Philosophical Questions

Recommended Program Sequence for Philosophy Combined Honours Students

Students must take forty courses in total, and those forty courses must satisfy all of the Degree Requirements for the Program (as outlined in the Undergraduate Calendar).

Of the forty required courses, at least sixteen must be courses in Philosophy (as outlined in the Degree Requirements listed below). Of the sixteen courses that must be taken in Philosophy, at least fourteen of those must be at the 2000-level or above (which means that a student can only count a maximum of two 1000-level Philosophy towards the sixteen Philosophy courses that a student must take). Note: The recommendations listed deal explicitly with only 12 out of the required 16 philosophy courses that are specified in the degree requirements, and this proposed calendar, meaning that you are free to choose 4 courses from philosophy that suit your interests in addition to the 12 specified below.

Year 1. Fall Semester:

  • One 1000-level course in Philosophy
  • Four other courses that satisfy the Degree Requirements for the Program. (It is strongly recommended that students take GART-1500 as one of these four).

Year 1. Winter Semester:

  • PHIL 2210 (Introduction to Ethics)
  • Four other courses that satisfy the Degree Requirements for the Program. (It is strongly recommended that students take GART-1510 as one of these four).

 

Year 2. Fall Semester:

  • One 2000-level course from “Practical Philosophy”
  • Four other courses that satisfy the Degree Requirements for the Program.

Year 2. Winter Semester:

  • PHIL 2730 (Ancient Philosophy)
  • PHIL 2760 (Early Modern Philosophy)
  • Three other courses that satisfy the Degree Requirements for the Program.

 

Year 3. Fall Semester:

  • PHIL 3760 (Kant)
  • One course from “Systematic Philosophy”
  • Three other courses that satisfy the Degree Requirements for the Program.

Year 3. Winter Semester:

  • One course from “Practical Philosophy”
  • One course from “Systematic Philosophy”
  • Three other courses that satisfy the Degree Requirements for the Program.

 

Year 4. Fall Semester:

  • PHIL 4710 (Recent Continental Philosophy)
  • PHIL 4910 (Honours Seminar)
  • Three other courses that satisfy the Program Requirements for the Program.

Year 4. Winter Semester:

  • PHIL 4720 (Analytic or Pragmatist Philosophy)
  • Four other courses that satisfy the Program Requirements for the Program.

 

Additional Philosophy Requirements:

  • Four additional courses in Philosophy are required, only one of which can be at the 1000-level, and at least two of which must be at the 3000-level or above (Note: As indicated, of the four additional courses in Philosophy that are required for the Program, only one of the four can be at the 1000-level, and at least two of the four must be at the 3000-level or above. These additional four courses can be chosen from among all the other courses listed in the Philosophy section of the Undergraduate Calendar, including the courses listed under the “Systematic Philosophy” and “Practical Philosophy” sections of the Degree Requirements. This means that, when taking their four additional courses in Philosophy, it is possible for a student to end up taking more than two courses from “Systematic Philosophy” and more than two courses from “Practical Philosophy” if they so choose (and as long as it is in keeping with the Degree Requirements for the Program).
  • Apart from PHIL 2210, listed in Year 1 of the schedule, it is generally recommended that students try to take Philosophy courses at a level that does not exceed the Year of their Program (e.g., in Year 2 only take courses at the 2000-level or below; in Year 3 only take courses at the 3000-level or below, and so on).

 

Additional Degree Requirements:

  • Other Subject Major: Courses used to calculate the major average in the other subject area, as prescribed by that area of study.
  • Two courses from Social Science.
  • Two courses from Languages or Science.
  • Two courses from any area of study, excluding Arts.
  • GART-1500, GART-1510
  • Additional courses from any area of study to a total of forty courses.

 

Note 1: Students who may be interested in doing more advanced work in Analytic Philosophy at the Graduate level are strongly encouraged to take PHIL 2500, PHIL 2540, and PHIL 2620. If more information is needed, students are encouraged to meet with an academic advisor.

Note 2: Students who may be interested in doing more advanced work in Continental Philosophy at the Graduate level are strongly encouraged to take PHIL 3780. If more information is needed, students are encouraged to meet with an academic advisor.

Note 3: Students are strongly