B.A. Course Descriptions
Phl
103
INTRODUCTION
TO PHILOSOPHY inquires what it is to ask a philosophical
question, to think philosophically, and how one learns to think in this way.
One studies how philosophy grows out of wonder and marveling; why it is
important for a fully human life; and what it can contribute to the development
of one’s faith. (Not for credit in philosophy major.)
(Humanities Core)
3
credit hours
Phl
113
PHILOSOPHY
OF THE HUMAN PERSON studies what it is to say that human beings are
persons and have freedom and subjectivity; the different powers of the human
person, including the powers of understanding, willing, feeling, and loving; the
difference between body and soul in human beings, and the unity of the two; and
the question of the immortality of the soul.
Some classic texts from the tradition of Western philosophy are read.
This is a particularly fundamental course that underlies many of the
other courses. (Humanities
Core)
3
credit hours
Phl
211
METAPHYSICS
begins by asking what metaphysical questions are.
One then poses selected metaphysical questions, such as what becoming is,
what time is, what goodness is, what it means for a thing to exist, what the
transcendental properties of being are, and, as the supreme question of
metaphysics, whether God exists. Some
classic texts from the tradition of Western philosophy are read. (Humanities Core)
3
credit hours
Phl
212
FOUNDATIONS
OF ETHICS
inquires into the significance of moral good and evil in the life of the human
person; into moral virtue and vice (or moral character); into moral obligation;
right and wrong actions; moral laws and the problem of exceptions; and the place
of conscience in the moral life. One
also studies the contemporary debate between consequentialist and deontological
ethics, and the claims of ethical relativism.
Some classic texts from the tradition of Western philosophy are read.
(Humanities Core)
3
credit hours
Phl 301
LOGIC
is studied not just as an instrument or technique, but as a part of philosophy
worthy of being studied in its own right. One
inquires into the nature and kinds of concepts and of propositions; the truth
and falsity of a proposition; the distinction between synthetic and analytic
propositions; syllogistic and other kinds of formal argument; informal
arguments; logical fallacies; and the attempt to mathematize logic.
One also studies the differences among Aristotelian, Hegelian,
empiricist, and other approaches to the issues of logic.
(Communications Core)
3
credit hours
Phl 306
EPISTEMOLOGY
inquires whether it is possible for the human mind to know anything as it really
is, and studies the philosophers who have affirmed and those who have
skeptically denied this possibility. One
inquires into the place of knowledge in the existence of the human person,
asking what it is about persons that enables them to know; one also inquires
into the social and historical conditions of knowing.
One proceeds to distinguish different kinds and degrees of knowledge, as
well as different sources of error. Attention
is given throughout to the role of the senses in knowing.
Classic texts from the tradition of Western philosophy are read.
3
credit hours
Phl 308
PHILOSOPHY
OF RELIGION
is to be distinguished from Phl 425 (Philosophy of God).
The philosophy of religion is an area of philosophy that has only
recently been recognized by philosophers. It
deals with religious experience and with revelation; with basic religious acts
such as faith or despair; with aspects of religious language; with the social
dimension of religious experience; with religious perversions, such as idolatry;
and with the religious needs and yearnings of the human person.
3
credit hours
Phl 310
SELECTED
PROBLEMS IN ETHICS studies not the foundational categories of ethics,
such as virtue or obligation, but rather very concrete ethical problems, such as
questions of sexual morality, abortion, surrogate motherhood, killing in
self-defense, a just war, or the nature of our responsibility for the
environment. The content of the
course will vary from semester to semester, according to the issues chosen by
the professor.
3
credit hours
Phl 311
ANCIENT
GREEK PHILOSOPHY
begins with the pre-Socratics and with Socrates and then studies, above all, the
thought of Plato and of Aristotle. The
main developments in the Hellenistic period, including Stoicism, Skepticism, and
Epicureanism are also introduced.
3
credit hours
Phl 312
MEDIEVAL
PHILOSOPHY
begins with Plotinus and Augustine and proceeds through Anselm, Bonaventura,
Aquinas, and Scotus, to the thinkers of the late Middle Ages.
3
credit hours
Phl 313
SELECTED
TOPICS IN FRANCISCAN PHILOSOPHY will focus on the thought of
Bonaventure, Scotus, Ockham, or other authors of the Franciscan School.
3
credit hours
Phl 315
RENAISSANCE
AND EARLY MODERN PHILOSOPHY begins where Phl 312 leaves
off, and covers the period from the end of the Middle Ages up to Hume and
Leibniz in the 18th century, excluding Kant.
It includes Descartes, Pascal, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, and Wolff.
3
credit hours
Phl 316
KANT
AND LATER MODERN PHILOSOPHY deals with the epoch-making philosophy of Kant
(1724-1804) and the main philosophers and schools of philosophy in the 19th
century, including Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.
3
credit hours
Phl 325
THE
THOMISTIC TRADITION IN PHILOSOPHY studies primarily the philosophy of St. Thomas
himself, whose life and times are reviewed, and who is studies through texts
representative of his work. One
also studies some of the main trends of subsequent Thomistic philosophy,
including some of the leading contemporary Thomists such as Gilson, Maritain,
Fabro, Lonergan, and Rahner.
3
credit hours
Phl
332
INTRODUCTION
TO EASTERN PHILOSOPHY surveys the major philosophical developments that
took place in antiquity and during the medieval period in the Moslem world, in
India, and in China. As Maritain
noted, a sound philosophical education today requires some exposure to the
contributions of the East. The
student’s grasp of Western philosophy will be strengthened through this course
since philosophical developments in India and in Greece have much in common.
3
credit hours
Phl
340
THE
FRANCISCAN TRADITION IN PHILOSOPHY starts with the life of St. Francis and the early
Franciscan movement, and then studies, above all, the thought of St.
Bonaventure, Blessed John Duns Scotus, and William of Ockham.
Then attention is drawn to recent thinkers whose work has been influenced
by, or resembles, the work of these three.
3
credit hours
Phl
411
AESTHETICS
studies first the metaphysics of beauty, which involves issues such as beauty
and being, beauty and good, and divine beauty.
Then one studies beauty in the fine arts, in literature, and in nature.
In addition, the place of beauty in the life of the human person is
studied. The course even includes questions that do not directly
concern beauty, such as the essence of the tragic and of the comic.
3
credit hours
Phl 422
PHILOSOPHY
OF COMMUNITY
asks what it means to say with Aristotle that man is a social animal, and then
studies how modern philosophies of intersubjectivity (Hegel, Scheler, Levinas,
von Hildebrand) have contributed to our understanding of the relation of each
person to others. One also inquires
into the structure of communities such as the family, the state, and mankind,
and also how the individual can participate in them in a manner appropriate to
his personhood.
3
credit hours
Phl
423
PHILOSOPHY
IN LITERATURE
studies the philosophical views expressed in works of literature such as The
Divine Comedy, Camus’ The Plague,
and Dostoevski’s Crime and Punishment,
examining these views in terms both of their assumption and their philosophical
implications. One studies the
difference between philosophical statement of truths and the distinctively
literary expression of them.
3
credit hours
Phl
424
PHILOSOPHY
OF SCIENCE
studies questions first raised by Aristotle in his Physics, such as questions regarding space, time, matter, and
number. One is also introduced to
the philosophical problems arising from contemporary science, such as from the
theory of relativity or the theory of evolution. The philosophical assumptions of some of the sciences are
explored. Questions of scientific
method are raised.
3
credit hours
Phl
425
PHILOSOPHY
OF GOD
inquires whether the existence of God can be proved and studies some of the main
attempts to prove it (including the cosmological, the teleological, the
ontological, and the moral proofs). One
studies the problem of speaking about God without anthropomorphism (that is,
speaking in such a way as not to reduce God to finite being).
One comes to grips with the main objections to traditional theism, such
as those of Kant and Hume, and those of process theology, and with the attempt
to disprove the existence of God on the basis of the evil in the world.
3
credit hours
Phl
426
PHILOSOPHY
OF LAW
studies the different orders of law, especially the natural moral law and the
positive law of the state, and their interrelations; this involves issues such
as justice, authority, the “is-ought” distinction, the common good, and
state punishment. Aquinas’ Treatise
on Law is typically read, as are modern authors such as Hegel, Kelsen, and
Reinach.
3
credit hours
Phl
430
PHILOSOPHICAL
TEXTS
studies closely some classics of philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic,
Aristotle’s Metaphysics, some part
of the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas,
Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, and
Husserl’s Logical Investigations.
Sometimes the seminar may center around several related texts.
The idea is to study the great works of philosophy in greater depth than
is normally possible when they are dealt with in other courses.
3
credit hours
Phl
432
PHILOSOPHY
OF LANGUAGE
inquires into what the meaning of a word is and into the kind of reality that
meaning has. One studies the
“performative” functions of language, which philosophers have only recently
noticed, and also the emotive and prescriptive force of language. One is introduced to recent philosophical studies of grammar
and also to the question of function of language in religion. One
inquires into the place of language in the existence of persons, asking whether
language is only an instrument of communication and action, or a realm in which
the human person dwells.
3
credit hours
Phl
434
THESIS
requires one to write a major paper not only of research but also, and even
primarily, of analysis and reflection. This
project is carried out under the direction of a professor and in discussion with
other students. Open to non-majors.
1
credit hour