Philosophy
Head: Rhonda Martens
Campus Address/General Office: 450 University College
Telephone: 204 474 6878
Email Address: Philosophy@umanitoba.ca
Website: umanitoba.ca/philosophy
Program Information
Philosophy is composed of several areas of study: these include logic, metaphysics, ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and aesthetics. Philosophers use the tools of rigorous logic and clear conceptual analysis. Their goal is to understand things such as the nature of reason, the physical universe, right and wrong, the human mind, and sometimes even the meaning of life. There are good arguments and bad arguments. Training in philosophy will help the student not only consider these important questions but also to improve his or her clarity of expression and ability to think critically.
For entry, continuation and graduation requirements for the General Degree, Advanced Degree and Honours Degree, see Basic Faculty Regulations for the B.A. General, Advanced and Honours Degree Programs.
Major Program
For entry to the Major, the prerequisite is a grade of “C” or better in six credit hours in Philosophy.
A minimum "C" average in all courses that comprise the Major is required to graduate including the higher grade of repeated courses and excluding failed courses.
The General Major may consist entirely of courses numbered beyond the 1000 level.
Minor (Concentration) Program
For entry to the Minor (Concentration), the prerequisite is a grade of “C” or better in six credit hours in Philosophy.
The Minor (Concentration) may consist entirely of courses numbered beyond the 1000 level.
Honours Program
For entry to the Honours program, see Basic Faculty Regulations for the B.A. General, Advanced and Honours Degree Programs.
Programs
| Degree/Diploma | Years to Completion | Total Credit Hours | Has Co-op Option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree/Diploma Philosophy, B.A. Double Advanced Major | Years to Completion 4 | Total Credit Hours 120 | Has Co-op Option no |
| Degree/Diploma Philosophy, B.A. Double Honours | Years to Completion 4 | Total Credit Hours 120 | Has Co-op Option no |
| Degree/Diploma Philosophy, B.A. General | Years to Completion 3 | Total Credit Hours 90 | Has Co-op Option no |
| Degree/Diploma Philosophy, B.A. Single Advanced Major | Years to Completion 4 | Total Credit Hours 120 | Has Co-op Option no |
| Degree/Diploma Philosophy, B.A. Single Honours | Years to Completion 4 | Total Credit Hours 120 | Has Co-op Option no |
| Degree/Diploma Philosophy Minor (Concentration) | Total Credit Hours 18 | Has Co-op Option no |
Courses
Philosophy
An introduction to five main areas of philosophy. Topics are logical thinking; the criteria and limits of human knowledge; and three of: God, right and wrong, free will and the nature of consciousness, scientific inquiry, and social justice. Students may not hold credit for PHIL 1200 and any of: PHIL 1511 or the former PHIL 1510 or the former PHIL 1261.
Equiv To: PHIL 1261, PHIL 1510, PHIL 1511
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 1500
Attributes: Humanities, Recommended Intro Courses
A course which helps students to think clearly and critically, and to present, defend, and evaluate arguments. The instructor will discuss good and bad reasoning, everyday fallacies, some specific argument forms such as the categorical syllogism, and ways and means of defining words. Students may not hold credit for PHIL 1290 and any of: PHIL 1291 or the former PHIL 1320 or PHIL 1321.
Equiv To: PHIL 1291
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 1320, PHIL 1321
Attributes: Humanities, Recommended Intro Courses
A course which helps students to think clearly and critically, and to present, defend and evaluate arguments. The course deals with definition, fallacy, modern symbolic logic and scientific method. May not be held with the former PHIL 1320 or PHIL 1321.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 1320, PHIL 1321, PHIL 1330
Attributes: Humanities, Mathematics Requirement, Recommended Intro Courses
This course explores various texts and traditions that offer visions of the good life and focuses on connecting philosophical arguments with contemporary issues and day-to-day decision making. The goal is to think deeply and rigorously about foundational questions like how should we live, does life have a meaning, what justifies our beliefs, what obligations do we have to each other, and how to make rational decisions.
Attributes: Humanities, Recommended Intro Courses
This course will introduce students to central philosophical topics concerning the nature of the self, the mind, consciousness and personhood. Topics to be discussed include the following: What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Do we have a free will? What constitutes personal identity? Could there be life after death? Students can expect to develop skills in critical reasoning and argumentation, and the ability to reason about, scrutinize, and defend various philosophical positions. May not be held with PHIL 1200.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 1200
Attributes: Humanities
An introduction to philosophy, focused on ethics, aesthetics, and political philosophy. Students will learn about problems in these areas and the methods that philosophers use to address them.
Attributes: Humanities, Recommended Intro Courses
This course challenges and investigates our view of knowledge and rationality. Problems dealt with normally include: the nature of knowledge, sense experience, truth and necessary truth, the analytic-synthetic distinction, memory, induction, etc. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2140 and the former PHIL 2760.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2760
Attributes: Humanities
An introduction to theories of the mind and body, including dualism, identity theory and functionalism. The course deals with topics such as consciousness, thought, and desire.
Attributes: Humanities
An introduction to theories of language, including those of Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell. The course deals with a variety of linguistic phenomena pertaining to names, definite descriptions, demonstratives, identity sentences, and belief reports.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: [six credit hours of 1000-level philosophy] or [successful completion of 30 hours of university credit].
Attributes: Humanities
Topics and content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
Attributes: Humanities
This course examines various moral and legal issues related to sexuality. Topics may include: casual sex, monogamy, love, and commitment; the definition of marriage; the meaning of gender; the nature of consent; the moral and legal status of prostitution and pornography; the scope of sexual privacy and other moral challenges presented by new technology. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2190 and PHIL 2170 when titled "Sexuality."
Attributes: Humanities
A systematic investigation of the theory and techniques of modern symbolic logic, with an examination of contributions made by contemporary philosophers in dealing with philosophical problems closely connected with logic. May not be held the former PHIL 2430.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: PHIL 1300 or the former PHIL 1320 or PHIL 1321 or written consent of instructor.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2430
Attributes: Humanities, Mathematics Requirement
A philosophical examination of the view and methods of European political philosophers of the modern period, such as Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. Topics will include their conceptions of human nature, political justification, freedom, equality, and justice. May not be held with the former PHIL 2300 or the former PHIL 2301.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2300, PHIL 2301
Attributes: Humanities
An introduction to ethical issues that arise in our use of AI, robot, and cyborg technologies. Topics covered include the use of automation in warfare, the use of automation in caregiving, and whether we should enhance our cognition or moral capabilities. May not be held with PHIL 2170 when titled "Robot, AI and Cyborg Ethics."
Attributes: Humanities
The course offers an examination of contemporary ethical theories and their application to controversial moral issues. Possible topics include: the ethics of affirmative action/reverse discrimination; the censorship of hate speech; and our obligations to the global poor. Students will learn how to think critically about ethical issues and how to develop and defend their own moral position. May not be held with any of: the former PHIL 2290, the former PHIL 2531, PHIL 2740, PHIL 2741, PHIL 2750, or PHIL 2751.
Attributes: Humanities
An examination of several issues in applied ethics. Possible topics include: our duty to take action against climate change; the ways we justify punishing people who break the law; the moral responsibilities of corporations; our obligation as a society to compensate historically victimized individuals and communities; how we should respond to individuals and countries guilty of war crimes. May not be held with any of: the former PHIL 2290, the former PHIL 2531, PHIL 2740, PHIL 2741, PHIL 2750, or PHIL 2751.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: PHIL 2410.
Attributes: Humanities
A study of some fundamental problems relating to the nature of reality, e.g., mind and body, cause and effect, human freedom, and the problem of universals. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2580 and the former PHIL 2450.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: six credit hours of Philosophy at the 1000 level.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2450
Attributes: Humanities
A philosophical study of the evolution of science and scientific methodology from the ancient Greeks to the present. A background in science is not required. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2612 and the former PHIL 2610.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2610
Attributes: Humanities, Written English Requirement
A critical study of the nature of scientific knowledge. A background in science is not required. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2614 and the former PHIL 2610.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2610
Attributes: Humanities, Written English Requirement
A study of the great Continental philosophers, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, who viewed reason, rather than experience, as the key to knowledge of the universe. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2630 and PHIL 2631.
Equiv To: PHIL 2631
Attributes: Humanities
The course surveys and analyzes the theories of the great British empiricists, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume, on the nature and foundations of human knowledge and its relation to experience. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2640 and PHIL 2641.
Equiv To: PHIL 2641
Attributes: Humanities
An examination of Plato's views on knowledge, reality, human nature, politics, and morals through a study of his most significant dialogues. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2650 and the former PHIL 2651.
Equiv To: PHIL 2651
Attributes: Humanities
A study of Aristotle's most important views on reality, knowledge, human nature, morals, and politics. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2660 and PHIL 2661.
Equiv To: PHIL 2661
Attributes: Humanities
This course will be devoted to a study of existentialist themes as they appear in the philosophical writings of some of the following: Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Buber, Hadot, Foucault, R.D. Laing, and others. Students may not hold credit for PHIL 2710 and any of: the former PHIL 2820 or the former PHIL 2821.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2820, PHIL 2821
Attributes: Humanities
A critical study of some fundamental problems in the philosophy of religion, such as the existence and nature of God, the justification of religious beliefs, the status of mystical and other religious experiences, and the significance of religious discourse. Students may not hold credit for PHIL 2730 and any of: PHIL 2701 or the former PHIL 2700.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 2700, PHIL 2701
Attributes: Humanities
An examination of some contemporary ethical theories and their application to a few important ethical issues in contemporary medicine and biology. Examples of topics to be covered include: euthanasia and medically assisted suicide, human reproductive cloning, and human enhancement. Students may not hold credit for PHIL 2740 and any of: PHIL 2741 or PHIL 2290 or PHIL 2531.
Equiv To: PHIL 2741
Attributes: Humanities
An examination of some important ethical issues connected with environmental pollution and resource depletion. Examples to be covered include: the ideal of liberty and environmental limits; scarcity and the ideal of justice; growth vs. steady-state economics; animal rights, and survival ethics vs. welfare ethics. Students may not hold credit for PHIL 2750 and any of: PHIL 2751 or PHIL 2290 or the former PHIL 2531.
Equiv To: PHIL 2751
Attributes: Humanities
An introductory analysis of some contemporary aesthetic theories and an examination of such problems as the relation between art and morality, meaning and expression in art, the nature and functioning of criticism, and the justification of standards of aesthetic evaluation.
Attributes: Humanities
An introduction to moral philosophy and influential moral philosophers of the past and present. The main emphasis will be on the nature and justification of moral judgement. Philosophers such as Sidgwick, Kant, Rawls, Scanlon, and Ross will be discussed.
Attributes: Humanities, Written English Requirement
An examination of recent theories about whether there should be political authority, who should wield it, what is its proper scope and what are the duties and rights of citizens. The course will deal with representatives of such positions as anarchism, communism, conservatism, liberalism. May not be held with the former PHIL 3710.
Attributes: Humanities
The course will explore the application of ethical theory to business. Topics to be discussed will normally include: theories of justice, corporate responsibility, the ethics of advertising, consumer and environmental protection, and preferential hiring. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2830 and PHIL 2831.
Attributes: Humanities
A study of the ethical issues connected with war and the securing of peace, as articulated in the writings of major philosophers and selected political and military thinkers. Relevant moral theories, such as non-violence, holy war, the just war, the ethical reasoning underlying policies of deterrence, will be critically examined in historical and contemporary context. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2840 and PHIL 2841.
Attributes: Humanities
An introduction to the philosophy of law and to rule systems generally. Sample topics include the concept of law (law and religion; natural law; and the "laws of the books"); the connection, if any, between law and morality; and the politics of law in Canada and elsewhere. Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2860 and PHIL 2861.
Attributes: Humanities
An inquiry into the philosophy of law, on issues not covered in PHIL 2860. Students will examine such topics as: guilt and responsibility; theories of punishment; the right to dissent; legal reasoning; and, "professional ethics." Students may not hold credit for both PHIL 2870 and PHIL 2871.
Equiv To: PHIL 2871
Attributes: Humanities
An examination of philosophical issues of special interest to students of feminism and women's issues. Topics typically include: feminist epistemology, metaphysical implications of feminism, and feminist ethics.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: [six credit hours in Philosophy] or written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities, Written English Requirement
This course examines contemporary expressions of spiritual exercises by tracing their traditions across an array of western religious and philosophical schools. The course explores themes of death, asceticism, aestheticism, everydayness and community. In particular, it explores how dialogue, reading, and writing have constituted tools for the cultivation of mental, physical and emotional states leading to self-transformation. Also offered as RLGN 3290. May not be held with RLGN 3290.
Equiv To: RLGN 3290
Attributes: Humanities
A treatment of some problems arising in the philosophy of law including responsibility and the doctrine of mens rea, theories of punishment, law and morality, and the concept of law.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A treatment of selected problems arising in social and political philosophy, e.g., the philosophy of the state, distributive justice, and the ethics of revolution.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A study of the 18th-century German thinker, Immanuel Kant, focusing on the revolutionary theories about reality and human knowledge contained in his major metaphysical work, The Critique of Pure Reason.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: [PHIL 2630 or PHIL 2631 or PHIL 2640 or PHIL 2641] or written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A critical examination of contemporary issues in the theory of knowledge including recent empiricist attempts to resolve the problem of justifying belief. Typical topics include foundations of knowledge, the concept of "truth", radical scepticism, the new riddle of induction, normative epistemology, the psychology and sociology of knowledge. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: [PHIL 2140 or the former PHIL 2760] or written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A course in contemporary metaphysics. Possible topics include the metaphysics of causation, time and persistence, laws and modality, essence, and fundamentality. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: [PHIL 2580] or written permission of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A critical examination of issues in moral theory, such as consequentialism and deontology. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: [PHIL 2790] or written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
The course covers philosophical research on specialized topics. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 4450
Attributes: Humanities
A philosophical examination of key issues and authors in 20th century philosophy. Possible topics include phenomenology and its influence (Husserl, Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Sara Ahmed, Frantz Fanon), the continental-analytic distinction, and existentialism. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different;
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
An analysis of theories of global and international justice. We will consider a number of theoretical approaches to global justice. We will examine how these theories bear on questions of international relations and global policy, such as immigration, trade, war, climate change, international aid, or global public health. May not be held with PHIL 3780 when titled "Global Justice".
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Mutually Exclusive: PHIL 3780
Attributes: Humanities
An intensive study of specially selected topics in contemporary philosophy. The subject matter of the course will vary from year to year. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A seminar concentrating on the analysis of consciousness. Topics include: mind and brain, the explanation of human behaviour, and whether or not machines and animals can think.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A critical examination of issues in philosophy of art. Possible topics include the ontology of art, philosophy of music, and artistic creativity. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
An examination of problems such as the nature of meaning, grammar, semantics, reference, truth, and methodology in the study of language.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
Selected topics in the history of philosophy. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
A seminar course with subject matter varying from year to year, designed to meet special needs of Honours Philosophy students.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
Subject matter will vary from year to year. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities
Selected topics in mathematical logic, including propositional and quantificational logic, number theory, and the major metatheoretical results. The course content may vary. Students can earn multiple credits for this course only when the topic subtitle is different.
PR/CR: A minimum grade of C is required unless otherwise indicated.
Prerequisite: written consent of department head.
Attributes: Humanities