Introduction

  • If you would like to learn more about why you should study philosophy, you can read this page first.
  • Introductory courses – The department offers two general introductory courses in philosophy (PHIL1012 and PHIL1034). There are no prerequisites. These courses will normally be offered every year in different semesters. This is a requirement for all philosophy majors and minors. Normally they should be taken in either the first or second year of study. These two courses are also strongly recommended for students who do not intend to major or minor in philosophy.
  • PHIL1068 is an introduction to formal logic. It is suitable for students of all levels.
  • All senior-level courses (except the capstone courses) fall into one of four groups according to their main focus. Philosophy majors are strongly encouraged (but not required) to take courses from each of these groups to ensure that they are exposed to a wide range of philosophical ideas.
    • Group 1: Knowledge and reality
    • Group 2: Mind and language
    • Group 3: Moral and political philosophy
    • Group 4: History of philosophy
  • Philosophy majors are also required to take a capstone course. See this page.
  • Some courses listed below are marked with [*]. These are intermediate-level “survey” courses which are particularly suitable for second and third-year students, or students with very little background in philosophy.
  • For course descriptions, see the official syllabus on the Arts Faculty website.

Major in Philosophy (72 credits)

  • Students wishing to major in Philosophy must complete 72 credits of courses, including:
    • Either PHIL1012 or PHIL1034 (6 credits);
    • 12 credits of introductory courses taken from any Arts programme(s), which may include additional credits in 1000-level Philosophy courses;
    • 54 credits of Philosophy courses from among those at the 2000-, 3000-, and 4000-levels, including PHIL3920 or PHIL4810 or PHIL4920 (capstone experience).

Minor in Philosophy (36 credits)

  • Students wishing to minor in Philosophy must complete 36 credits of courses, including:
    • Either PHIL1012 or PHIL1034 (6 credits);
    • 30 credits of Philosophy courses from among those at the 2000- and 3000-levels

List of courses

  • All courses are one-semester courses worth 6 credit units unless stated otherwise.
  • Timetable 2025-26

Semester 1

  • PHIL1012 Mind and Knowledge: An Introduction to Philosophy – Prof. Deutsch
  • PHIL2002 Early Modern Philosophy – Prof. Johnson
  • PHIL2015 Classical Indian Philosophy – Dr. Chaturvedi
  • PHIL2080 Marxist Philosophy – Dr. Chin
  • PHIL2120 Topics in analytic philosophy – Dr. Lam
  • PHIL2130 Philosophy of Science – Dr. Kwok
  • PHIL2210 Metaphysics – Dr. Lam
  • PHIL2220 The Mind – Dr. Kwok
  • PHIL2360 Political Philosophy – Dr. Chin
  • PHIL2390 Philosophy of Religion – Dr. Johnson
  • PHIL2530 Metaphilosophy – Dr. Chow
  • PHIL2655 Philosophy of Perception – Dr. Kwok
  • PHIL2802 Philosophy of Economics – Dr. Feng
  • Common core: CCHU9021 Critical thinking in Contemporary Society – Dr. Chin
  • Common core: CCHU9005 Food and values – Dr. Lam
  • Common core: CCAI9003 AI Safety: Catastrophe, Alignment, and Governance – Prof. Goldstein
  • Common core: CCAI9004 AI, Achievement and Flourishing – Prof. Sharadin

Semester 2

  • PHIL1034 Ethics and Politics, East and West: An Introduction to Philosophy – Prof. Wong
  • PHIL1068 Elementary Logic – Prof. Nado
  • PHIL2000 Tools for Philosophers – TBC
  • PHIL2060 Wittgenstein – Dr. Lam
  • PHIL2075 The semantics/pragmatics distinction – Prof. Sterken
  • PHIL2110 Knowledge – Dr. Kwok
  • PHIL2140 Philosophy of Social science – Dr. Ying
  • PHIL2260 Seminar in Mind and Language – TBC
  • PHIL2318 Virtue ethics – Dr. Chin
  • PHIL2320 Happiness – Dr. Johnson
  • PHIL2340 Moral Problems – Prof. Wong
  • PHIL2369 Environmental philosophy – Dr. Lam
  • PHIL2375 Philosophy of Art – Dr. Kwok
  • PHIL2511 Paradoxes – Prof. Lau
  • PHIL2610 Philosophy of Language – Dr. Johnson
  • Common core: CCHU9021 Critical thinking in Contemporary Society – Dr. Chin
  • Common core: CCHU9051 Mysteries of the Human Mind – Prof. Chaturvedi
  • Common core: CCAI9002 Thinking Machines – Prof. Cappelen & Dr. Ye
  • Common core: CCAI9014 Governing AI: Crime, Punishment and Responsibility – Dr. Wong
  • Common core: CCAI9015 Living the Political life through AI – Dr. Donahue

Capstone courses

  • Please see this page. PHIL4810 will be taught by Prof. Nado

Course in previous years