MLA-Philosophy

A study of the fundamental aspects of physical things insofar as they are things, and existent, to see whether they lead to a realm that is “beyond the physical” (“metaphysical”).

A second course in ethics with emphasis on the moral issues that arise in modern business life. Among issues to be considered are the role of profits, property rights, workers’ rights, fairness in hiring, truth-telling and whistle-blowing.

A study of being, nature, knowledge, man and the state, as developed by the pre- Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, the Stoics and Plotinus.

Medieval Philosophy A continuation of the study of classical philosophical problems from the Christian perspectives of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Anselm, St. Bonaventure and others, while also noting Islamic and Jewish influences.

A study of the rise of secular views of knowledge, ethics and politics, as discussed by such philosophers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Descartes, Locke, Rousseau and Hume.

A second course in ethics with emphasis on the moral issues that arise in modern health care. Issues to be discussed include patient autonomy, life issues, the right to refuse treatment and the right to health care.

A study of major approaches to dealing with the nature of mind, mental causation, mental content and consciousness.

(Traditional Logic) A practical study of the rules of correct reasoning, both inductive and deductive, together with analysis of the concept, the proposition and fallacies.

An evaluation of the historically significant political theories in the Western tradition: classical, medieval and modern.

A study of the teachings of some of the major philosophers, including St. Thomas Aquinas, concerning the existence and attributes of God and the consequences of theism and atheism in philosophy.

This course will be a required gateway course for the minor in Catholic Social Thought. It explores the Catholic philosophical pillars of the political and economic life in the Western tradition. The main topics are human nature, natural law, virtue, providence and salvation, common sense, and free-market. Authors discussed: Aristotle, Aquinas, Maritain, Novak, Weber. Students will be asked to apply this knowledge to contemporary public life.

This course aims to introduce students to the significant philosophical advances made in the past 150 years in the field of logic. Some of this material can be grouped under the rubric of symbolic logic, but this course will go beyond the field of mathematical logic by discussing theories of modal and tense logic, and, more generally, by discussing why 20th century philosophers see such formal logic as the most suitable tool for the discovery and development of logical truth.

A study of how we know, covering the kinds of knowledge, the role of the senses and the intellect, abstraction, intentionality and the challenge of various forms of skepticism. Spring, day.

A study of recent philosophical developments from Kant and Hegel to the existentialists and pragmatists. Fall, day.

A study of the relationship between faith and reason. Examines possible conflicts between what reason (or science) discovers and what faith believes. Considers classical, modern, and contemporary authors. Prerequisite: PHIL 2314 or 2316/3316

This course will study the thought of Karol Wojtyla, (Blessed John Paul II). The course will consider his poetic, dramatic, philosophical and theological works as they pertain to these themes: the dignity of the person, love and marriage, work and society, politics and human rights, the existence of God and humanism. Prerequisites: two/three course philosophy sequence.

This course will study the thought of the 17th century genius Blaise Pascal. In the course the Pensees will be examined closely; the student shall understand how Pascal addresses the question of the relationship of the human being to God in light of fundamental features of human existence.

The metaphysics of beauty and its role in the metaphysics of art; artistic creation and the work of art (form, medium, style); the experience of art and aesthetic appreciation. Selected writings and works of art. Fall, even years.

A study of the origins, development and doctrine of the Analytical Schools. Selected readings.

A critical study of the various versions of natural justice theory in historical perspective from the classical philosophers and jurists through the Christian conceptions of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Scotus and the Spanish scholastics up to the modern secular schools of natural right.

A study of the methods of science and the extent of scientific knowledge from classical cosmology through the Newtonian and Darwinian revolutions, with an assessment of more recent scientific achievements

Philosophical reflection on themes of good and evil, sin and grace; suffering and fortitutde; personal identity and authenticity; the human and the divine; time and eternity; love and death; fidelity and betrayal; the tragic and the comic. Exploration of these themes is carried out with the aid of enduring works of the imagination: novels, short stories and poetry. Close reading and discussion of texts such as The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky); Til We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis); Four Quartets (T.S. Eliot); The End of the Affair (Graham Greene); Wise Blood and selected short stories (Flannery O'Connor); Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh); The Moviegoer (Walker Percy); Go Down, Moses (William Faulkner) One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Solzhenitsyn). Prerequisite: PHIL 2314 or 2316/3316

Student research on a selected problem in the field, pursued under the guidance of an assigned member of the faculty.

Selected topics of mutual interest to the faculty member and students.