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Arts Moodle (University of Alberta)
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Through the study of the evolution of the French language, this course introduces students to issues concerning the role of language in society. These questions will be approached from a diachronic and a synchronic perspective. An integrated approach allows students to deepen their knowledge of the French language and society while being initiated to the study of different domains in linguistics. At the end of the course, students will be able to identify and explain major phenomena in the evolution of a language and its role in society. The course requires a very active in-class participation of the students.
- This is the "Super Section" version of 101. You cannot sign-in directly to this page. Sign in to the appropriate tutorial section (Check you Student ID#) and you will be automatically enrolled in this page.
- This course examines the nature of morality and various problems that arise in making moral judgments such as cultural relativism, subjectivism, and the role of religion in morality. We will evaluate several theoretical approaches to ethics such as utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and environmental approaches to ethics.
- This version of Philosophy 101 meets on Tuesday evenings from 6pm-9pm in NRE 1-143. While the topic area is shared with other 101 classes--moral and political philosophy--the method of instruction is different. This class uses the Philosophy for Children (P4C) program to introduce and explore topics. For more information about this program please visit Philosophy for Children Alberta.
This philosophy course will introduce students to practical philosophy (ethics and social-political philosophy) through classical and contemporary works.Questions to be examined include the following: what is the good life; what end(s) should a human being pursue; what is the meaning of true happiness; what is the nature of obligation; what is the relationship between happiness and obligation; what is justice; what justifies political authority,etc.?In the final weeks of this course we will study and critically discuss the philosophical dimensions of contemporary issues such as economic globalization, the mass media and climate change.
Phil 101 is an introductory course in philosophy that focuses on some fundamental questions about the nature of moral judgments, how we should act, what sorts of (moral) persons ought we to try to be AND about questions of justice, the relationship between the state, society, and the individual.
- This is the supersection of Phil 101, taught in large-lecture format on Mondays and Wednesdays, and in small tutorial sections on Fridays. It provides an introduction to philosophy with an emphasis on values and society.TO ACCESS THIS PAGE YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF ONE OF THE
PHILOSOPHY 101-A1
TUTORIAL SECTIONS!!! - This is an introductory course in philosophy that focuses on some basic questions about the nature of knowledge and reality.
Course Description: This course is an introduction to central philosophical issues in Knowledge and Reality through study and critical discussion of selected philosophical classics and contemporary works. This course will focus on three central topics:
I. Knowledge and Skepticism: We will study the nature, source, content, and scope of human knowledge. We will explore a variety of topics including what knowledge is, where knowledge comes from, what justification is, whether our beliefs can be objectively true, and whether knowledge is even possible.
II. Freewill and Determinism: This section of the class focuses on whether everything that we do is caused, whether any of our acts are free, and whether we are morally responsible for anything.
III. Mind-Body Problem: We will investigate the relationship between the mind and the body, the nature of mental phenomena, such as consciousness and perception, and the conditions on personal identity.
- We use the concept of a search command to study argument and problem-solving.
This course is designed to introduce students to some of the major issues in Metaphysics. But there are too many major issues in Metaphysics! Here are just a few: God, reality, possibility, conceivability, necessity, time, personal identity, free will, agency, space, causality, materialism, reductionism, holes, surfaces, mortality, immortality, time-ravel, etc. Unfortunately, finite creatures that we are, we cannot do a decent job of discussing most of these in a regular Fall/Winter course, never mind in a condensed Spring term course. Instead, we will deal with a network of interconnected issues that are relevant to understanding agency. As will become apparent, one cannot say much about agency without considering some of the other issues in the brief list above. Why? Because we cannot understand how it is possible for someone to be an agent without discussing possibility. Some people claim that agency requires free will, so we will have to spend some time looking at what free will might mean too. In sum, the focus of this course will be on what conditions must be in play for agency to be possible. We take ourselves to be agents. We say things like “I did that” or “You yourself said this.” However, in ordinary situations we do not think about what it means to be an agent. By examining the concept of agency we will uncover a number of important presuppositions, and I hope that the effort of coming to grips with these presuppositions will afford us a glimpse of the relevance of Metaphysics today.
- This course will introduce students to the philosophical study of ethics. After a generalized introduction to the contemporary study of ethics we will focus our attention upon the following four texts: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Mill’s Utilitarianism, Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and Singer’s Practical Ethics. Topics will include the nature of virtue, happiness, duty, freedom, reason, desire, emotion, affectivity, friendship, love and purpose. We will also consider certain leading topics in the area of “applied ethics,” such as our relation to non-human animals and the environment.
This course introduces students to ethical theory. Some of the topics we will be examining in PHIL 250 are (1) the status of morality, (2) moral responsibility, and (3) moral standing.
In this class we will do an intensive examination of ethical theory covering major thinkers in the Western tradition (Aristotle, Epicurus, Epictetus, Hume, Mill, Kant) and some challenges to that tradition (Nietzsche, Sartre, and Feminist Ethics).What is the best way, broadly understood, to live?Are there general principles, rules, guidelines that we should follow, or virtues that we should inculcate, that help us distinguish right from wrong, good from bad?What sort of character ought I to have?Why should we be moral at all?These are some of the general ethical questions we will be concerned with over the term.
This class will focus on two of the three branches of ethics: normative ethics , which attempts to develop a set of rules or norms for human conduct or action; and applied ethics , which attempts to apply in different contexts theoretical, formal or normative ethics. The third, which we would only touch in passing, is meta-ethics or ‘analytic ethics’ which seeks to understand the nature of ethical statements, attitudes.
Some of the theories we would be looking at in the first half of class are Ethical relativism, Utilitarianism, Kantian ethics and Virtue ethics. In addition, would examine the approach to rationality of maximizing and Satisficing theories. The second half of class is devoted to applied ethics . We would consider Environmental ethics ,where we examine the sort of duties we owe to endangered species, and Business ethics with a focus on the issues of bluffing, truth telling and advertising as well as whether or not whistle-blowing is ethical, morally justified and obligatory. We conclude the class by examining Abortion, which is one of the most controversial issues in applied ethics. The focus here would be to examine arguments for and against abortion, with emphasis on the moral status of the fetus.
- What counts as good evidence for a belief or theory? Should all our beliefs be based on evidence? Are there different possible kinds of evidence?
- Course Description: Feminist epistemologies investigate the relationship between gender, oppression, and knowledge. This course will employ gender and oppression as critical analytical tools for investigating central epistemic questions about the nature, source, content, and scope of knowledge.
- This course provides an introduction to the religious practices, beliefs, doctrines, and texts of the religious traditions today called “Hinduism”. We will examine the historical development of Hindu religious thought and practices from the Vedic period to the present and explore central Hindu concepts of self, world, the divine, devotion, renunciation, and liberation from the cycle of death and birth.
Philosophy 205 - Mind - W11
- Instructor: Octavian Ion
Philosophy 215 - Epistemology - W11
- Instructor: Sam Hillier
The focus of Biology, Society, and Values is on philosophical and social issues that arise in the biological sciences, including the medical and health sciences.Themes that will be discussed include biological research on and theorizing about sex and gender; the nature and representation of research in primatology; and the history of eugenics and the philosophical and social issues that eugenic practices raise. Phil 217 begins a sequence of courses offered by the Department of Philosophy at the interface of biology and philosophy: Phil317 (Philosophy of Biology), which focuses on conceptual issues in biology, especially evolutionary biology and genetics; and Phil415 (Topics in the Philosophy of Biology), which follows up the grounding in either 217 or 317 by pursuing one or more topics (e.g., the nature of species, eugenics, evo-devo) in more detail.All of these courses are also electives for students taking a major or a minor in the interdisciplinary Program in Science, Technology, and Society;Phil 217 also provides a good basis for other courses that the Department of Philosophy offers, such as those in general philosophy of science, some courses in ethics or moral philosophy, and others in nursing and the health sciences.
Philosophy 250 S1- Ethics - W11
- Instructor: Edwin Etieyibo
Philosophy 386 - Healthcare - W11
- Instructor: Edwin Etieyibo
MLCS 583 - Discourse Analysis - W11
- Instructor: Elisabeth Le
- The focus of this course is the study of popular culture and its traditions in Spanish America and Spain. The course will look at how to read questions of nation, class, race, and gender in Hispanic popular cultural production. Texts to be studied will be taken from films, art, festivals, sports, music, comics, and television.
- Pedro Almodóvar is considered one of the most important cultural symbols of the restoration of democracy in Spain after nearly 40 years of the right-wing dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Starting off as an underground filmmaker in the 1970s and 1980s, Almodóvar has become the most internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his generation. This course will study his films to establish his 'trademarks' and how these have evolved throughout his oeuvre: a quirky and campy style full of kitschy elements, outrageous humour, a vexed relationship to the nation, the use of intertextuality and references to popular culture and melodrama, and his play with gender. Furthermore we will study what defines a filmmaker as an 'auteur' and explore issues of creative control.
- Section Names: Marwana to Nachtgaele Classroom: TB-109
- Section names: Rice to Sorge
Classroom: TB-125 - Section names: Gomez to Huynh
Classroom: TB-60 - Section names: Lavoie-Khatib to Madryqa
Classroom: T1-104 - Section names: Cardinal to Denholme
Classroom: T1-119 - Section names: Aco to Capus Classroom: TB-108
- Section names: Ingosi to Langevin
Classroom: TB-70 - Section Names: Vaudry to Zubrick
Classroom: TB-105 - Section names: Nahornick to Renner Classroom: TB-117
- Section names: Detlefsen to Godson
Classroom: TB-38 - Section Names: Steel to VanEgmond
Classroom: TB-129 - Don't log in here. Log into your TA section!!!!
Philosophy 205 - Mind - F10
- Instructor: Octavian Ion
- This course will introduce students to the philosophical study of ethics. After an introduction to the contemporary study of ethics we will focus our attention upon the following four texts: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Mill’s Utilitarianism, Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and Singer’s Practical Ethics. We will also read brief selections from the following philosophers: Augustine, Aquinas, and Levinas. Topics will include the nature of virtue, pleasure, happiness, duty, freedom, reason, desire, emotion, affectivity, friendship, love, motivation and purpose. We will also consider certain leading topics in the area of “applied ethics,” such as abortion, euthanasia and our relationship to non-human animals.
Philosophy 505 - Mind - F10
- Instructor: Adam Morton
philosophy of the emotions: links with moral competence and with imagination.- Students joining this critical inquiry variant of the standard Philosophy 101 class will spend a significant portion of their in-class time developing and participating in a community of inquiry (CoI). Within this collaborative tool students will work together to generate and then answer their own questions about the philosophical issues contained in purpose written materials or a wide range of other resources. Throughout the term the CoI will act as the crucible for the developing and refining of a broad range of skills related to critical analysis and inquiry. It is the development of these skills, rather than formally introducing famous philosophers or ideas, that is the focus of this class.
“Values and Society” or “Ethics and Social-Political Philosophy” are the major themes that will be explored in this course via the critical inquiry approach. Other topics will be explored too; concerns based in topics like logic and metaphysics will come up from time to time and we will address them when relevant. This course will introduce students to issues in ethics and social political philsophy. At the end of the class it is expected that students will be able to identify and analyze different philosophical approaches to selected issues in ethics and social political philosophy, and have gained insight into how to read and critically interpret philosophical arguments and texts.
- This course will introduce students to the philosophical study of knowledge and reality. Topics will include: the nature of being, substance, consciousness, causality, selfhood, freedom and religious belief.
The focus of Biology, Society, and Values is on philosophical and social issues that arise in the biological sciences. There will be some discussion, particularly early in the course, of general questions about science and society, but we will quickly shift our focus to the various biological sciences, including the medical and health sciences, and the ways in which they both draw on and contribute to surrounding social issues and values. Themes that will be discussed include biological research on and theorizing about sex and gender; the conception of psychological health in biological terms; the nature and representation of research in primatology; and the history of eugenics and the philosophical and social issues that eugenic practices raise. Throughout the course we will discuss the social contexts and ethical values that various forms of biological science embody, but ethics is not the area of philosophy most closely related to what we will be doing. The course is better characterized as philosophical reflection on scientific practice and its social context—philosophy of science or science and technology studies—than as a form of practical ethics.
- This class will be an introduction to Indian philosophy, focusing on the ancient and classical period (500 BCE-1500 CE). We will start with a history and overview of the nature of philosophy and religion in Indian thought and then study the most influential Indian philosophies such as Yoga, Advaita Vedanta, Nyaya and Buddhism.
- How has our idea of what a computer can be changed over time? How has the computer been imagined and how have the opportunities for computing cultures been presented? In this course we will look at original documents by the engineers, theorists, and artists who developed personal computing and the web. We will ask about what they thought were the problems that networked computing would solve and what they presupposed about how we think, interact and work. To do this we will read closely selections of the original works of a number of the important pioneers and critics of computing and media from Alan Turing to Espen Aarseth.
- This course will be organized around the question "What sorts of people should there be?" and will focus on philosophical issues that arise in several areas at the interface of ethics, science, and technology. Topics that I would imagine covering including most, if not all, of the following: autonomy and personal choice concerning one's appearance, health, and well-being; choices and responsibilities for one's own possible and actual children; social policies and common practices regarding future generations, including genetic testing and screening; philosophical and medical views of disability and disablement; bioenhancement and transhumanism; the moral value of human and non-human lives; the nature of persons and the philosophical focus on questions about persons.
That's quite a lot, and inevitably discussion will take us into related issues (e.g., the morality of abortion, state intervention in individual lives) that are not themselves a focus for the course. We will cover as much material on the history of eugenics as I think we will need to inform our discussion of the focal topics, but the course will centre on contemporary philosophical debates and issues. For assessment, students should expect to have to write several papers, including a substantial term paper. Active participation in the course on a week-to-week basis will also constitute an important basis for your final grade.
- Empirical considerations of philosophical methodology
Philosophy 205 - Mind - Spring10
- Instructor: Octavian Ion
Ethics Training Requirement
- Instructor: Evan Stait
- Instructor: Amy Schmitter
This course can be used to satisfy the departmental portion of the Graduate Ethics Training (GET) requirement of FGSR for students enrolled in the graduate programs of the Philosophy Department.
Moodle for Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta.
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