PHIL 35S: Plato and Punishment
Being punished is good for you, and not being punished is bad for you - or so the Ancient Greek Philosopher Plato would have us believe. Our task in this course is to explore this counterintuitive claim thoroughly. We'll be doing both history and philosophy. The historical question is why Plato believed such a thing and how we can most plausibly motivate his view. But the philosophical question is whether that view should persuade us and whether it has any advantages over contemporary justifications of punishment. I hope this will be an interdisciplinary course that will aid in thinking and writing about some of the most controversial features of our society and Plato's thought: how we punish others, whether they benefit from it, whether we benefit from it, and whether that benefit justifies it.
Last offered: Summer 2025
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 36S: Equality: For and Against
Income and wealth inequalities are on the rise. A lot of the political debate in modern societies hinges on the following questions: is economic inequality a good or a bad thing? Should the government promote economic equality? If so, what kind of economic equality should we aim for? This course is an introduction to the philosophical debate about economic inequality and economic justice. We will explore different arguments to justify or object to inequalities ofincome and wealth, both at a national and a global level. We will start with a brief overview of the basic economic facts. Then we will explore how the justification of inequalities may depend on factors like talent and effort, luck, fair opportunities, or impact on democracy. We will also assess how equality articulates with other values, like freedom or efficiency, and other political goals, like race or gender justice. Finally, we will assess normative arguments for and against two policies to tackle economic inequality: universal basic income and tax reform.
Last offered: Summer 2025
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 37S: Self, Freedom and Morality
This course explores four core questions in philosophy: What can we know? What is the self? Are we free? And how should we live? We begin with skepticism and the problem of knowledge, turn to questions about the nature of mind and personal identity, examine debates about free will and moral responsibility, and conclude with competing views in ethics and the search for meaning in life. A central aim of the course is to introduce not only philosophical topics but also philosophical thinking. You will learn to analyze arguments, assess the strength of reasons, and articulate your own views with clarity and rigor. The course presumes no prior experience with philosophy - only curiosity and a willingness to question familiar assumptions.
Terms: Sum
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
Instructors:
Kang, S. (PI)
PHIL 41S: What Should I Believe and Who Can I Trust?
While the internet democratized access to information, it also unleashed a torrent of disinformation and misinformation. The effects are being felt throughout society from climate change denial to conspiracy theories to political polarisation, giving new urgency to the questions that social epistemology seeks to answer. How does information spread through social networks, virtually and in real life? Should we trust knowledge-producing institutions and experts? Why? What forms of social organisation and norms are conducive to true beliefs? What do we owe each other as knowers? In this class, we will explore these vital questions through a series of contemporary philosophical papers. This is an introductory class and no previous experience of epistemology is required.
Last offered: Summer 2025
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 49: Survey of Formal Methods
Survey of important formal methods used in philosophy. The course covers the basics of propositional and elementary predicate logic, probability and decision theory, game theory, and statistics, highlighting philosophical issues and applications. Specific topics include the languages of propositional and predicate logic and their interpretations, rationality arguments for the probability axioms, Nash equilibrium and dominance reasoning, and the meaning of statistical significance tests. Assessment is through a combination of problems designed to solidify competence with the mathematical tools and short-answer questions designed to test conceptual understanding.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Math, WAY-FR
Instructors:
Hussain, N. (PI)
PHIL 50S: Introduction to Formal Methods in Contemporary Philosophy
This course will serve as a first introduction to the formal tools and techniques of contemporary philosophy, including probability and formal logic. Traditionally, philosophy is an attempt to systematically tackle foundational problems related to value, inquiry, mind and reality. Contemporary philosophy continuesthis tradition of critical thinking with modern subject matter (often engaging with natural, social and mathematical science) and modern rigorous methods, including the methods of set theory, probability theory and formal logic. The aim of this course is to introduce such methods, along with various core philosophical distinctions and motivations. The focus will be on basic conceptual underpinnings and skills, not technical details. The material covered is also useful preparation for certain topics in mathematics, computer science, linguistics, economics and statistics. No previous philosophical or mathematical training is presupposed, though an appreciation of precise thinking is an advantage.
Last offered: Summer 2023
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-FR
PHIL 60: Introduction to Philosophy of Science (HPS 60)
Science is phenomenally successful at predicting and explaining the world we live in including our own biology. Without the technological advances brought about by science, our lives would be radically different: no electricity, no cars, no smart phones, no plastics, no arthroscopic surgery, no antibiotics, no GPS, and on and on. Science tells us what the fundamental structure of reality is like: space and time, the soup of fundamental particles occupying it and composing us, and the fundamental forces that govern their behavior. Many suspect that the world the sciences show us leaves no space for God(s), and maybe doesn't leave much space for things like morality or free will either. But does science really succeed in all of these ways or only in some of them? When it succeeds, what accounts for its success? What does it take for a way of investigating the world to count as scientific? We will consider in detail a few central issues raised by attempts to answer these questions.
Last offered: Autumn 2024
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
PHIL 60S: Introduction to Philosophy of Science
The successes of science in the modern world are ubiquitous, and science as well as its successes are clearly important for understanding that world and our place in it. But what exactly makes one form of intellectual activity or social practice scientific? What distinguishes science from pseudo-science, and what, if anything, distinguishes it from other disciplines that aim at truth (e.g. philosophy)? In what sense *does* science aim at truth? What value, if any, does purely theoretical scientific inquiry have for us? Does commitment to scientific inquiry and taking its findings seriously leave any room for free will or God in our total comprehension of reality? These questions will be raised and considered in varying degrees of detail through an accessible set of readings, in-class discussion, and some short writing assignments. No prerequisites.
Last offered: Summer 2025
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II
PHIL 72: Contemporary Moral Problems (ETHICSOC 185M, POLISCI 134P)
Ethics in modern life is complicated and messy, and the rapid development of technology only makes it worse. Nowadays, not only are ethical dilemmas harder to solve, but often, we find it difficult even just to identify or articulate the problem. In situations like this, philosophy can sometimes help us make better sense of the world. In this course, we will draw on insights from both traditional and emerging moral theories to tackle some messy nuanced moral problems that plague our digital age. The course is organized in units. In each unit, we will take an in-depth look at familiar concepts such as the good life, autonomy and equality. Then, we will learn how these concepts can inform our understanding of novel issues that spring up in our day-to-day lives. For example, we will grapple with questions such as: Do gamified apps subtly undermine our pursuit of a good life? Are social media recommender systems silently chipping away at our autonomy? Despite significant efforts towards ge
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Ethics in modern life is complicated and messy, and the rapid development of technology only makes it worse. Nowadays, not only are ethical dilemmas harder to solve, but often, we find it difficult even just to identify or articulate the problem. In situations like this, philosophy can sometimes help us make better sense of the world. In this course, we will draw on insights from both traditional and emerging moral theories to tackle some messy nuanced moral problems that plague our digital age. The course is organized in units. In each unit, we will take an in-depth look at familiar concepts such as the good life, autonomy and equality. Then, we will learn how these concepts can inform our understanding of novel issues that spring up in our day-to-day lives. For example, we will grapple with questions such as: Do gamified apps subtly undermine our pursuit of a good life? Are social media recommender systems silently chipping away at our autonomy? Despite significant efforts towards gender equality, why is digital misogyny escalating so rapidly? The purpose of this course is not to offer you the 'right answer' to any of these questions. Instead, what you will learn is how to critically analyze ethical problems, and to develop skills that can help you better understand the complicated world around us.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors:
Chan, J. (PI)
PHIL 74A: Ethics in a Human Life (ETHICSOC 174, HUMBIO 174A)
Ethical questions pervade a human life from before a person is conceived until after she dies, and at every point in between. This course raises a series of ethical questions, following along the path of a person's life - questions that arise before, during, and after she lives it. We will explore distinctive questions that a life presents at each of several familiar stages: prior to birth, childhood, adulthood, death, and even beyond. We will consider how some philosophers have tried to answer these questions, and we will think about how answering them might help us form a better understanding of the ethical shape of a human life as a whole.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER