Contract Instructor Opportunities for Summer 2021
Note: The University may require that all or part of these courses be delivered remotely, including online.
Pursuant to Article 16 of the CUPE 4600 Unit 2 Collective Agreement, applications are invited from members of the CUPE 4600-2 bargaining unit and other interested persons to teach the following Philosophy courses during the Summer 2021 term:
PHIL 1301 [0.5 credit]: Mind, World and Knowledge
Scheduled early summer semester (May/June); Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
The aim of this course is to introduce students to philosophical inquiry and argumentation applied to a number of central problems of epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind/language/psychology. Thus, questions concerning the nature of knowledge, minds, persons, language, and the external world will be explored. Among the issues to be considered are the following: What conditions must be satisfied, for example, if a person is to know something? How can we respond to skeptics who insist that genuine knowledge is impossible? How does the mind relate to the body and the external world? Does the mind differ from the body? How can we know that others have minds and are not complex robots? Do we know ourselves in a privileged way? What make humans so different from primates and other “advanced” species? What does thinking consist in? Can we think without language? How do we acquire language? Do we have innate ideas/concepts or do we acquire all of them through experience? Do we need to posit a designer/creator (e.g. God) to deal with these questions? Can scientific discoveries (e.g. in neurosciences) help shape the answers to these questions? Historical and contemporary readings may be combined, but this course should prepare students to succeed in 2000-level courses in contemporary analytical philosophy of mind and contemporary analytical philosophy of language, while remaining interesting and accessible to students who will not take more philosophy.
The University may require that all or part of this course be delivered remotely, including online.
PHIL 1550 [0.5 credit]: Introduction to Ethics and Social Issues
Scheduled in late summer session (July/August), Mondays and Wednesdays, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the nature and practice of ethics and social philosophy by looking at some important ethical and social problems and issues that are prominent in the contemporary world. Typical questions might abortion, affirmative action, racism, human rights, children’s rights, world hunger, capital punishment, euthanasia, censorship, pornography, legal paternalism, animal rights and environmental protection. Students will learn some of the main positions that have been taken on these issues, along with prominent arguments that have been offered for and against these different positions. The goal of the course is to stimulate students’ thinking about the chosen questions and provoke them to form views about them. The objective is not merely for them to understand how philosophers and others have answered these questions, but to understand and evaluate their arguments, recognizing their strengths and weaknesses, possibly trying to improve upon them. Students should be encouraged to formulate their own arguments and defend them, as far as they are able. Students will also learn prominent moral theories that are relevant to those arguments and issues.
The University may require that all or part of this course be delivered remotely, including online.
PHIL 2001 [0.5 credit]: Introduction to Logic
Scheduled in late summer session (July/August), Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
An introduction to the techniques and philosophical implications of propositional and predicate logic with emphasis on translation of expressions into symbolic form, testing for logical correctness, the formulation and application of rules of inference, and the relation between logic and language. While the course will be accessible to students with non-philosophical backgrounds, the textbook and assignments will provide students with basic knowledge of propositional and predicate logic that are assumed by higher-level courses in philosophy.
The University may require that all or part of this course be delivered remotely, including online.
PHIL 2201 [0.5 credit]: Introduction to Marxist Philosophy
Scheduled in early summer session (May/June), Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30 am – 2:30 pm
The evolution of Marx’s social and political views in the setting of 18th – and 19th – century anarchism, liberalism and conservatism. Themes of humanism, freedom, rights, the state, democracy, alienation, and inequality, primarily as they develop into the theory of historical materialism.
The University may require that all or part of this course be delivered remotely, including online.
PHIL 2405 [0.5 credit]: Philosophy of the Paranormal
Scheduled in late summer session (July/August), Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Examination of claims, concepts, theories and methods in parapsychology. Their scientific character and the relation of paranormal phenomena to philosophical issues such as survival of death, human nature, time, space, causality and perception.
The University may require that all or part of this course be delivered remotely, including online.
Application Procedures and Deadlines
Required Professional Qualifications: MA Degree in the appropriate field.
Closing Date and Time: Monday, January 18th, 2021, 11:59 pm.
All applicants must apply electronically to the Department Head, clearly stating which courses they are applying for:
Professor Annie Larivée
Chair, Department of Philosophy
c/o sandra.kirkpatrick@carleton.ca
As per Article 15.3 of the current CUPE 4600 Unit 2 Collective Agreement, applicants are required to submit an up to date CV, including a complete listing of all courses taught within the CUPE 4600 Unit 2 bargaining unit at Carleton University. Candidates who have already contacted the department and submitted a CV recently need only indicate their interest in particular courses. NOTE that when applying to classes for which they have incumbency, applicants shall not be required to (re)submit documentation beyond their updated CV.
Pre-Posting Hiring Decisions:
The following courses have been assigned to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, or visiting scholars. These courses are not open for applications but the department will contact the most senior incumbent to review their rights under Article 17.6 of the CUPE 4600-2 Collective Agreement:
- N/A for Summer 2021
A note to all applicants: As per Articles 16.3 and 16.4 in the CUPE 4600-2 Collective Agreement, the posted vacancies listed above are first offered to applicants meeting the incumbency criterion. A link to the current CUPE 4600-2 Collective Agreement can be found at the Academic Staff Agreements webpage on the Carleton University Human Resources website http://carleton.ca/hr/collective-agreements/academic-staffing-agreements/ and the CUPE 4600-2 website http://4600.cupe.ca/