Graduate Courses

Aug 05, 2026 - Sep 29, 2026

Please enrol in your courses as soon as possible. If you experience any issues enroling in your courses, contact Ashley Price.

PHIL 680A — Idealization

This course will consider idealization and related concepts from a range of normative and epistemological perspectives. In scientific reasoning, idealizations may be necessary for modelling complex systems, but may also function differently depending on context. For example, is the economic representation of persons as self-interested maximizers of their own utility a harmless idealization or a dangerous misrepresentation? In social and political theory, debates over ideal theory concern the potential hazards of idealizing away phenomena of crucial importance. For example, does a method of ideal theory in political philosophy risk ignoring oppression, just where oppression should be centred? Some contested use of algorithms and AI in social decision-making can also be understood in light of idealization, as often these uses replace complex decision methods with processes based on maximizing a single quantifiable objective function. This course also has a professionalization component, which will consist of a mix of preparation for navigating professional spaces in philosophy and development of academic skills. 

PHIL 673 — 001: Philosophy of Applied Mathematics

The question of how mathematics relates to reality is an old philosophical question. We will begin by considering answers to this question provided by accounts within philosophy of mathematics, such as Pythagoreanism, structuralism, and naturalism. We will then turn to the question of how mathematics relates to the world that we perceive with our senses. Theoretical physicist Eugene Wigner infamously argued that “[t]he miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.” We will take Wigner’s argument that the application of mathematics in science is miraculous and unreasonable as a challenge. What is the reasonable explanation for our success in applying mathematics? What does this explanation tell us about the nature of logical, mathematical and scientific knowledge? How (if at all) does applied mathematics succeed in describing the world? The course will include topics from epistemology, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophy of science. This course is suitable for students with a background in either philosophy, mathematics, or science; no specialized background knowledge is required.

PHIL 673 — 002: Social Justice and Philosophy of Language

This course uses the tools of philosophy of language to consider social justice issues related to communication.  Students will apply these theoretical tools to real-world topics of interest to them.  Topics may include gendered language, the role of language in oppression, linguistic manipulation, and the language of resistance.

Winter 2027

PHIL 680B — Idealization

This course will consider idealization and related concepts from a range of normative and epistemological perspectives. In scientific reasoning, idealizations may be necessary for modelling complex systems, but may also function differently depending on context. For example, is the economic representation of persons as self-interested maximizers of their own utility a harmless idealization or a dangerous misrepresentation? In social and political theory, debates over ideal theory concern the potential hazards of idealizing away phenomena of crucial importance. For example, does a method of ideal theory in political philosophy risk ignoring oppression, just where oppression should be centred? Some contested use of algorithms and AI in social decision-making can also be understood in light of idealization, as often these uses replace complex decision methods with processes based on maximizing a single quantifiable objective function. This course also has a professionalization component, which will consist of a mix of preparation for navigating professional spaces in philosophy and development of academic skills. 

PHIL 673 — 001: Post-war Justice and Human Rights

There’s no shortage of wars right now, and no shortage of difficult problems regarding how they might finish. How should wars end? How to fulfill human rights during the transition from war to peace? This seminar will robustly blend political theory, international law, and the history of armed conflict, looking at gripping cases ranging from the two world wars thru Iraq and Afghanistan, with special attention paid to such current cases as Syria, Israel-Gaza, and Russia-Ukraine. The course also offers deeper philosophical reflection on: overcoming trauma; war crimes (and punishment thereof); the complex dynamic between justice, security, and peace; and the meaning of social reconstruction and human rights realization during the aftermath of war and beyond.

PHIL 673 — 002: Topic TBA

This graduate seminar will be taught by this years visiting Humphrey Professor. We are very excited to welcome Naomi Scheman from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Scheman specializes in areas of feminist theory, trustworthiness and community engagement, responsibility in research, queer/sexuality studies, transgender studies, and politics of epistemology.