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Philosophy

Faculty
MA Program
PhD Program
Courses

Disclaimer



Chair

Peter Loptson (347 MacKinnon, Ext. 6389/3886)
(E-mail: ploptson@uoguelph.ca)

Graduate co-ordinator
Andrew Bailey (362 MacKinnon, Ext. 3227)
(E-mail: abailey@uoguelph.ca)

Graduate Faculty

Andrew Bailey
BA, MA Oxford, PhD Calgary - Assistant Professor

Brian Calvert
BA, MA Cambridge, B Litt Glasgow - Associate Professor

Kenneth N. Dorter
BA Queen's (NY), MA, PhD Pennsylvania State - Professor

Jean Harvey
BA Wales, MA Simon Fraser, PhD British Columbia - Associate Professor

Jay Lampert
BA, MA, PhD Toronto - Associate Professor

Peter Loptson
BA York, MA, PhD Pittsburgh - Professor and Chair

David B. Martens
BA, MA Alberta, PhD Brown - Assistant Professor

Mark McCullagh
BA Toronto, PhD Pittsburgh - Assistant Professor

John M. McMurtry
BA, MA Toronto, PhD London - Professor

Jeffrey A. Mitscherling
BA California (Santa Barbara), MA McMaster, PhD Guelph - Professor

Jay A. Newman
BA Brooklyn, MA Brown, PhD York, FRSC - Professor

Michael E. Ruse
BA, PhD Bristol, MA McMaster, Dr. Philos, H.C. (Bergen), FRSC - Professor

Carole Stewart
BA, MA Manitoba, PhD London - Associate Professor and Dean of the College of Arts

Karen Wendling
BA Michigan State, MA, PhD Toronto - Assistant Professor

Associated Graduate Faculty
John A. Bruce
BA, MA Western Ontario, PhD London - Retired

David Castle
BSc, BA Alberta, MA McMaster, PhD Guelph

Tobias Chapman
BA, MA Western Ontario, DPhil Oxford - Retired

William H. Hughes
BA, Toronto, MA, PhD London - Retired

Hugh S. Lehman
AB Union, AM, PhD Harvard - Retired

John Leslie
BA, MA, M Litt Oxford - Retired

Douglas Odegard
BA, MA Western Ontario, PhD London - Retired

Helier J. Robinson
BA Sir George Williams, MA, PhD Toronto Retired

Thomas W. Settle
BA Leeds, BSc Manchester, ThM Trinity (Toronto), PhD Hong Kong - Retired

Donald B. Stewart
BA, MA Western Ontario, PhD London - Retired

In addition to the aforementioned members of the Guelph graduate faculty who support the Guelph MA program, the Guelph-McMaster-Laurier joint PhD program includes the following faculty members from McMaster and Wilfrid Laurier Universities:
Samuel Ajzenstat
BA, MA Toronto, PhD Pennsylvania - Associate Professor, McMaster

Barry G. Allen
BA Lethbridge, MA, PhD Princeton - Associate Professor, McMaster

Elizabeth Boetzkes
BA, MA Alberta, PhD Calgary - Assistant Professor, McMaster

Renato Cristi
Ph.D. (Toronto) - Professor, Wilfrid Laurier

Leo Groarke, Ph.D.
(Western Ontario) - Professor, Wilfrid Laurier

Nicholas Griffin
BA Leicester, PhD Australian National - Professor, McMaster

David L. Hitchcock
BA McMaster, PhD Claremont - Associate Professor, McMaster

Rockney Jacobsen
Ph.D. (Alberta) - Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier

Jill Leblanc
BA McMaster, MA, PhD Toronto - Assistant Professor, McMaster

Robert Litke
Ph.D. (Michigan) - Professor, Wilfrid Laurier

Sami M. Najm
BA Wesleyan, MA, PhD Yale - Associate Professor, McMaster

Spiro Panagiotou
BSc, MA Guelph, PhD St. Andrews - Associate Professor, McMaster

Evan Simpson
AB Amherst, PhD Duke - Professor and Dean of Humanities, McMaster

Graham Solomon
Ph.D. (Western Ontario) - Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier

Marina Vitkin
BA Manitoba, MA, PhD Toronto - Assistant Professor, McMaster

Mark Vorobej
BA Carleton, MA, PhD Toronto - Associate Professor, McMaster

Wil Waluchow
MA Western Ontario, DPhil Oxford - Associate Professor, McMaster

Allison Weir
Ph.D. (York) - Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier

James Wong
Ph.D. (Toronto) - Assistant Professor, Wilfrid Laurier MA


MA Program

     The MA program offers a broad range of approaches to philosophy including the history of philosophy, analytic philosophy and continental philosophy. It is primarily a research program and has been designed to enrich the experience of philosophy by bringing together students from a background in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and arts with students from a traditional background in philosophy.

Admission Requirements
    An honours baccalaureate, normally in philosophy, from a recognized university. Serious consideration will also be given to students with honours baccalaureates in other disciplines. All applicants are required to submit a sample of writing.

Degree Requirements
    All students must take the MA Research Seminar and complete either a thesis of between 20,000 and 30,000 words or a research project of between 10,000 and 15,000 words. Candidates by thesis must take at least four semester-long courses. Candidates by research project must take at least eight semester-long courses. Candidates with a degree other than philosophy will be assigned courses in accordance with their needs and background up to a maximum of six additional semester courses.


PhD Program

     The University of Guelph, jointly with McMaster University and Wilfrid Laurier University, offers a program leading to a PhD in philosophy. The aim of the PhD program is to develop philosophers who are well rounded in the traditional areas of study and who have achieved a high level of expertise in their special fields of research. The Graduate Department of Philosophy, which consists of members drawn from all three university departments, is a semi-autonomous body responsible directly to the three graduate schools. It is responsible for admissions, for the program of instruction and for the naming of a student's advisory committee. Students in the program may enroll either at Guelph, McMaster or Wilfrid Laurier. A student comes under the general regulations of the university in which he or she is registered and the degree is granted by that university.
     The program offers supervision in most of the traditional areas of philosophy but the special strengths of the program are in continental philosophy; ethics; Greek philosophy; metaphysics and epistemology; modern philosophy; philosophical logic and language; philosophy of science and social philosophy.

Admission Requirements
    An applicant for admission is required to have an MA in philosophy from a recognized university.

Degree Requirements
     Students normally will be required to take six courses in philosophy including the doctoral research seminar (PHIL*6960). In special circumstances students may take as few as four courses in philosophy. Students must also demonstrate knowledge in at least five designated fields of study. This may be done by coursework, by examination, by thesis or by a suitable combination of these. A student who has not passed an oral qualifying exam by the end of the second year will not be allowed to continue in the program. All students are required to demonstrate competence in a language other than English. PhD candidates must submit a thesis of not more than 90,000 words (300 pages).

Courses
     Except where specified, the courses listed below may be offered in any semester, subject to student demand and the availability of an instructor.

Course/(Credit Value) Term Course Description
GUELPH
Historical
PHIL*6310
Plato (0.5)
  A study of some of the major works of Plato.
PHIL*6311
Aristotle (0.5)
  A study of some of the major works of Aristotle.
PHIL*6320
Medieval Philosophy (0.5)
  A close examination of particular problems and texts of the medieval period.
PHIL*6340
Modern Philosophy (0.5)
  An examination of major texts, from Descartes to Mill.
PHIL*6500
John Locke (0.5)
  A critical examination of the works of John Locke.
PHIL*6530
Kant (0.5)
  A critical examination of the works of Immanuel Kant.
PHIL*6700
Survey of Ancient Philosophy (0.5)
  A survey of ancient philosophy for students in the MA program without a BA in Philosophy.
PHIL*6710
Survey of Early Modern Philosophy (0.5)
  A survey of modern philosophy from Hobbes to Hume for students in the philosophy MA program without a BA in philosophy.
PHIL*6810
Survey of Late Modern Philosophy (0.5)
  A survey of modern philosophy from Kant to the late 19th century for students in the MA program without a BA in philosophy.
Ethics/Value Theory
PHIL*6000
Value Theory (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected contemporary works in value theory or aesthetics.
PHIL*6230
Ethics (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected contemporary works or problems in ethical theory.
PHIL*6240
Biomedical Ethics (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected contemporary works or of problems in biomedical ethics.
PHIL*6580
Clinical Internship in Bioethics (0.5)
  This course provides students doing research in bioethics with the opportunity to gain practical experience in an appropriate clinical setting. Students will undertake a project which must be approved by the student's advisory committee. Normally, only students whose thesis is in bioethics will be permitted to take this course. This course can only be taken as an addition to the prescribed courses in the PhD program.
PHIL*6600
Social Philosophy (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected contemporary works or central problems in the field of social philosophy.
PHIL*6760
Science and Ethics (0.5)
  A consideration of the problems which arise in the conjunction of science and ethics.
Metaphysics/Epistemology
PHIL*6110
Philosophy of Religion (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected major works or central problems in the philosophy of religion.
PHIL*6120
Philosophy of Mind (0.5)
  A study of contemporary theories of mind and philosophies of psychology.
PHIL*6140
Continental Theory I (0.5)
  A study of the historical and contemporary origins of existentialism, phenomenology and post-modernism, concentrating on one or several of the classic texts.
PHIL*6150
Continental Theory II (0.5)
  A study of the historical and contemporary origins of existentialism, phenomenology and post-modernism, concentrating on texts not covered in PHIL*6140 in the same year.
PHIL*6200
Problems of Contemporary Philosophy (0.5)
  A study of a particular set of problems in contemporary philosophy.
PHIL*6210
Metaphysics (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected major works or central problems in metaphysics.
PHIL*6220
Epistemology (0.5)
  A critical examination of some selected major works or central problems in epistemology.
Philosophy of Science
PHIL*6720
History of the Philosophy of Science (0.5)
  A survey of the history of the philosophy of science from the Presocratics to the Positivists.
PHIL*6730
Contemporary Philosophy of Science (0.5)
  An examination of the contemporary discipline of the philosophy of science.
PHIL*6740
Philosophy of Biology (0.5)
  A general introduction to the history and philosophy of biology.
PHIL*6750
Philosophy of Social Science (0.5)
  A critical examination of issues in the philosophy of social science.
General
PHIL*6060
Logic (0.5)
  A course designed to bring the individual student to the level of competence in logical techniques and theory required for graduate studies.
PHIL*6770
Special Research Paper I (0.5)
  A research course in a topic of the student's choice, guided by an individual faculty member.
PHIL*6780
Special Research Paper II (0.5)
  A research course in a topic of the student's choice, guided by an individual faculty member.
PHIL*6900
Reading Course (0.5)
    
PHIL*6930
Selected Topics I (0.5)
  Topics in this course will vary from offering to offering.
PHIL*6940
Selected Topics II (0.5)
  Topics in this course will vary from offering to offering.
PHIL*6950
MA Seminar (0.5)
  A seminar course in which students work on developing research papers in topics of their own choice. This course must be taken by all MA students. Students must register for this course in both fall and winter semesters.
PHIL*6960
PhD Graduate Seminar (0.5)
  A seminar course in which students work on developing research papers in topics of their own choice. Students must register for this course in both fall and winter semesters. PhD students must do at least one and may do two graduate seminar courses during their programs.
PHIL*6990
Guided Research Project (1.0)
  A guided research project undertaken by students doing an MA by coursework, under the supervision of a faculty member.

McMaster

     Topics courses differ in content from year to year and, under different descriptions, may be taken a second time for credit. Candidates should consult the chair for the specific offerings in a given year.

MCM*6B03 Theory of Value
MCM*6D03 Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy
MCM*706 Basic Symbolic Logic
MCM*719 Reading Course
MCM*720 Reading Course
MCM*731 Special Studies in Philosophy
MCM*743 Graduate Seminar I
MCM*744 Graduate Seminar II
MCM*750 Selected Topics in Ancient Philosophy
MCM*751 Selected Topics in Medieval Philosophy
MCM*752 Selected Topics in Modern British Philosophy (1600-1900)
MCM*753 Selected Topics in Early Modern European Philosophy (1600-1800)
MCM*754 Selected Topics in Kant
MCM*755 Selected Topics in Nineteenth Century European Philosophy
MCM*756 Selected Topics in Twentieth Century European Philosophy
MCM*757 Selected Topics in Twentieth Century British Philosophy
MCM*758 Selected Topics in American Philosophy
MCM*759 Selected Topics in Applied Ethics
MCM*760 Selected Topics in Logic & the Theory of Argumentation
MCM*761 Selected Topics in Philosophy of Language
MCM*762 Selected Topics in Metaphysics
MCM*763 Selected Topics in Epistemology & Philosophy
MCM*764 Selected Topics in Social & Political Philosophy
MCM*765 Selected Topics in Ethical Theory
MCM*766 Selected Topics in Philosophy of Religion
MCM*767 Selected Topics in Aesthetics
MCM*768 Selected Topics in Existential Phenomenology & Hermeneutics
MCM*769 Selected Topics in Philosophy of Law
MCM*770 Selected Topics in Philosophy of Education
MCM*771 Selected Topics in Philosophy of Science

Wilfred Laurier

WLU*780 Selected Topics in Social & Political Philosophy (Seminar)
WLU*781 Selected Topics in the History of Philosophy (Seminar)
WLU*782 Selected Topics in Continental Philosophy (Seminar)
WLU*783 Selected Topics in Ethics (Seminar)
WLU*784 Selected Topics in the Philosophy of Mind and Language (Seminar)
WLU*785 Selected Topics in Formal and Philosophical Logic (Seminar)
WLU*786 Selected Topics in the Theory of Argumentation (Seminar)
WLU*787 PhD Seminar
WLU*788 Directed Studies

    Each year philosophy professors at Laurier offer courses in the Humanities/Religion and Culture M.A. program at WLU. Past topics have included Nietzsche, Feminist Theory, Virtues and Vices, and Trust and Authority. Philosophy PhD students can arrange to take these courses for Philosophy credit. Consult the Laurier Philosophy Department for each year's offerings.

         



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