emphasis will be on helping students to develop the critical thinking and communication skills required to analyze the competing perspectives on these issues and to develop their own moral perspective.
This course examines robust, diverse theories of the nature of happiness. Students will build on their intuitive knowledge by analyzing comprehensive theories of happiness: components, controversies, and implications for self and society. Students will critically evaluate and develop their argumentative reasoning about influential accounts of happiness (as well as unhappiness), and they will extend their capacities to communicate about course content in a range of modes and media.
All of us are entitled to our own opinions, but not all opinions are equal. Just because we believe something, that doesn’t make it so. Opinions that are based on empirical evidence (when empirical evidence is needed) are better than ones that are not. Opinions that are based on good inferences are better than ones that are not. Critical thinking is about how to reason with evidence and how to develop good argumentative practices. Students will learn about different types of arguments, how to assess these arguments, and how to strengthen arguments by identifying and correcting common errors.
An introduction to the understanding of how words are used, the formation of propositions, the construction of arguments and the examination of fallacies to help the student argue with order, facility and without error.
Students taking this course will learn to engage with a variety of important and puzzling issues related to sex and love. They will read philosophical texts that grapple with issues such as what it means to sexually objectify someone, what a sexual orientation is, the ethics of sex work, the nature of love and friendship, the value (or disvalue) of marriage/monogamy, and others still. Students will develop and refine their understanding of these issues by engaging critically with a variety of points of view concerning them. Through this process, students will gain useful tools for reflecting carefully and critically on some of the most important issues in many people’s lives - those relating to sex and love - and they will have the opportunity to apply these tools in written work.
Drawing on a range of disciplines, students will be introduced to different conceptions of gender, with an emphasis on feminist, queer, and trans perspectives. Students will explore questions about how categories of gender and sex are shaped within various historical and geographic contexts through interactions with systems such as the law, health care, science, and the family. This exploration will help students identify how some gender expressions or identities have been given more social influence than others. Students will gain a foundation in methods in philosophy and in gender studies, including reading, writing, and discussion skills. In addition, students will gain an appreciation for diverse modes of gender expression.
An exploration of the nature of culture and its role in the life and development of the human being through an analysis of the assumptions of Western popular culture in such areas as technology and the internet, individual freedom, sexuality, and the global economy.
Economics plays a central role in many forms of contemporary decision-making and economic methods are now applied to understand human behaviour in a wide range of areas beyond just money and finance. Historically, philosophy and economics have been closely intertwined through a shared interest in questions about what how to make a better world a better place, how to conceptualize what "better" means, and how to measure our successes and failures. Through consideration of readings by economists and philosophers, students in this course will consider conceptual, methodological, foundational, and ethical issues in economic theory and practice. Is economics a science? How do economic models work? Is the representation of humans as rational and self-interested a false description or a useful idealization? How do ethical values come into play in economic reasoning and policy-making? By encountering a range of different perspectives on these matters, students will learn to develop, possibly change, and to intelligently defend their own opinions about how economics functions and how it should be used.
Sport, like philosophy, is the source of constant and passionate debate. This course brings the two subjects together. Through reading, writing, and small group discussion of texts from a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, sociology, and popular sports journalism, students will use the tools and concepts of philosophy to explore important questions about sport, such as: What is sport? What is the value of sport for participants or fans? Are violent sports unethical? Should performance enhancing drugs be banned? Why are most sports segregated by gender, and should they be? Students will develop their ability to understand and evaluate philosophical and ethical concepts and arguments that relate to sports and build the critical thinking and communication skills required to advance their own arguments and perspectives.
An introduction to the implicit philosophical content of Tolkien's works, with a special emphasis on Lord of the Rings. Problems such as the existence of God, fate, free will, evil, death, and technology will be explored. Tolkien's views will be examined in relation to philosophical works.
Science fiction depicts alternate and weird possibilities. It can also uncritically reproduce biases of its time. In both cases, science fiction helps us explore philosophical questions about what it means to be human, what the world is really like, and how we might make our world better. Students will develop their ability to understand and evaluate philosophical arguments that appear in academic and popular works, by reading and discussing philosophy alongside science fiction media (e.g., art, comic books, film, novels, short stories, television).
Philosophical themes will be explored through appropriate literary works.
What is a human being? The course examines this question from a philosophical perspective. Topics to be covered may include the soul, the body, emotions, the intellect, the will, relationships, sex, and human dignity.
What is death? What does it mean for a person to die? Is death an evil thing and what attitude should the living person have toward death? Is there any rational or philosophical reason to believe in immortality? Questions such as these will be explored using the views of a certain number of philosophers.
This course is an introduction to professional and business ethics. Ethics, broadly speaking, is the branch of philosophy that seeks to analyze principles of conduct that govern human activity. We are (in part) economic agents who trade with each other in the hopes of making ourselves better off, and insofar as our actions affect the well-being of others, what we do falls under the purview of ethics. Students will explore ethical issues and principles of conduct that are relevant to professionals and business people. Students will learn about professional responsibility, and will develop skills in ethical decision-making by applying ethical theories, concepts, and arguments to business contexts.
This course covers a set of related topics in decision theory and game theory. Three themes are developed: rational action, the importance of good information, and strategic moves. The student is given a variety of theoretical tools for understanding what makes a decision rational, how to make decisions using incomplete information, and how to avoid being snared by unfavourable outcomes. Class activities will give students the opportunity to apply course concepts and to explore how the theories apply to broader philosophical areas such as epistemology, political philosophy, ethics, and economics.
What is ethics and what is it based on? What does it mean for an action, a person, or a life to be morally good? Can philosophy provide any objective and universal answers to moral questions? The views of different philosophers will be discussed.
An examination of contemporary ethical issues pertinent to our Western societies, such as abortion, euthanasia, the treatment of animals, the environment, and free expression.
Friendship is an essential part of a happy life. Ancient western philosophers made friendship one of the cornerstones of their ethics. This course is an exploration of their views on problems such as the necessity of friendship, its nature, its species, and its relationship to happiness and the political community.
Moral philosophy is the systematic attempt to answer what might be the most important question of all: how should we live our lives? In this course, students will explore some of the major debates and theories in moral philosophy and consider how those theories are relevant to their own lives. By engaging with philosophical texts from the ancient to the contemporary world, students will build knowledge of competing moral theories that emphasize the importance of overall happiness, autonomy, and virtue, and will evaluate sceptical challenges to each of those theories, including challenges that emphasize the importance of racial or gender analysis to moral thinking. Through reading, writing, and other course activities, students will learn to apply philosophical theories, concepts, and arguments, and will develop the analytical and communication skills required to develop their own perspectives and arguments on complex moral questions.
Philosophical perspectives on such issues as climate change, pollution, use of scarce resources, biodiversity, and our relations with animals and future generations. This course will also consider bioactivism and other approaches to environmental problems.
Students will grapple with a sample of ethical issues in medicine and health. The primary goals of doing so are: (1) to gain familiarity with key ethical concepts and values, which may include patient autonomy, beneficence, justice, care, anti-ableism, inclusion, and others; and (2) to enhance core critical thinking skills needed for ethics, which will help improve each student’s self-understanding (of not only what they think is right and wrong, but, more importantly, why) and their capacity to engage with different perspectives on the "whats" and "whys' of ethics in a spirit of open-mindedness, mutual respect, and constructive cooperation. Assignments will typically include at least one writing-intensive assignment and will be designed to help students develop and showcase the familiarity with concepts and the skills for ethics described above.
This course surveys a variety of competing ethical positions that have been, and continue to be, adopted by different cultures around the world. Can two competing ethical viewpoints both be right? If not, then what grounds should we adopt to decide between them, and under what circumstances? How can we negotiate the difficulties that such differences pose for our practical judgment and moral theorizing? Students will engage these questions by reading texts in philosophical ethics and meta-ethics, and by applying what they have learned in case studies of ethical differences among cultures.
Students will explore ethical issues related to recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, as increasingly sophisticated computer programs have come to replace human beings in some socially important roles. Students will critically examine and actively debate issues regarding AI, including whether artificial systems can engage in moral reasoning and whether they might be considered persons. We will also explore more limited technologies that already exist, and are in use in domains such as finance, marketing, and surveillance. No previous technical knowledge is required; students will develop a basic knowledge of how AI works so that we can critically explore issues at the intersection of ethics, justice, and emerging technologies, especially as these technologies reinforce or challenge our conceptions of race, gender, class, and ability. Students can expect to develop critical reading, argumentation, writing, and communication skills as they grapple with these topics.
What is God? Does God exist? Can philosophy prove God or is agnosticism or atheism more reasonable? Is God compatible with evil and suffering or with a modern scientific worldview? Such questions will be explored from a variety of perspectives.
Logic is the study of good inferences. This course examines a particular class of inferences, namely those where the truth of the conclusion is guaranteed by the logical form of the inference. These are called deductively valid arguments. Students will explore formal systems such as classical sentential logic and quantificational logic, and develop the skills required to evaluate arguments using concepts such as soundness, consistency, and logical equivalence. Students will develop good inferential practices for constructing deductively sound arguments.
How has scientific knowledge developed over time? Have some changes in scientific theory constituted scientific revolutions? In this course, students will analyze examples of scientific developments ranging from antiquity to modernity. Students will evaluate whether the concept of a "revolution" aptly describes past processes of theory change, and examine what drove natural philosophers and scientists to espouse one scientific theory over another. Specific topics may be drawn from the history and philosophy of chemistry, cosmology, evolutionary biology, geology, and physics.
This course examines issues in metaphysics (the theory of reality) and epistemology (the theory of knowledge). Students will engage with classic and contemporary texts that are important for understanding ongoing debates about the nature of our world and how we come to know about it. By entering into these debates, students will come to appreciate the value of careful and precise thinking about topics that are often engaged without much reflection, such as the nature of the material world, how the self is situated within that world, whether knowledge of world and self is possible, and what it would mean to attain such knowledge. Students will read and write about some of the most long-standing themes in philosophy - some dating back centuries - in order to appreciate the relevance of these modes of thought to our contemporary world.
Quantum mechanics is driving a technological revolution that will affect everyone. This course offers an introduction to the basic concepts of quantum mechanics from a historical and philosophical perspective. Students will use a variety of materials (e.g., articles, simulations, videos) to learn about distinctive features of quantum physics. In class discussions and assessments, students will explore controversies surrounding the interpretation of quantum mechanics and develop an understanding of the principles behind the quantum research being conducted here in Waterloo.
This course examines the social and ethical dimensions of science through an investigation of scientific research with dogs. Through reading and discussing philosophical, scientific, and policy work, as well as engaging popular media, students will develop their understanding of research ethics, scientific practice, and the interactions between science and social values, all the while learning about the relationships between humans and our canine companions.
Students will explore historical and contemporary issues in the philosophical analysis of minds and mental states. As students collectively interact with an ever-expanding and more diverse set of important readings in the philosophy of mind, they will hone critical reading, writing, argumentation, and communication skills to arrive at reasoned positions on debates about minds. Topics may include the nature of consciousness, whether minds and mental states are material or immaterial, how and why our embodiment affects our thought, whether collective or “hive” minds exist, the nature of mental causation, and how exactly it is that mental states can be about a world outside of the mind. This course will afford students the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills to various objects, from traditional philosophical essays to popular representations that explore metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical issues associated with the philosophy of mind.
Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of the mind, drawing on philosophy, psychology, computer science, anthropology, linguistics, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology, in the attempt to theorize about cognition. Students will come to understand theories describing different aspects of cognition - which may include theories of linguistic understanding, concept acquisition and use, inference, perception and decision-making - and the various ways in which such theories have been evidentially supported and contested. Course readings and activities will equip students to think critically about perennial questions, such as how we perceive and reason about the world, the relationship between language and thought, how societies can be (or fail to be) collectively intelligent, and how human intelligence can inform the study of artificial intelligence and vice versa.
Philosophy of mathematics considers questions about mathematical objects, truth, and methodology. What are numbers? Is mathematics a human creation or something we discover? What are the proper methods of reasoning in mathematics, and what makes them the right ones? Is there something miraculous about the way mathematics is applicable in science? By engaging with readings, lectures, and class discussions, students in this course will learn why these questions have sparked a wide range of answers. Students will learn to formulate their own ideas about these questions and will learn to communicate those ideas orally and in writing.
The sciences are widely considered to be one of our best sources of knowledge about the world. In this course, students will investigate the nature of scientific knowledge. Topics may include scientific methodology, the roles of values and social factors in scientific knowledge production, scientific revolutions, scientific explanation, and the scientific realism debate about whether our best scientific theories describe reality. Through readings and class discussions, students will learn how to apply and evaluate a range of accounts of how scientific knowledge is produced. In-class activities and assessments will develop students’ reading comprehension, as well as their oral and written communication skills.
This course is an opportunity for students to critically reflect on the nature of technology, how we use it, and how it transforms us cognitively, socially, and culturally. Students will look at philosophical contributions to the study of technology from the ancient Greeks to the present day, with a special focus on whether technology is merely instrumental for our ends or if it can determine social events all on its own. Students will work individually and collaboratively to become better reasoners, writers, and communicators, as they grapple with some of the following questions: Is technology changing what it means to be human? Is technological change inherently progressive or can it be regressive? What is the difference between nature and technology? How does technology interact with our conceptions of who we are, especially as regards race, gender, class, and ability?
The ancient Greeks developed scientific theories that were influential for over a thousand years. Their worldview was different from ours, but they sought to explain some of the same phenomena that we grapple with today. In this course, we will study ancient Greek theories and methodologies in the sciences, which may include physics, astronomy, mathematics, meteorology, cosmology, astrology, and geography.
A critical examination of postmodernism as a philosophical movement that has profoundly influenced the contemporary world. The course will introduce students to the main tenets of postmodernist philosophy in areas such as rationality, morality, politics, religion, art, and culture.
What does it mean to exist in the world today? Who gets to define what existence means for you? While philosophers have grappled with notions of existence for centuries, many have ignored the ways in which theories of existence impact, and have been impacted by, changes in the social world. With an emphasis on applying an intersectional lens to scholarship on existential theorizing, this course will allow students to consider how gendered, raced, ethnic, (dis)abled, and/or queer bodies have been understood in existential scholarship while making use of varied course materials to provide a new starting point for key discussions in existential thought (e.g., readings, videos, and podcasts). Expanding upon traditional ideas found in existential scholarship (e.g., bad faith, freedom, and notions of being and becoming etc.) this course will make use of class discussions and traditional academic writing assignments to introduce students to existentialism as it has been explored across the globe.
Special topics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
A survey of ancient and medieval philosophy in the Western tradition, this course focuses on the writings of some of the most significant philosophers from these historical periods, including Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine, among others. Students will learn how to analyze and evaluate the ideas and arguments of the philosophers covered in the course. In addition, students will develop their own skills in philosophical argumentation, including in writing.
A historical survey of modern philosophy in the Western tradition.
An introduction to and examination of the thought of one important figure of Christian philosophy, such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, or Kierkegaard. The choice of the philosopher studied varies from term to term.
An introduction to and examination of the thought of one important figure (such as Leibniz, Kant, Nietzsche, or Heidegger) or school (such as Idealism, Romanticism, or phenomenology) of German philosophy. The choice of the philosopher(s) studied varies from term to term.
This course examines how knowledge is produced in scientific disciplines, including the nature of inquiry, as well as types of evidence and expertise across different fields. The course features significant input from scientific practitioners in the form of guest lectures.
This course examines social aspects of knowledge, including ways that characteristics of individual knowers and their communities affect the acquisition, interpretation, production, and transfer of knowledge. In addition, we analyze the consequences this has for the objectivity of knowledge. The course features significant input from researchers in the humanities and social sciences in the form of guest lectures.
Special topics in feminist philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) bodily autonomy, reproductive justice, intersectionality, feminist epistemology, and the metaphysics of race and/or gender.
A philosophical study of the most fundamental and common aspects of the natural world. After examining how such a study differs from and complements modern science, topics such as nature, matter, change, cause, time, and chance will be explored.
An analysis from the standpoint of philosophical ethics of moral issues arising in professional engineering practice. Issues include the social responsibility of engineers, conflict of interest and obligation, morally acceptable levels of risk, and moral implications of technology.
What options does a person reaching the end of life have and how can they best be cared for? How can we balance patient autonomy with the expertise of the health-care provider and the demands of the health-care system? This course will help students think philosophically and critically about issues like these in their cultural, historical, and legal context. Specific topics may include consent, human dignity, euthanasia, refusal or withdrawal of treatment, palliative care and holistic patient care, pluralism and diverse understandings of dying, and treatment of the elderly.
Special topics in value theory, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) meta-ethics, moral psychology, moral responsibility, justice and oppression, international justice, and specific topics in applied ethics.
An exploration of the principles and approaches of the hospice-palliative care movement as it was developed by its founders in the 20th century and as applied today. Topics may include the principles of pain and suffering management, holistic care of patients and their families, value of life at all stages, and integrating palliative care into mainstream medicine.
Students will engage in a variety of activities and assignments designed to help them form and articulate their sense of their professional identity as ethical health care professionals. Students will critically engage with the codes of ethics from diverse health professional associations and model the professional ideals of ethical practice through activities such as reflective writing, role-playing scenarios, and games. This critically engaged self-reflection and experiential practice will help students form a basis for making professional judgments and navigating ethically complex situations with clarity and confidence.
What is a just society? This course draws on historical and contemporary readings to discuss issues such as: What is the value of equality? Of liberty? What could give legitimacy to state authority? What is a fair way to distribute resources? What types of injustice have been missed by mainstream accounts of justice? By the end of this course, students will have enhanced abilities to: (1) understand and discuss historical theories and their relevance for present debates; (2) understand and discuss contemporary formulations of justice; (3) analyze and evaluate philosophical arguments in support of positions discussed in the course; and (4) communicate your own analyses and evaluative arguments effectively in written work.
What is justice and more particularly what makes a society just? In the philosophical treatment of this problem, notions such as the purpose of community living, private and common goods, individual freedom, and social responsibility will be explored.
Basic themes in the philosophy of law. Issues include the nature of law and its relation to morality and politics, legal reasoning, the justification of punishment, and theories of rights, responsibility, and liability.
What are human rights? Which do we have, and why? What are the practical implications of human rights, for both individuals and institutions? A comprehensive discussion of theory and history, of law and morality, and of national and international applications.
An exploration of the traditional debates concerning the legitimacy of violence and war as instruments in the pursuit of personal and political goals. The course critically examines a continuum of views from religious doctrines of non-resistance, to various forms of pacifism and non-violent resistance, "just-war theory", and political realism. The strategic arguments for political non-violent action are also considered.
What is art? What is beauty? What do the two have to do with each other? This course introduces students to some fundamental issues in the philosophy of art, and to a variety of philosophical views on these issues.
Special topics in formal philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Potential topics may include (but are not limited to) non-standard logics, intermediate classical logic, game and decision theory, philosophy of mathematics, and formal epistemology.
Special topics in epistemology, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Potential topics include (but are not limited to) the epistemology of testimony, the epistemology of disagreement, normative social cognition, and the varieties and functions of ignorance.
Special topics in metaphysics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Potential topics include (but are not limited to) universals and particulars, the mind-body problem, realism and anti-realism, and the nature of time.
Intelligence is the capacity to learn, understand, reason, act, and manage other mental functions. Students will learn to systematically compare intelligence as it operates in computers, humans, and other animals. Students will engage with general questions about the nature and kinds of intelligence as well as examine how intelligence is realized in computers and animals. Through an examination of both standard measures of intelligence and less orthodox characterizations of the concept of intelligence, students will develop a broad understanding of cognition and its application within and outside of the biological realm.
Special topics in the philosophy of science, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) philosophy of physics, philosophy of biology, the philosophy of social science, topics in the history and philosophy of science, general philosophy of science, and science in society.
Topics in the philosophy of language such as meaning, truth, reference, speech acts, mental representations of syntax and semantics, psycholinguistics, and relations between logical and natural languages.
Special topics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
In this course students will examine one or more important figures, periods, or issues in ancient philosophy. Plato and Aristotle are among the philosophers who may be covered.
In this course students will examine one or more important figures, periods, or issues in medieval philosophy. Augustine, Boethius, Avicenna, Maimonides, Aquinas, and Scotus are among the philosophers who may be covered.
In this course, students will learn about one or more important figures, periods, or issues in modern philosophy. Descartes, Locke, Leibniz, Berkeley, Hume, and Kant are among the figures who may be covered.
A course on one or more important figures or issues in 19th- or 20th-century philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. The focus of the course may change each time it is offered. Potential figures include (but are not limited to) Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, James, Dewey, Peirce, Frege, Carnap, and Russell.
In this undergraduate seminar, students will conduct philosophical research in topic chosen by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research. Students will cultivate effective techniques for sharing their research outcomes. Class activities may include close readings of philosophical texts, presentations on ideas and arguments arising from these texts, and leading of class discussions. Students will enhance their skills in analyzing source material and integrating it into their own research projects. Students will develop their own philosophical perspectives and practice methods for disseminating those perspectives to academic and/or non-academic audiences.
Special topics in feminist philosophy, women philosophers, and/or the philosophy of sex, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in ancient philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in medieval philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in 17th- and 18th-century philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in 19th- and 20th-century philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in probability and decision theory, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in ethics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in political philosophy, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in logic, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
An interdisciplinary discussion of central issues concerned with mind and intelligence such as representation, meaning, inference, and consciousness.
A discussion of metaphysics as the kind of examination initiated by the Greeks (e.g., Parmenides and Aristotle) and renewed subsequently by many other philosophers (e.g., Aquinas and Heidegger), understood as ontology or the rational study of being as such. Notions such as reality, essence, existence, and analogy will be discussed.
An in-depth study of a particular theme in Thomas Aquinas. Specific topic to vary.
Special topics in epistemology, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in metaphysics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Special topics in the philosophy of science, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
An investigation of philosophical issues raised by physics. Topics could include the interpretation of quantum theory, the arrow of time, or the nature of space and time. This course is suitable for students with a background in either philosophy, physics, or mathematics.
Special topics in the philosophy of language, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Advanced study of special topics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Advanced study of special topics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Advanced study of special topics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Advanced study of special topics, as announced by the School of Social, Political and Historical Research.
Readings in selected topics chosen in discussion with instructor.
From the Fall 2026 Graduate Calendar.
Cognitive Science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence. This seminar will discuss controversial topics concerning the nature of human and computer intelligence
Students will grapple with a sample of ethical issues related to advanced and emerging medical technologies and/or biotechnologies. The primary goals of doing so are: (1) To gain familiarity with key ethical concepts and values, which may include patient autonomy, beneficence, justice, care, anti-ableism, inclusion, and others; and (2) to enhance core critical thinking skills needed for ethics, which will help improve each student’s self-understanding (of not only what they think is right and wrong, but, more importantly, why) and their capacity to engage with different perspectives on the “whats” and “whys” of ethics in a spirit of open-mindedness, mutual respect, and constructive cooperation. Frequent in-class discussion is typically an important element of student learning in this course.
Consult the schedule of classes for specific topics being offered.
Consult the schedule of classes for specific topics being offered.
Consult the schedule of classes for specific topics being offered.
Graduate level courses covering specialized topics in philosophy. These courses are often held in conjunction with 400 level philosophy courses, though of course the work requirements for graduate students are more stringent. Students must pay attention to the restriction on the number of these courses they are allowed to count toward their degree.
Graduate level courses covering specialized topics in the department's fields of research concentration.
Graduate level courses covering specialized topics in Applied Philosophy.These courses are often held in conjunction with PHIL 673, Graduate Courses in Philosophy; the course requirements in PHIL 675 will involve application of philosophical methods and theories to practical problems. These courses are often held in conjunction with 400 level philosophy courses, through of course the work requirements for graduate students are more stringent. Students must pay attention to the restriction on the number of these courses they are allowed to count toward their degree.
Graduate level courses covering specialized topics in the department's field of research concentration. These courses are often held in conjunction with PHIL 674, Graduate Course in Philosophy; the course requirements in PHIL 676 will involve application of philosophical methods and theories to practical problems.
A graduate level survey which acquaints students with a number of issues under active investigation in the philosophical literature in a particular area of central importance to philosophy. Normally covers an area that falls within the department's identified fields of research concentration. The area will vary from year to year, but will always be one which is likely to inform students' research whatever their eventual specialization.
A graduate level survey which acquaints students with a number of issues under active investigation in the philosophical literature in a particular area of central importance to philosophy. Normally covers an area that falls within the department's identified fields of research concentration. The area will vary from year to year, but will always be one which is likely to inform students' research whatever their eventual specialization.
A one-term course which involves the writing of a research paper. Non-thesis MA students must complete three such courses, each supervised by a different instructor, as part of the requirements for their degree. Thesis MA students must complete one such course, supervised by the instructor who will supervise the thesis, as a preliminary stage in their thesis preparation.
PhD candidates select two of these tutorials on topics approved by the department, each to be taken with a different instructor, as part of their degree requirements. The goal of each area is to allow the student to reach a point where she or he is ready to make a research contribution to a particular area of philosophy. One of the areas will normally be in the subject the student intends to pursue for the dissertation.
Students in the Applied Philosophy program enroll in this tutorial in conjunction with a placement at a host organization. The Applied Research Placement will prepare the student to make a research contribution on a specific philosophical topic and to make an applied contribution outside of philosophy.