As early as 1665, philosophy, viewed as the handmaiden of theology, was taught in Quebec at the Jesuit College there and included studies in physics, metaphysics and ethics as well as the works of St. Thomas Aquinas (1224–1274).
This reaction initially took the form of an objection to, and refutation of these "unsettling" ideas, adopted by other thinkers, such as Pierre du Calvet.
This development was both inspired by and coincident with the publication in 1931 of the papal pronouncement, Deus Scientarium, which sought to mobilize science as the basis of faith.
Of particular note during middle years of the twentieth century was the work of one of Canada's greatest scholars, Harold Innis, of the University of Toronto.
Although usually considered an economist and social scientist, his work also reflects an important number of philosophical concepts related to economics and communications.
The first full professorships in physics as distinct from natural philosophy were established at Dalhousie, Halifax, in 1879, Toronto, 1887 and McGill, in Montreal in 1890.
However, by the end of the century psychology was still considered an adjunct to philosophy, not a subject of importance per se, but rather a prerequisite for the advanced study of ethics and metaphysics.
The First World War had an important positive effect on the discipline which was recognized for its use in the fields of personnel selection, training and the post-war rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.
In the years following World War I, the number of staff at the U of T increased to seven and important research was undertaken by Dr. E. A. Bott relating to the rehabilitation of soldiers with muscular disabilities.
During this period Hans Selye undertook fundamental studies of stress which cut across the boundaries of medical research, biology and psychology.
The discipline of sociology evolved from the ideas of philosophers Auguste Comte and Émile Durkheim in France in the nineteenth century.
Important work in this area has been done in Canada, particularly at the Centre for Cognitive Science at the University of Western Ontario by, Patricia and Paul Churchland, Zenon Pylyshyn, and Ausonio Marras in the early eighties.
Zenon Pylyshyn a psychologist and computer scientist at the University of Western Ontario from 1964 to 1994, has made significant contributions to cognitive science.
Other Canadian-born and educated cognitive scientists have made their mark in the US, including David Kirsh, John Robert Anderson, Keith Holyoak, and Steven Pinker.
Canadian philosophers in the postwar era have attempted, in a number of ways, to resolve these conflicts and to legitimize religious belief.
Others, including Lionel Rubinoff, have emphasized the importance of placing our scientific view of the world in a larger human context.
Some, inspired by St. Thomas Aquinas, include Bernard Lonergan (1952), Louis-Marie Régis (1959), Joseph Owens (1968), Jean-Louis Allard (1979, 1982), and Lawrence Dewan, OP.
Those following this approach within the analytic tradition include Kai Nielsen, Donald Evans (1963), Terence Penelhum (1970), Alistair M. Macleod (1973), and Jay Newman (1986).
Phenomenology has also played a role, as seen in the work of Emil Fackenheim (1961), Benoit Pruche (1977–1980), René l'Ecuyer (1980), Jacques Croteau (1981), Cyril Welch (1982), Gary Madison (1988), Hendrik Hart (1990), Jean Grondin (1995), and Thomas De Koninck (1995).
Research has been undertaken by a large number of individuals including Francis Sparshott, Kai Nielsen, David Braybrooke, Jonathan Bennett, Gerald Cohen, Donald Brown, Daniel Weinstock, William Sweet, Charles Taylor.
Emil Fackenheim, Kenneth L. Schmitz, Graeme Nicholson, and others made the University of Toronto an international centre for the study of these approaches to philosophical inquiry.