Master of Arts Course Descriptions

PHL 611     Aesthetics                                                       3 credits

One studies first the metaphysics of beauty, which involves issues such as beauty and being, beauty and good, divine beauty.  Then one studies beauty in the fine arts, in literature, and in nature as well as the place of beauty in the life of the human person.  The course also includes questions that do not directly concern beauty, such as the essence of the tragic and of the comic.

PHL 622     Philosophy of Community                              3 credits

One 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, mankind, and also how the individual can participate in these communities in a manner appropriate to their personhood.

PHL 624     Philosophy of Science                                   3 credits

One studies questions first raised by Aristotle in his Physics, such as the 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.

PHL 625     Philosophy of God                                          3 credits

One 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 problems of speaking about God without anthropomorphism (that is, speaking in such a way as not to reduce God to a 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.

PHL 626     Philosophy of Law                                         3 credits

One 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.

PHL 632     Philosophy of Language                                3 credits

One inquires into what the meaning of a word is, and into he kind of reality which meaning has.  One studies the “performative” functions of language that 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 function of language in religion.  One inquires into the place of language in the existence of person, asking whether language is only an instrument of communication and action, or a real in which the human person dwells.

PHL 710     Philosophical Texts from                               3 credits
Ancient and Medieval Philosophy

One studies closely some classic of ancient or medieval philosophy, such as Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Metaphysics, St. Augustine’s De Trinitate, the works of St. Anselm, some part of the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas, or some major work in the Franciscan tradition.  The intent is to study the great works of philosophy more seriously than is possible when they are dealt with in other courses.  This closer textual study will enable the students to deepen their understanding of the philosophical tradition in which they stand.  This course can be taken more than once, since its content will vary from semester to semester (if taken a second time it would be taken as an elective).

PHL 720     Philosophical Texts from Modern                     3 credits
& Contemporary Philosophy

One studies closely some classic of modern or contemporary philosophy, such as Descartes’ Meditations, Kant’s Critiques, the works of Nietzsche, Husserl’s Logical Investigations, Sartre’s Being and Nothingness, Scheler’s Formalism in Ethics, Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, Maritain’s Degrees of Knowing, or Longergan’s Insight.  The intent is to appropriate critically the philosophical tradition in which we stand.  This course can be taken more than once, since its content will vary from semester to semester (if taken a second time it would be taken as an elective).

PHL 730     Movements in the History                               3 credits
of Philosophy

One studies not some main period of philosophy, such as the medieval period, but some movement or school of thought, such as neo-Platonic philosophy, the impact of Christian revelation on philosophy, Augustinian philosophy, Franciscan medieval philosophy, Thomistic philosophy, German Idealism, phenomenology, Anglo-American analytic philosophy, the problem of subjectivity in modern thought, or the reception of the concept of the person in Buddhist and Hindu thought.  The idea is to introduce the student to more serious historical study by means of a close study of some particularly significant phase in the history of philosophy.  This course can be taken more than once, since its content will vary from semester to semester (if taken a second time it would be taken as an elective).

PHL 810     Philosophy of the Human Person             3 credits

One studies the nature and destiny of man with special reference to the personhood of human beings.  What does it mean to exist as a person?  What is personal identity?  Personal subjectivity?  Intersubjectivity?  One also studies the different powers of the human person, including the powers of understanding, willing, feeling, and loving; also the difference between body and soul in man, and the unity of the two; and the religious transcendence of the person.

PHL 820     Metaphysics                                         3 credits

One 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 area, and, as the supreme question of metaphysics, whether God exists.  One gives special attention to “personal being” as a metaphysical category.

PHL 830     Epistemology                                       3 credits

One 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; also 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 the course to the role of the senses in knowing.

PHL 840     Ethics                                                   3 credits

One 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; 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.  One gives throughout special attention to the claims of ethical personalism.

PHL 850     Issues in the Philosophy                               3 credits
of the Person

One studies some particular issue in philosophical anthropology, such as the difference between man and woman, the embodiment of the human person and the problem of dualism, the distinction between person and nature in man, the relation between intellect and will, the subjectivity of the human person, the question of a “fundamental option” at the basis of human freedom; or some fundamental act of the human person, such as love or despair; or the impact of Trinitarian, Christological, and other doctrines on the philosophical understanding of personhood.  This course is of special emphasis in developing the personalist emphasis of the program.  It can be taken more than once, since its content will vary from semester to semester.

PHL 860     Problems of Ethics                                       3 credits

One studies not the foundational categories of ethics, such as virtue or obligation (these issues belong to PHL 840 Ethics), but rather concrete ethical questions, such as questions of sexual ethics, bioethics, social ethics, environmental ethics, etc.  One makes a point of approaching these issues on the basis of the philosophy of the person, and thus of developing a personalist approach to them.  This course can be taken more than once, since its content will vary from semester to semester.

PHL 910     Thesis Research                                             6 credits

A thesis of 45 to 75 pages, which is to be orally defended, is required of all M.A. Philosophy students.  The permission of the Director of M.A. Philosophy is needed in order to enroll in PHL 910.  Students should consult the Director of M.A. Philosophy for further information regarding the conditions that must be met before they can enroll in Thesis Research.

PHL 999     Thesis Extension                                             0 credits

Registration for this optional non-credited course indicates that the student is involved in studies necessary for the completion of the M.A. degree in philosophy.  At the end of each extension period the student must demonstrate progress toward the completion of the thesis.  Master’s students are allowed to register for PHL 999 no more than two (2) times.  A matriculation fee is required.  This fee entitles the student to the use of the library and other basic services.