Selected issues and topics in the philosophy of feminism.

How should our understanding of capitalism be shaped by the realities of racial domination and gender oppression? What are the different accounts of justice and injustice that would emerge from trying to think through these three phenomena together? Or are they really one phenomenon? This course will survey the complex philosophical debates, both historical and contemporary, concerning the specificities and interrelationships between race, gender, and capitalism.

Major issues in philosophy of law, such as legal positivism and its critics, law and liberalism, feminist critiques of law, punishment and responsibility.

An intermediate-level examination of key issues in environmental philosophy, such as the ethics of animal welfare, duties to future generations, deep ecology, ecofeminism, sustainable development and international justice.

An intermediate-level study of selected issues in moral philosophy, or of influential contemporary or historical works in ethical theory.

A focused examination of a selected issue in moral philosophy.

An intermediate-level treatment of fundamental ethical problems arising in “Big Data” and artificial intelligence. Formal tools from economics and statistics will be applied to emerging ethical technology issues such as model transparency, data bias, and privacy. Broader political issues such as the geopolitics of AI may also be covered.

Moral and political issues concerning warfare: the theory of the just war, pacifism, moral constraints on the conduct of war, war as an instrument of foreign policy, the strategy of deterrence. Special attention to the implications of nuclear weapons.

An intermediate-level study of moral problems that arise in international contexts, including issues of special interest in bioethics: moral universalism and relativism; global distributive justice; poverty relief and international aid; international health disparities; globalization and health; HIV/AIDS; intellectual property and access to essential medicines; clinical trials in developing countries; exploitation and the 10/90 gap.

An intermediate-level study of problems in biomedical and behavioural research with human subjects: informed voluntary consent, risk and benefit, experimental therapy, randomized clinical trials, research codes and legal issues, dependent groups (human embryos, children, the aged, hospital patients, the dying, prisoners, the mentally ill.

An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the philosophical significance of death, the high-tech prolongation of life, definition and determination of death, suicide, active and passive euthanasia, the withholding of treatment, palliative care and the control of pain, living wills; recent judicial decisions.

An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the concepts of mental health and illness, mental competence, dangerousness and psychiatric confidentiality, mental institutionalization, involuntary treatment and behaviour control, controversial therapies; legal issues: the Mental Health Act, involuntary commitment, the insanity defence.

An intermediate-level study of moral and legal problems, including the ontological and moral status of the human embryo and fetus; human newborn, carrier and prenatal genetic screening for genetic defect, genetic therapy; the reproductive technologies (e.g., artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization); recent legislative proposals and judicial decisions.

Selected topics in the philosophy of art. Such issues as the following are discussed: whether different arts require different aesthetic principles; relations between art and language; the adequacy of traditional aesthetics to recent developments in the arts; art as an institution.

An examination of the interplays and tensions between literature and philosophy. Possible themes include: the 'literary' expression of philosophical ideas; the ancient 'quarrel of the poets and philosophers'; the relation of form to content in philosophical writing, and the immense variety of philosophical genres (e.g. aphorism, essai, confession, treatise, dialogue, manifesto, meditation, etc.); the philosophical content and significance of certain 'literary' works and forms; and philosophical problems regarding translation, adaptation, and interpretation. Topics and texts will vary according to instructor.

A study of the standards that can be used to judge the performance of economic systems, e.g., efficiency, fairness, maximization, along with the different institutional mechanisms that can be used to organize economic activity, e.g., markets or hierarchies, public or private ownership.

A focused examination of moral issues that arise in the conduct of business, in areas such as accounting and finance, corporate governance, human resources, environmental conduct, business lobbying and regulatory compliance.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-excursions-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-excursions-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-opportunities-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Advanced discussion of the principal figures and themes in ancient and/or medieval philosophy.

Advanced study of some of the principal figures in a particular historical, philosophical tradition.

Advanced discussion of the principal figures and themes in the philosophy of the 17th and/or 18th centuries.

Advanced discussion of some principal figures and themes in 19th century philosophy.

Typical problems include the nature of knowledge and belief; perception; theories of truth and necessity; skepticism.

Advanced study of a problem in the philosophy of mind.

Typical problems include causality and determinism; ontological categories; mind and body; the objectivity of space and time.

Advanced discussion of issues in moral philosophy, including issues of applied ethics.

Topics vary but bridge two or more areas or traditions of philosophy.

Advanced study of key philosophical works published within the last five years.