300-level

PHIL303
Quarks, Quasars and Dinosaurs: The Philosophy of Science
Description
This course examines a number of ground breaking discoveries, breakthroughs and conceptual revolutions in the history of science, with an eye to the lessons they hold about what Science is and how it works. Fundamental questions the course considers are: How do scientists develop theories, test them, and adjudicate between rival explanations of natural phenomena? What is the scientific method? Why does this method yield such uncannily accurate predictions about future events? By what criteria can genuine sciences, like Physics, Chemistry and Biology, be distinguished from pseudosciences like Astrology and Homeopathy? Is Science progressing slowly but steadily towards a grand, unified Theory of Everything, or is the idea of scientific progress just a myth? Do the unobservable entities that scientists postulate - quarks, gluons, and their ilk - really exist, or are they merely predictively useful fictions? Should scientists try to verify their theories, or falsify them? What is scientific objectivity, and is it attainable? The course will be of interest to anyone fascinated by Science, its history, its aims, and its methods. It is intended to be especially valuable to scientists-in-training, in providing a broad perspective of the philosophical issues that hover over all scientific inquiry.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Semester One 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level in PHIL, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA or BSc.
Restrictions
PHIL203
PHIL308
The Brain Gym: An Introduction to Logic
Description
An introduction to logical reasoning, critical analysis, and the art of proof.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Semester Two 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level in PHIL, COSC, LING, MATH or from the BE(Hons), or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA or BSc.
Restrictions
PHIL225, PHIL246, PHIL346, PHIL208, MATH208, MATH308
PHIL311
Meaning, Mind, and the Nature of Philosophy
Description
This course aims to teach the central skills of philosophy-creative thinking plus precision. We look at deep philosophical questions through the eyes of several of the most challenging philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries. For example: Do we think in words? If I say 'I'm in pain' or ‘I see blue’, do you really know what I mean? Can humans or machines learn to speak ‘Whale’? Is human-level AI possible? How can we talk about what doesn't exist-tomorrow, Harry Potter, or the possible world where you win $50 million on Lotto? Is there an impossible world where you can square the circle? Why does every attempt to solve a philosophical problem simply raise more problems, sometimes even worse ones?
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Semester Two 2026 (Distance)
Points
30 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from PHIL, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA or the BSc.
Restrictions
PHIL464, PHIL497
PHIL321
Ethics
Description
This course looks at concepts and theories in normative ethics and meta-ethics. Normative ethics deals with the foundations of moral theory. What determines whether an action is right or wrong, good or bad? What principles should we live by? Utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics provide three influential answers. Part I of the course studies these theories in detail, considering the ideas of Mill, Kant and Aristotle along the way. Meta-ethics deals with second-order questions about ethical thought and talk. Are there moral facts and moral truths? Could moral judgements be objectively true? What is the relation between moral facts and scientific or natural facts? How, if at all, can we acquire moral knowledge? What role do the emotions play in moral judgement? Part II of the course focuses on these and similar questions.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level from PHIL, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
PHIL236
PHIL324
Bioethics: Life, Death, and Medicine
Description
Bioethics is the study of ethical problems in healthcare, research, technology and the environment. Bioethical problems arise every day, affecting societies, people and non-human animals. This course covers a wide range of issues, including: research on human and non-human animals; reproductive technologies, such as surrogacy and genetic testing; the use of data to monitor and control human actions; conflicts between privacy and autonomy and the public good, and decisions about protecting, killing and letting die, including healthcare, abortion, and euthanasia. The course includes an introduction to ethical values and principles, ways of dealing with moral disagreements, and reflection on what it means for something to be worth moral consideration.
Occurrences
Semester One 2026
Semester One 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level in PHIL, LAWS, HLTH, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
Restrictions
PHIL240, POLS225
PHIL328
Individual Course of Study
Description
-
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Subject to approval of the Head of Department
PHIL340
Turing: From the Computer Revolution to the Philosophy of AI
Description
This course is about Alan Turing, the logical and philosophical foundations of computing, and the philosophy of Artificial Intelligence. It is equally suitable for Arts, Science, Engineering, and Law students.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Semester Two 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level in PHIL or COSC, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA or the BSc.
Restrictions
PHIL250, COSC260
PHIL359
Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
Description
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a new and rapidly developing field that affects social media, military actions, the way we are governed, our criminal justice and health systems, and many other areas that impact our lives. In each of these areas, the use of AI can and will create situations that harm or benefit people and also non-human animals. Understanding the nature of these potential harms and benefits, their value and disvalue, and what can enhance, mitigate or remove them, can help make the widespread adoption of AI technologies ethical and also more publicly acceptable.
Occurrences
Semester Two 2026
Semester Two 2026 (Distance)
Points
15 points
Prerequisites
Any 30 points at 200 level in PHIL or COSC, or any 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA or the BSc.
Restrictions
PHIL425

Not Offered Courses in 2026

300-level

PHIL305
Paradoxes
Description
This course surveys a wide range of paradoxes and bizarre brain-twisters drawn from all corners of philosophy.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2020 , 2021 , 2023 , 2024 , 2025
For further information see PHIL305 course details
Points
30 points
PHIL310
History of Philosophy
Description
This course introduces you to the philosophy of the early modern period. We shall pay particular attention to the epistemological and metaphysical questions addressed by Descartes in his Meditations and by Hume in Book 1 of his A Treatise of Human Nature. We also study Hume’s moral theory in Bk. III of the Treatise, Locke’s epistemology and Berkeley’s metaphysics. Topics covered include rationalism and empiricism, dreaming, scepticism, proofs of the existence of God, mind-body dualism, idealism, the nature of self, personal identity, causation, reason and the passions. Is knowledge based on reason or experience? Can I be sure that I’m not dreaming? Can I be sure of anything? What, in any case, is this ‘I’? What is the relationship between mind and body? What is it to remain the same person over time? Does the external world exist and, if so, what is its nature? Can ‘ought’ be derived from ‘is’? Is morality based on reason or the passions?
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2019 , 2021 , 2022 , 2024 , 2025
For further information see PHIL310 course details
Points
30 points
PHIL312
Reason, Desire and Happiness: Hellenistic Philosophy
Description
In ancient Greece and Rome, philosophy was thought to be more than simply a discipline of academic interest. Many philosophers saw themselves as being like physicians. If physicians treat and heal the body, the role of the philosopher is to provide comparable therapy for the soul so that we can live well and flourish. This view was common to Aristotle, the Epicureans, the Sceptics and the Stoics. This course introduces you to this philosophical tradition and to the work of its proponents. Topics covered include the relationship between emotion and reason, the value of true beliefs, the nature of erotic love, the fear of death, the basis of anger and aggression, the value of self-control, and the legitimate tasks and methods of philosophy.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2015 , 2017
For further information see PHIL312 course details
Points
15 points
PHIL314
Greek Philosophy
Description
This course will survey the origins of Western philosophy in the ancient world, from the Milesians to the Stoics. We will focus on the emergence of rationality and the development of philosophical themes first articulated by the Presocratics, then in turn, by Plato and Aristotle, and beyond. Emphasis will be placed on the structure of knowledge, the nature of reality, aesthetics, and the contemplation of the good life.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2011 , 2013
For further information see PHIL314 course details
Points
30 points
PHIL318
Philosophy of Religion: Rationality, Science, and the God Hypothesis
Description
Can I survive my death or is belief in an afterlife a trick of evolution? Are you a non-physical soul? Is science compatible with religion? What is 'faith' and what is 'reason', and who decides? Is there one and only one true religion? Do human beings need a 'God's eye view’ to know what is morally right? Is human or animal suffering evidence that God doesn’t exist? Does life imply a designer? This course presupposes no prior knowledge of the philosophy of religion; it is aimed at students from a wide range of backgrounds, as well as philosophy majors.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2025
For further information see PHIL318 course details
Points
30 points
PHIL320
Special Topic
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2011 , 2012
For further information see PHIL320 course details
Points
15 points
PHIL335
Cyberspace, Cyborgs and the Meaning of Life
Description
This course investigates a raft of questions - concerning mind, metaphysics, knowledge and human nature - thrown up by the ongoing revolution in information technology. These include: Might I attain immortality by porting myself into cyberspace? Am I already in cyberspace? Is the universe nothing but a computer? Should we fear a forthcoming Age of Robots? Is my iPhone part of my mind? Could a computer ever be programmed to be creative and intelligent, and to equal or exceed the problem solving capacities of the human brain?
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2019 , 2020 , 2022 , 2023 , 2025
For further information see PHIL335 course details
Points
15 points
PHIL343
Landmarks of Analytic Philosophy
Description
This course is about major new discoveries and developments that have occurred in analytic philosophy during recent decades - developments that thave forever changed how philosophers will approach major questions in metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. Topics covered will vary from year to year depending on student interest, but will typically include Quine's monumentally influential Two Dogma's of Empiricism, Saul Kripke's ground-breaking discoveries in Naming and Necessity, Hillary Putnam's writings about the strange planet of Twin Earth, David Lewis' infamously counterintuitive theory that all coherently imaginable possible worlds exist 'out there' as universes parallel to this one, a powerful new framework for analysing possibility called 'two dimensional semantics', Thomas Nagel on the subject of the inner lives of bats, Donald Davidson's 'Swampman' thought experiment, and a mythical philosophical figure popularly know as 'Kripkenstein'.
Occurrences
Not offered 2026, offered in 2016
For further information see PHIL343 course details
Points
15 points