Course Descriptions
PH 10 Introduction to Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval
The aim of this course is to introduce the student to great philosophers of the classical and medieval periods, and through them to the discipline of philosophy in general.
3 credits
PH 150 Modern Philosophy
This course serves to introduce the student to the philosophy and methods of philosophers from the 17th century to the present through a study of the writings of such philosophers as Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Tocqueville, Nietzsche, and James. The readings focus on issues in methodology, epistemology, metaphysics, and politics.
3 credits
PH 151 Nature and Mind in Modern Philosophy
This course deals with the subject of nature and its relation to human knowledge and purposes, first through a detailed study of Francis Bacon's and Rene Descartes's philosophies, then through a series of selected readings from rationalist and empiricist philosophers from the 17th century to the present.
3 credits
PH 153 Existentialism and its Modern Background
This course explores the basic themes and ideas of existentialism by relating them to their background in European culture and philosophy. Special attention will be given to the thoughts of Descartes, Pascal, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.
3 credits
PH 155 Philosophy of Science
A survey of the philosophic background against which contemporary discussions of philosophy of science must inevitably take place with emphasis on contemporary discussions of both natural and social science. Special attention will be given to the "contextuality" of scientific knowledge.
3 credits
PH 156 Ethical Theory
The course offers a general discussion of the nature of ethics or "moral philosophy" and a comparative study of the various schools of ethical theory. The course will consider such themes as freedom, conscience, the nature of the good, and responsibility.
3 credits
PH 157 Descartes, Pascal, and Hume: Three Philosophical Enemies
This course considers why Descartes is called "The Father of Modern Philosophy," the grounds on which Pascal repudiates Descartes's philosophy, and Hume's simultaneous hostility and indebtedness to Descartes.
3 credits
PH 161 Revolution and Reaction in the 17th Century
An examination of two powerful modern thinkers, Bacon and Descartes, who both argue for scientific inquiry as the instrument of human salvation; and an examination of Pascal's warnings that a salvation so come by condemns people to illusion.
3 credits
PH 203 Logic
This course is designed to provide a basic acquaintance with prevailing systems and methods of logic, notably traditional (Aristotelian) and modern (standard mathematical) logics.
3 credits
PH 206 20th Century Philosophy
This course presents a coherent picture of the main currents of contemporary philosophy in both the Western and the non-Western tradition: Phenomenology and Existentialism, Pragmatism and Analytic Philosophy, Marxism and Dialectic Materialism, and Philosophy of History and Culture.
3 credits
PH 207 Aesthetics
A study of aesthetic experience and an examination of concepts like imitation, expression, and psychic distance; a consideration of the relationships among the various arts, and an exploration of the role of art in life.
3 credits
PH 209 Augustine and the Augustinian Tradition
This course will take as its focus the rich and enduring philosophical synthesis of the bishop of Hippo as compared and/or contrasted with a later philosopher who was subject to his influence. Included could be such figures as Bonaventure, Aquinas, Descartes, Pascal, and Camus.
3 credits
PH 211 Epistemology
What is the difference between knowledge and mere belief or opinion? What do we really know, and how do we know it? Epistemology--the study of knowledge--is the branch of philosophy concerned with such questions. The course will explore epistemological issues through an examination of some of the important contributions to the field.
3 credits
PH 212 Political Philosophy: Plato to Machiavelli
This course will consider the evolution of political thinking from the Golden Age of Athenian democracy to the dawn of the modern period. It will take as its focus the changing views of the body politic from Plato through Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and Marsilius, to Renaissance thinkers like More and Machiavelli.
3 credits
PH 213 Neoplatonism
This course will examine the rich and influential Platonic tradition from Plotinus, Augustine, and Boethius, through its medieval representatives, to the reestablishment of the Academy in the Renaissance.
3 credits
PH 214 The Problem of God
This course will study the problem of the existence of God, including the metaphysical and epistemological issues entailed therein, as developed by such thinkers as Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Kant, Kierkegaard, and James.
3 credits
PH 215 Metaphysics
This course concerns itself with being as being and our knowledge of being; its aim is to develop in the student's mind an operative habit of viewing reality in its ultimate context.
3 credits
PH 217 Mysticism and Western Philosophy
This course will study and compare the sometimes conflicting, sometimes complementary traditions in the history of Western thought: the intellective and the affective or mystical. The one stresses the ability of the reason to know, even something of the divine; the other abandons the reason for the "one thing necessary." Among the philosophers to be read are Plotinus, Augustine, PseudoDionysius, Bernard, Bonaventure, Thomas d'Aquino, Eckhart, and Dante.
3 credits
PH 218 History of Medieval Philosophy
This course offers a review of the development of philosophy in the Latin West, including the Arab and Jewish traditions, from Augustine to Francis Suarez. The most significant thinkers of this period will be examined textually.
3 credits
PH 219 Aquinas
This course will focus its attention on Aquinas' Summa Contra Gentiles, a work at once more philosophical and more personal than the later and better known Summa Theologiae. The SCG exemplifies the Christian intellectual reaction to Arabian Aristotelianism and at the same time bears witness to Thomas' belief in the unity of truth. Such questions as the existence and attributes of God, the nature and powers of the human composite, immortality, the human act, good and evil, man's felicity, providence and freedom, natural law, and the virtues will be examined and analyzed.
3 credits
PH 220 Francis Bacon
A study of Francis Bacon's philosophy--a philosophy concerned in the main with nature and with the natural sciences as the chief human means of coming to grips with nature--and an inquiry as to how far modern science has progressed in putting Bacon's philosophy into operation.
3 credits
PH 225 The Question of Religion
Nineteenth and twentieth-century continental philosophy calls into question the traditional understanding of religion, God, transcendence, incarnation, sacrifice, responsibility, evil, and ritual. This course explores the transformation of the traditional understanding of these ideas in the wake of thinkers such as Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Bataille, Lacan, Levinas, Girard, Nancy, Derrida, and Marion.
3 credits
PH 230 Sartre and Heidegger
A critical examination of Sartre's "Being and Nothingness" and Heidegger's "Sein and Zeit." Such existential notions as "freedom, bad faith, nothingness, facticity" will be examined.
3 credits
PH 231 Hume
The main goal of this course is to come to an in-depth under-standing of the philosophy of David Hume. Hume is one of the most interesting (and influential) of the 18th century philosophers, making major contributions to our understanding of causation, morality, and the mind, to name just a few. Hume began with principles that seem quite plausible, but taking these ideas to their logical conclusions, he arrives at a philosophy that is, to say the least, surprising.
3 credits
PH 232 Nietzsche and Kierkegaard
This course concentrates on the major writings and central insights of the two thinkers. It attempts, also, to determine and evaluate their contributions to the development of contemporary existentialism and to current radical thinking about God and morality.
3 credits
PH 233 Introduction to Oriental Philosophy
A coherently developed account of the salient features of the two philosophical traditions of China and India as contrasted with each other and with the Western tradition.
3 credits
PH 235 Immanuel Kant
An inquiry into the major metaphysical, epistemological and ethical themes developed by this revolutionary and important German philosopher. The course will include a survey of the influences of Kant and his influence on subsequent philosophy.
3 credits
PH 236 Plato
This course will be concerned with central ontological and epistemological themes in selected early, middle, and late Platonic dialogues. Particular attention will be given to Plato's inclination to identify virtue with knowledge.
3 credits
PH 237 Aristotle
An introduction to Aristotle through a selection of his works. An exploration of their relation to other works, their place in the scheme of the sciences, and a thorough investigation of their subject matter.
3 credits
PH 250 Philosophy of Mind
The main goal of this course is to acquaint the student with the most recent philosophical theories on the workings of the mind. Although the emphasis is on philosophical theories of the mind, we also pay close attention to the philosophical implications of recent research in sciences such as psychology and neuroscience. It is an exciting topic; join us on this quest to address the delphic dictum: Know Thyself!
3 credits
PH 264 Philosophical Theories of Pleasure and Pain
The goal of this course is to acquaint the student with the great variety of philosophical attempts to make definitive statements about the roles of pleasure and pain in human experience. Readings will be drawn from the works of philosophical authors both ancient and modern, and as well from the works of certain modern short story writers.
3 credits
PH 280 Heidegger
This course explores the work of Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. The course primarily takes the form of a close reading of Being and Time (1927) and The Origin of the Work of Art (1936). The hinge around which the course turns is Derrida’s reading of Heidegger’s existential analysis of death.
3 credits
PH 281 Phenomenology
Many basic problems arise because we lack a clear view of our own experience. Phenomenology attempts to give us unimpeded access to our intellectual presuppositions. This course includes a general survey of the foundations and prospects of phenomenology as a discipline. It focuses on the phenomenology of perception as taught by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and the phenomenology of the emotions and of the moral life as taught by Max Scheler.
3 credits
PH 283 Ethical Theories in America
This course is a study of the growth and development of ethical theory in America. America's first philosophers, Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson et al, distinguished their philosophies in terms of religious, political, and social values. This ethical stance became a tradition in America. This tradition will be examined in the writings of representative American philosophers.
3 credits
PH 285 Philosophy of Literature
An examination of the philosophy "of" literature (the general nature of poetry and prose) and philosophy "in" literature (specific works that harbor philosophical ideas).
3 credits
PH 286 Philosophy and Tragedy
This course explores various works on tragedy (by, for example, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, Lacan, Derrida, and Irigaray), which are read alongside various tragedies (such as Sophocles' Oedipus the King and Antigone, and Shakespeare’s Hamlet).
3 credits
PH 287 Philosophy of Religion
An inquiry into the nature of religion in general from the philosophical point of view, i.e., an inquiry employing the tools of critical analysis and evaluation without a predisposition to defend or reject the claims of any particular religion.
3 credits
PH 288 Social and Political Philosophy
An analysis of the writings of leading social and political thinkers, with special consideration of the movements of protest and dissent.
3 credits
PH 289 Philosophy of Law
An examination of the major questions of legal philosophy, the nature of legal rights and legal duties, the definition of law, and the grounds of legal authority.
3 credits
PH 291 Field Being
The emergence of the field concept of being and its closely allied 'non-substantialistic turn' is the one common thread running through the whole spectrum of twentieth century thought. This course is an attempt to explore the multi-dimensional character of this exciting intellectual phenomenon from a global physiological perspective, through an in-depth articulation of the basic concepts of field-being thinking and its applications in contemporary science and philosophy.
3 credits
PH 293 The Concept of Human Rights
Bosnia, Somalia, Guatemala, the Holocaust - the notion of human rights and accusations of human rights violations are a constant presence both in our political environment and in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy. This course follows the emergence of this concept from the political and ethical thought of the Greeks, to the Enlightenment, to the explicit formulation of 'human rights' in the twentieth century as a guiding principle of international relations.
3 credits
PH 294 American Philosophy
The origin and development of the American philosophical tradition and its culmination in Pragmatism. The relation of philosophical ideas in America to literature, religion, and politics. Major emphasis is given to the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey.
3 credits
PH 295 19th Century Philosophy
This course is a study of the representative philosophers of the 19th century--notably Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schleiermacher, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Marx.
3 credits
PH 297 Evil
This course explores the problem of evil from the perspectives of theology and philosophy. The course considers God and evil, classical theodicies (reasonable justifications of God before the prevalence of evil), modern philosophical accounts of evil, social evil, and the possibility of belief in the face of evil. Within the context of these subjects, the course addresses the following questions: What is evil? What are the roots of evil? What effect does one's understanding of evil have on one's understanding of the human being, of God, and of religion? What is our responsibility in the face of evil?
3 credits
PH 298 Senior Essay
Philosophy major seniors may opt for a senior essay rather than take a particular three-credit course.
3 credits | 
