Department of Philosophy, U of T Scarborough

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Department of Philosophy, U of T Scarborough

Official page for the Philosophy Department at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC)

05/04/2026

📢Last Call: Socrates Project Applications due by 11:59pm today. Don’t miss your opportunity to be part of the 2026-27 cohort!

✅ Gain valuable leadership and teaching experience
✅ Sharpen your critical thinking and research skills
✅ Earn a competitive salary and professional skills as a Teaching Assistant (TA)

Further details available on our department website.
🔗 link to application form in bio

03/09/2026

Huge congratulations go out to Kristen Beard, recipient of the 2024-25 Martha Lile Love Teaching Award for her outstanding work teaching PHLB13 Philosophy and Feminism. 👏👏👏

The committee was greatly impressed by Kristen’s solutions to the difficult task of teaching a large online class in the time of large language models (LLMs). Her innovative assignments—which included community interviews and public philosophy video presentations—asked students to engage in dialogue and to connect insights from the course with their own lives, simultaneously preventing the misuse of AI while developing meaningful skills.

Kristen’s detailed assignment instructions, and her clear explanations of grading criteria, showed respect and care for the students’ learning experience. The fit of form and content in this course proved notable: it did not just teach feminist philosophy, it also enacted it by underscoring the importance of consent for the interview assignments and, more generally, by its emphasis on working toward social change.

One commenter on Kristen’s teaching called her facility with the course material “jaw-dropping.” Congratulations, Kristen!

03/05/2026

And the results are in! 🏆✨

We’re thrilled to announce the top three teams from our 2026 Ethics Bowl:

🥇 1st Place: Ethical Billionaires – Northern SS
🥈 2nd Place: Havergal College
🥉 Runner-Up: Moral Kombat – Trafalgar Castle

A huge congratulations to our first and second place teams, who have officially qualified for the Ontario Championships at UTM on March 7! 🎉 Your thoughtful analysis, teamwork, and collaborative spirit truly stood out.

We’re so proud of all the students who participated — the level of insight and respectful dialogue throughout the day was inspiring. Onward to provincials! 💬🧠

Photo credit: Grace Whiston, UTSC work-study student

03/04/2026

The debates in action. 🗣 ⚖

Our 2026 Ethics Bowl wasn’t about “winning” an argument — it was about listening closely, reasoning carefully, and responding thoughtfully. On February 7, over 150 high school students filled our rooms with rigorous analysis, respectful disagreement, and collaborative problem-solving in real time. 🤝

These bowls showcased what ethical dialogue can and should look like. 💬✨

Swipe to see the next generation of philosophers at work.
Photo credit: Grace Whiston

03/03/2026

Still inspired by the incredible energy at our 2026 Ethics Bowl on February 7! ✨

We had the privilege of welcoming over 150 high school students to campus for a day of thoughtful dialogue and collaborative debate. These students showed us exactly what the future of philosophy looks like. 🧠💬

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing volunteer moderators and judges who so generously gave their time and expertise to make the day possible. Your mentorship and guidance created a space where ideas could truly flourish.

Here’s to rigorous questions, open minds, and the next generation of ethical thinkers! 🙌📚

Photo credit: Grace Whiston

01/07/2026

🤖 How should we treat AI — and how is it treating us?

Explore the cutting-edge social and ethical questions behind today’s smartest technologies in PHLB18: Artificial Intelligence, Mind & Society with new faculty member, Prof. Tarsney! 💻✨

🔍 Topics include:
• Fairness & Bias in AI ⚖️🤖 — how algorithms can reflect (or challenge) social inequalities
• AI & Human Relationships 🧠❤️ — exploring benefits, risks, and ethical boundaries
• Work, Creativity & Society 🎨🏢🌍 — how AI is reshaping jobs, economic equality, and human independence
• Values, Rights & Responsibility 🧭📜 — aligning AI with human values and questioning the rights and interests of AI systems

💬 No coding required — just curiosity about the future of tech and humanity.

📍 In-person lecture | Open to all undergrads!
📆 Offered this Winter, meeting Tue 10am-1pm.

📥 Questions? Reach out to the Philosophy department—we’re happy to help you determine if this course is right for you!

12/11/2025

🧠✨ Ever wondered what consciousness actually is—and why it matters ethically?
From brain organoids to decision-making in clinical uncertainty, this course tackles the ethical puzzles at the intersection of neuroscience, philosophy, and bioethics.

PHLD09H3: Advanced Seminar in Bioethics – The Ethics of Consciousness
👨‍🏫 Instructor: Elliot Carter
📍 In-person
🗓️ Thursdays, 5–8 PM (Winter Term)

If you’re ready to think deeper and challenge assumptions, this course is for you. 👀

Prerequisite: 3.5 credits in PHL courses, including PHLC10H3 and 0.5 credit at the C-level.

📥 Questions? Reach out to the Philosophy department—we’re happy to help you determine if this course is right for you!

12/03/2025

✨ New Course Alert! ✨
Unlock a new perspective on power, identity, and representation with PHLC45: Advanced Topics in Africana Philosophy 👁️📚

📍 In-person | 🧑🏾‍🏫 Instructor: Miron J. Clay-Gilmore

Through a philosophical lens, this course introduces Black Male Studies—an emerging field that reexamines how historical and contemporary systems shape the lived experiences of Black men and boys.

Expect bold ideas. Critical conversations. New ways of seeing the world. 🌍

If you’re ready to challenge assumptions and expand your understanding of race, gender, and cultural narratives, this course is calling your name.

📆 Offered this Winter — Thursdays 1-4pm
👉🏽 Level up your perspective and join PHLC45 today!

📥Questions? Reach out to the Philosophy department—we’re happy to help you determine if this course is right for you!

11/28/2025

🔍 When is a statement neither provable nor disprovable?
Step into the world where proofs themselves become mathematical objects—and where logic gets seriously mind-bending.

🧠 PHLC51 – Symbolic Logic II
📍 In-person | 👨‍🏫 Instructor: Phil Kremer

✨ Take a gentle but powerful journey into Metalogic, exploring why certain conjectures are independent of entire theories. Connect proof theory and model theory, see how metalogic informs number theory and set theory, and finish with Gödel’s groundbreaking theorems about arithmetic.

Perfect for curious minds in CS, math, or philosophy who want to understand how we know what we can’t know.

📆 Offered this Winter — Fridays 12–3pm
📋Prerequisite: PHLB50H3 or CSCB36H3 or MATB24H3 or MATB43H3
📚Breadth Requirements: Quantitative Reasoning

👣 Come for the puzzles. Stay for the foundations of truth itself.

📥Questions? Reach out to the Philosophy department—we’re happy to help you determine if this course is right for you!

11/05/2025

💀 Why think about death?
Could understanding it be the key to living meaningfully?

✨ PHLC07: Death and Dying
📚 Instructor: Eric Mathison
🏛️ Lecture Mode: In-person

Explore the ethical and legal questions surrounding death and dying.
From defining what it means to die, to debating the ethics of medical assistance in dying, to asking whether death can harm us — this course tackles the biggest questions we face as humans.

🔍 Topics may include:
• The definition of death and the legal criteria for determining death
• The ethics of M.A.I.D.
• The relationship between death and having a meaningful life
• The possibility of surviving death

💬 If you’ve ever wondered about the boundary between life and death — and what it means for how we live — this is the course for you.

📋Prerequisite: Any 4.5 credits + an additional 1.5 PHL credits in PHL courses (0.5 credit must be from the Value Theory area of focus)

📥Questions? Reach out to the Philosophy department—we’re happy to help you determine if this course is right for you!

Address

1265 Military Trail
Toronto, ON
M1C1A4

Telephone

+14162082976

Website

https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/philosophy/

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