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Year Course ID Course
2026-2027 PHIL 333

Philosophy & Literature

This course surveys major ancient, medieval, modern, and postmodern approaches that attempt a theory of literature. The course places modern and postmodern theories in historical perspective by reading key ancient and medieval authors. In particular, resources from the Latin Scholastic tradition most relevant to contemporary debates about literary theory are highlighted.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 3 sem. hrs. of Philosophy
NB: Not offered every year.
2026-2027 PHIL 340

Moral Philosophy

The problem of determining standards of right and wrong as well as the problem of determining what is of value in itself. The moral theories of prominent philosophers, both ancient and modern, are examined.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 3 sem. hrs. of Philosophy. Recommended: PHIL 106 or 210
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 350

Symbolic Logic

A study of the propositional calculus, quantification theory, the theory of definite descriptions, and other topics in modern symbolic logic..

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): PHIL 103 or instructor's consent
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 366

Philosophy of Biotechnology & Ethics

Students will apply philosophical perspectives to questions regarding the challenges presented by the use of biotechnology on humans, plants, and animals. Does philosophy offer ways to assess the goals of biotechnology? Is philosophy able to judge what is unethical? How does the philosophical ideal of wisdom bear upon biotechnology? How can philosophy help to articulate the relationship between humans, animals, and nature in general? How can philosophy help to situate biotechnology as part of our ability to live a good life within society?

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): Third-year standing
2026-2027 PHIL 370

Aesthetics

This course doesn't merely explore different questions about the nature, value, and meaning of beauty, artworks, and aesthetic experience; its primary goal is to assist students in developing lifestyles that embody the values, pleasures, and risks of moving through the God's creation with deep aesthetic attention coupled to an expansive imagination.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing or 3 sem. hrs. of philosophy or instructor's consent
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
Cross-listed: SAMC 370
2026-2027 PHIL 380

Philosophy of Science

An examination of some of the central philosophical issues raised by science. Topics include scientific method, explanations and laws in science, scientific progress, confirmation, and the structure of scientific theories.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): Third- or fourth-year standing or PHIL 103 or instructor's consent
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 382

Cognitive Science of Religion

An historical and thematic overview of the cognitive science of religion, introducing students to major figures, themes, methods, models, and results from the discipline. A major emphasis is understanding cognitive processes important for sustaining belief in supernatural agents, afterlife beliefs, prayer, and rituals. Students will also investigate the philosophical implications of the scientific data, connecting the cognitive science of religion to issues such as the rationality of religious belief and the lived experience of religious believers.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 3 sem. hrs. of PHIL or PSYC
Cross-listed: PSYC 382
2026-2027 PHIL 383

Reason & Belief in God

A survey of central issues arising from the question, Is belief in God rational? Topics include arguments concerning the existence of God, religious pluralism, natural science and religious belief, religious language, and critiques of natural theology from Kierkegaard and Reformed Epistemology.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 3 sem. hrs. of Philosophy or third-year standing
Cross-listed: RELS 383
2026-2027 PHIL 384

Suffering & Belief in God

An examination of key issues pertaining to suffering and belief in God. Topics include the problem of evil, arguments from suffering, original sin, everlasting suffering, and providence.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 3 sem. hrs. of Philosophy or third-year standing
Cross-listed: RELS 385
2026-2027 PHIL 390

Existentialism

Through the profound questions they ask about human life, we explore the verities of human embodiment from the theist (Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky, Heschel, and Percy) and from the non-theist (Nietzsche, Hesse, Heidegger, Camus, and Sartre) existentialist perspectives: Are there invariants within the human condition? Is human identity essentially tied to its historical-cultural embodiment? Do humans have an essence or nature? Are humans fundamentally different from all other animals? Is there meaning to human life? Are human relationships doomed to failure? Are humans capable of authentic lives? Is the notion of God merely a comforting projection arising out of human weakness? Etc.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): Second-year standing or 3 sem. hrs. of Philosophy
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 412

Issues in Contemporary Philosophy

Central issues arising in twentieth century philosophy, particularly within the Anglo-American analytic movement. Recent topics have included the rise and demise of logical positivism, the philosophy of Wittgenstein, Rorty's attack on the Mirror of Nature, and issues raised by continental European philosophy.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of Philosophy and third-year standing
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 415

Contemporary Political Philosophy

This course examines the political thought of twentieth century political philosophers, primarily from the Western political tradition. Attention is given to selected primary and secondary literature of contemporary political theorists. Systematic examination of different theorists encourages a broader understanding of the rich tradition of political philosophy in the twentieth century.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of Political Studies including POLS 101
Cross-listed: POLS 415
2026-2027 PHIL 418

Social & Political Concepts of Community in Contemporary Political Theory

Provides the student with an in-depth study of the social and political concepts of community. Attention is focused on how recognition of community brings into play the tension between individual and collective/group rights. Course lectures, reading assignments, and in class discussion provide an overview of the following topics: interpretation/hermeneutics of community, roots of community theory, myth of community, quest for community, Christian community, recognition of minority communities in politics, problems associated with the concept of community, recognition of group rights, the liberal-communitarian debate over community, and the problems associated with communitarian theory.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of Philosophy and third-year standing
Cross-listed: POLS 418/SOCI 418
2026-2027 PHIL 420

Authors

A study of a major philosopher or philosophical system. Involving substantial reading and the writing of a major paper, the course is available by special request to students who already have at least a minor in Philosophy, on a directed study basis.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): Philosophy major or instructor's consent
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 421

Postmodern Philosophy

An in-depth investigation into major postmodern texts. Authors considered include Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, and their critics. Both the philosophical and historical foundations of modernism and postmodernism will be explored. The historicist focus on the origins and contexts of these ideas will receive considerable attention.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of Philosophy
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 430

Honours Thesis

A 40-60 page paper on a topic of the student's choosing (subject to departmental approval) on a important philosophic issue or thinker. An oral defence and a library-acceptable copy are required. This course is to be taken in the final year by all Honours students in Philosophy.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): Fourth-year standing; acceptance into the Philosophy Honours program; completion of PHIL 420 in previous semester
2026-2027 PHIL 460

Philosophy of Language

This course surveys central issues in philosophy of language, including: theories of truth and reference, the relationship between language, thought, and mind, constructivist and structuralist accounts of language. A sub-theme for the course is the relationship between the philosophy of language and other core areas of philosophy.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 6 sem. hrs. of Philosophy or instructor's consent
2026-2027 PHIL 470

Philosophy of Knowledge & Rational Belief

A descriptive and critical inquiry into the theory of knowledge, including such topics as foundationalism, relativism, evidence, warrant, cognitive reliability, skepticism, and the relationship of cognitive science and psychology to philosophical accounts of knowledge and rational inquiry.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 9 sem. hrs. of Philosophy and third-year standing
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 481

Business Ethics

This course studies the role of business in contemporary society where multiple demands are placed upon it, the responsibility of a corporation to its many constituencies, and responsiveness to changing cultural climate. The course studies a biblical basis for business ethics.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): One PHIL course, and third-year standing
Cross-listed: BUSI 481
2026-2027 PHIL 490

Philosophy of Mind

This course explores the philosophically perplexing tasks of finding a place for human consciousness in, and the mind’s causal relations to, the natural world. It also investigates the theories put forward to address these tasks, e.g., dualistic theories like substance dualism, dual-attribute theory, epiphenomenalism, and emergentism, and the monistic theories like physicalism (reductive, eliminative, and non-reductive), lived-body phenomenology, and neutral monism.

Course Credits: 3
Prerequisite(s): 3 sem. hrs. of Philosophy
NB: Not offered every year. See department chair.
2026-2027 PHIL 510

Issues in Social Justice

An examination of ethical issues that pertain to social justice, addressing such topics as the distribution of wealth, the difference between equality and equity, the effects of globalization, and the morality of war.”

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 511

Kant

A study of the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, focusing primarily on Kant's seminal work, Critique of Pure Reason.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 512

Issues in Contemporary Philosophy

This course acquaints students with important philosophical developments in Western Anglo- American philosophy during the twentieth century. These include analytic philosophy, ordinary language philosophy, and recent developments questioning the traditional value and role of philosophy. The writings of major philosophers are studied throughout, and emphasis is placed upon epistemological, metaphysical, and linguistic issues. Some attention is given to examining the relationships between these philosophical movements and others, e.g., those that characterize postmodernism. Attention is occasionally given to points that carry implications for Christian faith.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 513

Empiricism

Studies the modern philosophy of British empiricism, with a primary focus on the works of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume. Analyzes the relevance of empiricism to contemporary philosophical debates pertaining to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics and evaluates the enduring strengths as well as the persistent limitations of this tradition.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 514

Reason & the Enlightenment

A study of rationalist philosophy in the European Enlightenment period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Selected writings of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz are analyzed and interpreted. As we discuss each author's ideas, we will evaluate their positions on: the limits of reason, the intelligibility of revealed truth, the existence of God, the divisibility of reality, the role of nature, and the ethics and politics of human life. In the process of dialoguing about these ideas, we shall also study the historical importance of the Enlightenment in modernity as well as the original intent of the philosophers in question with attention to their historic context. We shall also assess the enduring relevance of the Enlightenment to the modern age.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 515

Contemporary Political Philosophy

An examination of twentieth century political philosophy through reading of texts by major contemporary political philosophers.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 520

Social & Political Philosophy

An examination of foundational ideas and problems in political life and thought. Both classical and contemporary texts are used. Concepts to be treated include the state, society, the citizen, democracy, liberty, equality, authority, obligation, and disobedience.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 521

Postmodern Philosophy

An in-depth investigation into major postmodern texts. Authors considered include Nietzsche, Foucault, Derrida, and their critics. Both the philosophical and historical foundations of modernism and postmodernism will be explored. The historicist focus on the origins and contexts of these ideas will receive considerable attention.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 540

Moral Philosophy

The problem of determining standards of right and wrong as well as the problem of determining what is of value in itself. The moral theories of prominent philosophers, both ancient and modern, are examined.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 550

Symbolic Logic

This course acquaints students with the elements of symbolic logic and its methods of deduction, including: the quantificational calculus, definite descriptions, identity, and the logic of relations. The significance of symbolic logic is examined in relation to logical atomism as advanced early in the twentieth century by Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 560

Philosophy of Language

Examines a range of topics within philosophy of language. Includes an overview of several works considered classics in the field (e.g. Wittgenstein, Quine, Searle, Alston, Grice), as well as critical review of major schools of thought in regard to language and criticism. Insights from linguistics and related disciplines, including text linguistics and sociolinguistics, are considered in evaluating the schools of thought.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 570

Philosophy of Knowledge & Rational Belief

A descriptive and critical inquiry into the theory of knowledge, including such topics as foundationalism, relativism, evidence, warrant, cognitive reliability, skepticism, and the relationship of cognitive science and psychology to philosophical accounts of knowledge and rational inquiry.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 571

Aesthetics

This course doesn't merely explore different questions about the nature, value, and meaning of beauty, artworks, and aesthetic experience; it also sensitizes students to the value, pleasures, and risks of moving through the world with deep perceptual attention coupled to an expansive imagination.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 573

Reason & Belief in God

A survey of central issues arising from the question, Is belief in God rational? Topics include arguments concerning the existence of God, religious pluralism, natural science and religious belief, religious language, and critiques of natural theology from Kierkegaard and Reformed Epistemology.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 583

Religious Experience Seminar

Examines the place of evidence in religion and assesses the evidential force of religious experience and related phenomena. The main body of the course addresses the evidential force of such experiences as near-death experiences, visions, mystical states of consciousness, as well as the Shroud of Turin as a unique religious artifact. Surveys some major contributors to the critical study of religious experience, e.g.: William James, Rudolf Otto, and R.C. Zaehner, and examines competing theories for religious phenomena, e.g., psychological and neurophysiological explanations for near-death and visionary experiences.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 584

Suffering & Belief in God

Examines some key issues pertaining to suffering and belief in God. Topics include the problem of evil, arguments from suffering original sin, everlasting suffering, and providence.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 590

Philosophy of Mind

This course explores the philosophically perplexing tasks of finding a place for human consciousness in, and the mind’s causal relations to, the natural world. It also investigates the theories put forward to address these tasks, e.g., dualistic theories like substance dualism, dual-attribute theory, epiphenomenalism, and emergentism, and the monistic theories like physicalism (reductive, eliminative, and non-reductive), idealism (ontological and conceptual), and neutral monism.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 591

Existentialism

Explore primary source material from five major (atheist and theist) existentialist philosophers, excerpts of existentialist fiction, a book that offers an overview of the common themes of existentialism, and another rife with existentialist themes that helps readers assess their own degree of existential alienation. Students engage in daily discussions and lectures on the material read. Students write two papers: a book review and a research paper, and keep a journal tracking their intellectual, emotional, and spiritual journey through class readings and lectures. In small groups, students discuss and share their insights and struggles with existentialism.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 600

Human Nature: Competing Philosophical Views

This course examines some of the most influential views of human nature advanced by philosophers in the history of Western civilization, and explores the implications of these views for ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, and metaphysics.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 603

Social Ethics Seminar

Examines ethical questions concerning life and death. Special emphasis is placed on understanding and evaluating moral and legal perspectives on these questions, within the larger tradition of Western philosophy, and in the face of the current technological revolution. Issues include: the moral status of humans, the meaning of personhood, sanctity of life versus quality of life, genetic engineering, reproductive technologies, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, abortion.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 607

Topics in Philosophy

Topics may vary. Courses offered to date:Existence, Truth, and Possibility Medieval Cosmology Empiricism Neoplatonism and Early Christianity Foundations of Ethics

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 610

Research Design

Under the direction of the student's approved thesis advisor, a course of reading and study which leads to the development of both a significant bibliographical essay (or annotated bibliography) and a thesis proposal. The latter includes at least the following: major question(s) to be addressed; significance of the issue(s); methodologies to be used; theories to be addressed and primary sources to be examined.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 613

Major Essay

Under the direction of a supervisor, students not doing a thesis research and write a major paper of approximately 10-15,000 words in length.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 621

Philosophical Perspectives on Religious Pluralism

This course surveys and engages central philosophical issues relevant to assessing normative religious pluralism.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 623

Questions of Human Nature

This course examines some of the most influential views of human nature advanced by philosophers and scientists in the history of Western civilization, and explores the implications of these views for ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. The ideas of Plato and Aristotle, as well as ideas that Christianity has drawn from these ancient Greek philosophers are examined before exploring views advanced in modernity and postmodernity.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 625

Philosophy of Technology

This course surveys and engages philosophical issues connected to technology, and the human manipulation and transformation of nature. For example, is the human good essentially tied to technological development? Should technological advancement be allowed to constrain or even determine social, political and moral decisions? Is technology an essentially neutral means to ends otherwise determined or do technological means bring with them their own ends? What are the differences between the natural and the artificial? Has technology taken the place formerly held by religion or spirituality?

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 635

Twentieth Century Analytic Philosophy

Since philosophy's roots in ancient Greece, philosophers have traditionally utilized critical analysis and the tools of reason and logic in pursuing answers to philosophical questions. However, the analytic focus of contemporary philosophy has been shaped most significantly by the philosophical tradition launched by Bertrand Russell, G.E. Moor, and Gottlob Frege at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 645

Philosophy & Religion

Explores the foundations of religious belief and faith, particularly the issue of the rationality of religion. The role of methodology is examined, including the value of deductive, inductive, and abductive reasoning; also the question whether the method applicable to religious belief is unique to it. The work of recent philosophical theologians and their critics is examined and evaluated.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 665

Philosophy of Competing Paradigms

This course examines the triumph of secular naturalism in academic/educated culture, and proposes rational grounds for advancing historic Christian theism. Trinitarian faith is viewed here as having the structure of theories that postulate the existence of unobservable objects. These theories adopt a unique method of defining the entities or beings postulated to exist; this method is shown to be compatible with historic theism. Moreover, the Resurrection of Jesus is identified as the central tenet for which evidence additional to that found Holy Scripture is needed in our secular context. The Shroud of Turin and contemporary visions of Jesus are shown to offer such evidence. While no objection is registered to allowing science to explore any features of the Universe, Christian theism is presented as supplementing such scientific knowledge.

Course Credits: 3
2026-2027 PHIL 675

Metaphilosophy

This course examines the character of Philosophy as an academic discipline, with particular attention to the kinds of claims that are central to its inquiry, such as Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, and Aesthetics. The feasibility of the claim that Philosophy is an objective discipline, and that its contributions are as significant as the factual matters handled in any social or natural science, are examined. Various subfields within Philosophy are given special attention, including Ethics, Logic, Epistemology, and Metaphysics.

Course Credits: 3