Philosophy (PHL)
PHL 101 Human Person (3 credits)
An inquiry into the concept of personhood distinctive of the Jesuit, Catholic tradition through an understanding of a philosophical problem concerning human beings as rational, social, biological, historical, aesthetic, or spiritual beings.
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to Undergraduate Day Division level students.
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 150 First Year Seminar (3 credits)
Various first-year seminars are offered each year by philosophy faculty.
Attributes: First-Year Seminar, Undergraduate
PHL 154 Moral Foundations (3 credits)
A critical study of the various ways in which agents, actions, and social practices are evaluated from the moral point of view, as this has been articulated in major Western ethical theories. Tools for this study include an introduction to philosophical reasoning and concepts basic to the moral point of view, such as rights, duties, virtue and character. Theories studied include but are not limited to Consequentialism, Deontologism, and Natural Law. Satisfies the GEP Jesuit tradition course requirement.
Attributes: Signature Course, Undergraduate
PHL 170 Special Topics in Philosophy (3 credits)
Topics will vary according to the semester in which the class is offered.
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 201 Knowledge and Existence (3 credits)
Three basic problems concerning reality and the quest to know reality: 1) the origin, validity, and limits of human knowledge; 2) Graeco-Christian, modern, and contemporary approaches to being and causality; and 3) the problem of God. Does not satisfy the GEP variable course requirement in the Philosophical Anthropology area.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 210 Logic and the Law (3 credits)
The course is designed to develop reasoning skills that are useful for law school preparation, law school itself, and the legal profession. It will begin by introducing fundamental concepts in informal logic-included will be a review of validity and soundness and a variety of deductive forms. We will then discuss strategies for evidential reasoning and fundamental concepts in formal propositional and predicate logic. After establishing this background, we will apply it to the sorts of reasoning questions that appear on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). At the end of the course, we will examine Supreme Court or other prominent legal cases and issues in the philosophy of law, analyzing the arguments involved using the skills that have been honed throughout the semester.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 220 Logic (3 credits)
A study of the logic of ordinary language: the functions of language, forms of argument, fallacies, definition; analysis of propositions and deductive reasoning; inductive reasoning, analogy and scientific hypothesis testing. An introduction to symbolic logic is provided. Techniques are developed for translating arguments in ordinary language into a canonical language that highlights their logical form. The predicate and propositional calculi are used to establish the validity of simple arguments. Does not fulfill the philosophy GEP.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 240 Symbolic Logic (3 credits)
The study of the semantic and syntactic properties of propositional and predicate logics- natural deduction systems of the first order. Some results in meta-logic (such as the soundness and completeness proofs for particular systems) may be addressed, and attention may also be paid to the properties of axiomatic deductive systems in contrast to systems of natural deduction. The usefulness of formal systems for studying the property of validity in natural language arguments will also be addressed, in part by learning techniques for "translating" arguments from one language to the other. Does not fulfill the philosophy GEP.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 250 Philosophy of Death (3 credits)
A study of the reality of death as the boundary of human experience. The course explores the meaning of death and its relationship to the meaning of life, examines evidence for and against the thesis that death is the end of human existence, and considers implications for selected contemporary issues (e.g., death with dignity, medical definition of death).
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 252 Philosophy of Karl Marx (3 credits)
This course focuses on the thought and philosophical legacy of the influential but easily misunderstood nineteenth-century German philosopher, economist, and political theorist Karl Marx. Essential themes and ideas include: alienation, species-being, dialectic, historical materialism, class struggle, exploitation, ideology critique, and capitalism and its alternatives. Students will read and critically engage Marx's own writings, but attention may also be paid to philosophers working in the Marxist tradition (e.g., analytic Marxism and Frankfurt School critical theory) as well as to critics of Marx and Marxism.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Diversity Course, Faith Justice Course, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 256 Freedom and Determinism (3 credits)
A metaphysical and epistemological analysis and evaluation of the various philosophical positions on the determinism-free will issue. Various kinds of determinism (hard, soft, theological, etc.) will be critically examined, and various ways of arguing in support of free-will (from choice, deliberation, remorse, etc.) will be assessed.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Justice Ethics and the Law , Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 258 The Authentic Self (3 credits)
This course will center on careful textual study of primary sources in philosophy that deal with these questions "What is the human being? What does it mean to be a Self?, Who am I?, and What is personal identity?" These questions about anthropology outline the original field of philosophy because they also include metaphysics, morals, and religion. A key element that will emerge is the role of rationality, of will, and of desire. This is related to the question of freedom, not just the theoretical freedom of the will, but the necessity to make a specific act of the will, namely to will to be one's authentic Self. Focus on works of Plato, Augustine, Descartes, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Husserl, and Charles Taylor.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 260 Philosophy of Human Nature (3 credits)
In this course we shall inquire into the nature of human beings by reading and discussing major philosophical texts from the western intellectual tradition along with essays written by contemporary philosophers. In particular we shall explore such topics as the nature of human rationality, knowledge and belief, immortality, virtue, free will, self-deception, the mind-body problem, and physicalism vs. dualism with respect to human persons.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 262 Freedom, Citizenship, Culture (3 credits)
This course will survey recent trends in political philosophy with special attention to competing conceptions of political freedom, civic identity and responsibility, and the political significance of community and cultural diversity. Does our political freedom depend primarily upon securing the negative liberties celebrated in the classical liberal tradition? Does it also require adequate social rights, democratic self-determination and/or active and ongoing participation in the political process? How should claims of freedom be balanced alongside the need to promote the common good, political solidarity and unity, and a sense of common belonging? How should the demands of citizenship be weighed against commitments arising from membership in sub-state cultural groups and other forms of human community?
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 264 Topics in Moral Psychology (3 credits)
This course will explore human moral judgment, decision making, and behavior. Included are examinations of issues about whether the psychological processes involved in human moral practice are innate, about the respective roles of emotion and reasoning in moral judgment, and about the extent to which cultural forces shape our moral beliefs. Following the lead of much of the field in recent years, our focus will be primarily on working out the philosophical implications of recent scientific investigation on the topics.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 266 Rel & Phil in Amer Identity (3 credits)
From the founding of the American nation under the influence of Puritanism to the rise of Transcendentalism in the nineteenth century, philosophic and religious propositions have decisively shaped the American character. This course examines several important episodes in American thought in order to determine what makes Americans different from other sorts of people, what habits of thought inform their decisions, and what principles govern their understanding of the relation between religion and public life. This course typically involves making two off-campus visits to historical sites in Philadelphia.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 268 The Self: East and West (3 credits)
Philosophers East and West, ancient and modern, have struggled with the question: What does it mean to be a Self? What does it mean to be genuinely myself in the world in which I find myself? And what are important erroneous as well as "accurate" ideas that have practical consequences in the experience of myself? The course is intended to be an introduction to, and survey of, four philosophical notions of the Self, from East and West, from antiquity to recent times: Buddhism, Confucianism, Stoicism and Existentialism.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 270 Special Topics in Philosophy (3 credits)
Topics will vary according to the semester in which the class is offered.
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 274 From Athens to Philadelphia (3 credits)
This course investigates how a city like Philadelphia was built and considers how a city can be built justly. This involves inquiring into the nature of cities and city life in the United States and attempting to formulate criteria for a just city. Attention will be given to topics of urban planning, to philosophical theories of justice, and to the Great Migration, the movement in the 20th century of African-Americans from the rural south into cities of the northern states. Students will be required to make several trips into Center City in Philadelphia as part of this course.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Diversity Course, Ethics Intensive, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 284 Philosophy & Personal Relation (3 credits)
This course is a philosophical exploration of relationships between individuals, particularly friendship and love, but including sex, marriage, and family, as well as any other ways in which individuals relate. Building on theories of philosophers and other thinkers, this course may consider, for example, what makes personal relationships valuable, how personal life relates to social context, how personal relationships like love and friendship have changed over time, how gender, race, age and other differences figure in personal relationships.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 285 Philosophy of Medicine (3 credits)
This course examines critical philosophical questions that arise from the nature and practice of medicine and medical research. Emphasizing how human persons define, understand, experience, and negotiate such states as health, illness, suffering, and death, the course also asks questions such as what does it mean to receive a medical diagnosis, what is the proper aim of medical therapies, what role should medical research and inquiry play in the practice of medicine, how should medical resources be distributed? Specific relevant topics may include: disease ontology, causation, and classification; the roles of informed consent and confidentiality in medicine; the phenomenology of illness and suffering; historical conceptions of medicine; reproductive and end-of-life issues.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 286 Philosophy of Mental Illness (3 credits)
This course will explore philosophical questions at the heart of the fields of psychiatry, clinical psychology, and other mental health professions. Broadly, we will identify and critically evaluate assumptions that underlie labeling and treating certain individuals as "insane"/"mentally ill"/"mentally disordered." We will use conceptual tools within the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of medicine, and moral philosophy to consider questions such as: What is insanity? Is it a disease or illness, "just like diabetes"? What is a disease in the first place? How do we define a "good" or "healthy" human life? What are the ethical implications of labeling people as mentally disordered? Might so-called mental disorders be better described as forms of "neurodiversity," to be celebrated instead of cured?
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 288 Minds & Souls (3 credits)
This course surveys both the main issues and theories in contemporary philosophy of mind as well as traditional and contemporary conceptions of the soul. It philosophically examines the difference between these distinct approaches, and will inquire: Why have soul theories been largely eclipsed by other approaches until relatively recently? Why are a few philosophers taking another look at soul theories? How do broader worldview considerations inform the debates? The topic of "singularity" will also be covered.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 294 Reproducing Persons (3 credits)
This course examines how race, class, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, queer and trans identity, nationality affects how we, as human persons, reproduce ourselves. It begins with a criticism of the ways in which white supremacy has established the dominant ideology of 'reproductive choice' (which centers the experiences of white middle-class women and reinforces social and political institutions that harm marginalized peoples) and contrasts this with the inclusive but revolutionary theoretical framework of Reproductive Justice, as developed by African American feminists. Drawing on the work of leading philosophers and women's studies scholars, the course seeks to not only address ethical and legal questions as they relate to women's reproductive lives but also to examine the material circumstances in which the reproduction of persons is realized.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Diversity Course, Gender Studies Course, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 295 Philosophy of the Environment (3 credits)
This course examines philosophical problems and questions that arise when we consider our place as human persons embedded in the natural world. We ask how our natures as complex human persons with rational, biological, and spiritual elements are both formed by and, in turn, form the natural world. As creatures bound by norms, we can also interrogate our ethical responsibilities as they pertain to the environment and one another. Specific topics covered may include global warming, responsibilities to future generations, population and consumption, wilderness preservation and restoration, the extinction crisis, environmental disobedience.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 302 Philosophy of Race (3 credits)
Race has long played a prominent role in our social existence, and continues to do so even in what some have called a "post-racial society." In this course, we will take a philosophical approach to understanding a set of related questions about race. What is the origin and basis for racial concepts? Is race socially constructed? Does it have a biological basis? Does racial discourse serve to further entrench racial divisions? How does racial oppression relate to other forms of oppression such as class- and gender-based oppression? What is "privilege"? What could it mean to say that a person has moral obligations deriving from harms which s/he has not personally brought about, and do persons ever have such obligations? We will also investigate issues such as affirmative action, racial solidarity, and the ways in which racial oppression differentially affects men and women.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Africana Studies Course, Diversity Course, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 303 Phil of Race Class & Gender (3 credits)
This course introduces the student to the role of identity in contemporary life and prepares students to live, work, and interact with others in situations defined not by the similarity of those involved, but their differences. The course proceeds in three ways. First, in order to see how racial, ethnic, class, sexual, gendered, intersectional, and other identities have been understood, we study basic modern theories of human identity, of what it means to be a person. Then we turn to experiences and theories of the specific identities that are the focus of our class. Many of our readings introduce the student to oppressive experiences of race, ethnicity, class, sex and gender identities and the diverse responses that people have elaborated in an effort to overcome their marginalization and dehumanization. Third, we examine, in particular, different ways in which oppressed people have theorized race, class, and gender identities in an effort to develop emancipatory identities.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Diversity Course, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 304 African Philosophy (3 credits)
Introduction to African philosophical approaches to: the problems of God, causality and chance, freedom, fate and destiny, the concepts of spirit, the philosophical wisdom of the African proverbs and the implications of Africa's history for philosophy, with applications to Western thought. Selected Readings from modern African novels, essays in anthropology, traditional philosophical, religious and literary texts, and essays by contemporary African philosophers.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Africana Studies Course, Undergraduate
PHL 308 Asian Philosophies (3 credits)
This course will examine the concepts of self, nature, and society in the Asian philosophical paradigms as they have been articulated by contemporary Asian philosophers in one or more historical traditions, including Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophy, and Japanese philosophy.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Asian Studies Course, Non-Western Studies (GEP), Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 309 Personhood in Islamic Phil (3 credits)
Reflection on personhood in Arab-Islamic philosophy is informed, broadly, by two different sources: the Quran, and Quranic Islam more generally, in which personhood is approached via legal, moral, and religious concepts; and falsafa, or Greek (and, in particular, Platonic, Aristotelian, and neo-Platonic) philosophy, where the operative concepts are rather scientific: metaphysical, epistemological, and psychological. This course examines the many ways in which thinkers in the Arab-Islamic tradition, informed by these sources, have considered the existence and nature of persons, both divine and human. Much of the course will focus on the high classical period (9th to 12th c. CE), though we will also cover some significant post-classical, modern, and contemporary thought. Broad topics to be addressed include the existence and attributes of God, the order of the cosmos and the place of human persons within it, human nature, as well as the proper ethical ordering of human life and of the political state. We will discuss these ideas as they operate within the Islamic world and also how they interact with the broader Western philosophical tradition.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Non-Western Studies (GEP), Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 310 Philosophy of Art (3 credits)
An examination of the philosophical questions arising from the human activity of creating and appreciating art (of all kinds: visual, musical, literary, etc.). Questions can include: the relation of perception and aesthetic appreciation to knowledge; the relation between emotion and belief; the relation between artist/creator, audience/spectator, and art work. How is art distinguished from nature as possible object of aesthetic appreciation? Must art even be aesthetic? If not, how is the category 'art' defined, and by whom?
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 311 Philosophy of Law (3 credits)
Philosophy of Law examines some of the philosophical questions raised by law and legal systems, such as the nature and limits of law, the relation between law and morality, the challenges in applying the principles of constitutional, contract, criminal and tort law, and specific issues such as civil disobedience, equality and liberty, rights and responsibility, and punishment and excuses.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Justice Ethics and the Law , Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 312 Animal Ethics (3 credits)
Animal ethics refers to the moral and legal obligations of humans to nonhuman animals. To determine these obligations, we will give the first few weeks of the course to considering the shared mental faculties of humans and animals. Traditionally obligations in ethics and law are owed in ethics to persons, and so it is necessary to find out whether any nonhuman animals qualify as persons. Related to the issue of nonhuman animals qualifying as persons, we will examine several moral theories in modern Western philosophy: Kant's theory of duty, the original and contemporary versions of utilitarianism, the social contract theory of John Rawls, and Martha Nussbaum's capabilities theory. In addition we will investigate the current situation in law for the permitted treatment of animals.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Undergraduate
PHL 320 Business, Society and Ethics (3 credits)
This course will discuss ethical issues in the practice of business. Topics will typically include ethical issues in marketing, finance, human resources, the environment, product liability, global sales and labor practices, etc. The course will address these issues in business practice through the lenses of traditional ethical theories.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 322 Philosophy of Science (3 credits)
Scientific values, theories, and practices play a central role in the ways modern human beings live, act, and interact. Increasingly, science affects how we understand our very natures as rational, biological, and social beings. This course examines the nature, role, and meaning of scientific inquiry and knowledge. It addresses topics such as scientific realism and anti-realism, the nature of observation, the structure of scientific theories, philosophical problems in the history of science, the role of values in science, the role of science in human affairs.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 324 Philosophy of Social Sciences (3 credits)
This course will involve an analysis of the metaphysical conceptions of the human person presupposed by various theories of the social sciences. The course will also examine the relation of various criteria for knowing to the theories which issue from them. Other topics may include materialism, positivism, historicism, cultural relativism, and various epistemological questions.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 326 Philosophy of Sports (3 credits)
This course will investigate a variety of philosophical issues surrounding sports. The main focus will be on ethical topics such as the use of performance enhancing drugs, the appropriateness of institutions surrounding college athletics, and the use of government funds to subsidize stadiums and arenas for professional sports franchises. These issues will be investigated by employing common methods in moral philosophy, informed by empirical research in economics and a variety of other scientific disciplines.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Undergraduate
PHL 330 Social and Political Phil (3 credits)
This course serves as an introduction to major works in the history of social and political philosophy. With a survey of important figures and texts from pre-modern, modern and contemporary periods, the course will address basic philosophical questions about the individual, society and the political order, such as: What is justice? In what sense is the political order a kind of community? What is the philosophical basis and justification of law and political authority? What are the social and political implications of a commitment to human freedom and equality? What are the necessary social conditions for realizing freedom, justice and human flourishing? Major authors might include Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hume, Smith, Kant, Marx, Mill, Arendt, and Rawls.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Justice Ethics and the Law , Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 331 Inequality: A Phil Exploration (3 credits)
This course explores the problem of inequality from a philosophical perspective. To that end, we reconstruct and critically evaluate arguments for and against inequality in ancient, modern, and contemporary political philosophy. When, if ever, are social, political, and economic inequalities justified? Is inequality simply a reflection of human nature, or is it the product of society's major institutions? Who has a moral responsibility to combat unjust forms of inequality that already exist? To answer these questions, we survey the works of major figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Marx, DuBois, Rawls, and MacKinnon.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Diversity Course, Ethics Intensive, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 332 Economic and Social Philosophy (3 credits)
This course will investigate the idea of social justice from several philosophical perspectives and/or traditions. Issues to be addressed may include: distributive justice, private property, the working poor, economic globalization, and capitalism and its alternatives.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 334 Ethics and Criminal Justice (3 credits)
This course will address ethical issues in the criminal justice system at both the theoretical and applied levels. Typical theoretical issues addressed might include the following: the relationship between law and morality; theories of punishment; conditions for the moral and/or legal responsibility of individuals; notions of procedural justice. Typical applied ethics issues might include the following: limits on the police use of deception and of deadly force; search and seizure rules; plea bargaining; mitigation and excuse defenses (e.g. insanity); mandatory sentencing, especially life without parole; capital punishment.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 336 Violence and Non-Violence (3 credits)
This course will focus on two levels: philosophical reflection on the moral dimensions of violence and nonviolence in general, and analysis of some specific moral issues concerning the resort to violence. Issues include the morality of war, especially under current conditions, and criminal punishment. Theories of nonviolence, and practical alternatives to violence, will be examined.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 338 Vio & Recnciliatn in N. Irelnd (3 credits)
The course will examine violence and reconciliation in Northern Ireland from both a philosophical and empirical perspective. Special attention will be paid to both the socio-historical roots of "The Troubles" and the moral context of discourses of retribution and forgiveness. During the stay in Northern Ireland, SJU students are guests of Corrymeela, an ecumenical community committed to the work of reconciliation by providing a "safe and shared space" where people can meet as Protestants and Catholics, British and Irish, rich and poor, and through open dialogue and interaction grow in trust with one another. Students will also visit selected sites in Derry and Belfast.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Justice Ethics and the Law , Undergraduate
PHL 340 Topics in Political Philosophy (3 credits)
This course will examine recent developments and debates in social and political philosophy. The emphasis of the course will be on contemporary discussions of a problem or set of problems, though some attention may be paid to the treatment of these problems in the history of philosophy. Topics to be examined might include political legitimacy, human rights, private property and distributive justice, just and unjust war, cosmopolitanism and patriotism, global justice, social unity and solidarity, toleration, multiculturalism, and the role of religion in politics.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ethics Intensive, Undergraduate
PHL 342 Dimensions of Freedom (3 credits)
Political philosopher Hannah Arendt claims that the ability to forgive and the ability to make and keep promises are at the center of human freedom, the capacity to interrupt automatic processes and begin something new. The experience of imprisonment will be an important focus of class discussion, and a starting point to examine multiple dimensions of human freedom. These include: negative vs. positive freedom; freedom of action vs. inner freedom (thought, imagination, will); political freedom vs. political oppression; the extent to which freedom in any of these senses is a good, worthy of the value we tend to give it. For each dimension, we will also ask what inner and/or external conditions limit or even preclude its exercise.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 344 A Good Life (3 credits)
The course will begin with an examination of Plato's classical account of a good life, grounded in the health of the body and soul and in active participation in a just community. We will then turn to the modern German philosophical tradition that further specifies this conception of a good life in terms of the reflective, yet concrete self-realization of the person grounded in right relations to oneself, other persons, nature, the institutions in which one's life is embedded, and to the future. Key topics will include human freedom and responsibility, the need for mutual recognition among human beings, and the notion of common sense. We will also spend time on the difficult human problems of rampant consumerism, commodification, and the instrumentalizing of human reason. In Germany we will explore specific ways in which the now philosophically grounded themes of health, sustainability, and community are manifest in institutions and cultural practices. We will spend the majority of our time in the award winning "Green City" of Freiburg, a socially innovative and historic university town, and capital of the Black Forest. We will then travel to the idyllic, medieval city of Tübingen and finally to Frankfurt, a major urban center well-known for its sustainable practices and innovative ideas.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Study Tour, Undergraduate
PHL 350 God in Recent Philosophy (3 credits)
The course examines three different conceptions of God: [1] Popular Theism: God conceived as similar to a human person - though incorporeal, unobservable, and possessed with superhuman attributes. This is the view of God held by most traditional theists. [2] Perfect Existence Theism: in which God is not a being of any kind, not even a personal being, even though personal language can be used in speaking of God. This is the view of God espoused by Thomas Aquinas; and [3] Panentheism: God conceived as inclusive of rather than independent of the world; the relation between God and the world being like the relation between the mind and its body. This view has been defended by Charles Hartshorne. In the case of each form of theism, questions arise as to how it deals with the problem of evil: how its view of God squares with the fact that the world contains vast amounts of moral and physical evil.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 351 Reason, Faith, and Relativism (3 credits)
Intelligent, sincere, and equally well-informed people often strongly disagree. This seems especially true when it comes to religious beliefs. In that context, people will often appeal to "faith," which some construe as belief without good reason. It is therefore important to ask what counts as good reason for holding a belief, and whether all beliefs are subject to the same standard. If two individuals hold contradictory beliefs, then certainly one of them is wrong, but might both be justified in holding those beliefs? If so, does this imply that truth is relative? This course deals with the general topic of rational belief formation in a world that is religiously, ideologically, and culturally diverse.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 352 Kierkegrd, Nietzsche, Dostvsky (3 credits)
Against the backdrop of classical metaphysics and human rationality, the sources and early development of existential themes are developed. Selected readings from Kierkegaard (Either/Or, Fear and Trembling), Nietzsche, (Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil), and Dostoevsky (Notes from the Underground).
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 353 Philosophy, Science & Religion (3 credits)
A consideration of important issues in philosophy and philosophy of religion within the historicizing context of the scientific world-view of the times. Simultaneously, the course will consider the implications of the current (and changing) scientific world-view (genetics, astronomy, physics) for philosophical and religious reflection, including the idea of God. Philosophically as well as scientifically, the course will take its point of departure in Darwin and come back to consider the radical implications for philosophy and religion prophetically seen by his contemporary Nietzsche. Satisfies Signature core course requirement in Faith and Reason
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 354 Philosophy of Religion (3 credits)
Philosophical analysis of some of the following topics: religious experience, testimony, belief, human destiny, evil, knowledge of and language and arguments about God. Readings from classical and contemporary sources.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 355 Phil Iss in Christian Doctrine (3 credits)
This course will investigate the coherence and plausibility of some of the most central teachings of Christianity. A sampling of potential topics includes: heaven and hell, the Trinity, Original Sin, the Atonement, and the Incarnation. There will also be a discussion of different methods of deciding when a teaching is essential to Christianity, and an exploration of various alternative interpretations of the doctrines.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 356 Religious Diversity (3 credits)
Religious diversity is an inescapable fact. It is hard to imagine anyone is thinking their religion (should they have one) to be the only one that exists or the only one capable of evincing commitment and devotion. The diversity of religions raises questions that are practical as well as theoretical. The fact of religious diversity has elicited various philosophical reactions, ranging from exclusivism to relativism to inclusivism.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Honors Course, Undergraduate
PHL 358 Atheism & Prob of God (3 credits)
After a study of the classical arguments concerning God's existence, the course examines examples of 19th century atheism (Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche) and belief (Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky), and 20th century atheism (Sartre, Camus) and belief (Rahner, Marcel).
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 359 Existence of God (3 credits)
This course will focus on arguments for and against the existence of God. It will begin by examining the ontological, cosmological, and design arguments for the existence of God. Included will be a discussion of purported evidence for the existence of God from modern biology and cosmology. It will then examine arguments against the existence of God based on human and animal suffering, followed by arguments against the existence of God arising from the scarcity of credible miracle claims.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 360 Philosophy of God in Aquinas (3 credits)
This course will examine the philosophical writings of Thomas Aquinas on the existence and nature of God. Topics include the procedure of philosophical theology, the methodological problem of attaining true knowledge of God, Aquinas's "five ways" of demonstrating the existence of God, and arguments for the various "attributes" of God: simplicity, perfection, goodness, infinity, ubiquity, unchangeableness, eternity, and oneness. Aquinas's innovative method of analogical predication will be employed to offer a philosophical interpretation of core theistic assertions that God has life and knowledge that God wills and loves, that God exercises providence both justly and mercifully, that God is all-powerful and perfect happiness. This course may be taken to satisfy the major requirement for a course in the ancient or medieval period.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Medieval, Ren & Reform Studies, Undergraduate
PHL 361 Vision, Experience Faith (3 credits)
This course engages students with the puzzle of whether religious faith is strengthened or weakened by reflection on human perceptual experience, in particular visual experience. The status of religious experience as a possible support for justified religious belief will be examined. Contemporary scientific accounts of visual experience will be considered.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 362 Faith & Reason in Kantian Phil (3 credits)
This course begins with an examination of two types of traditional arguments for the existence of God: those based on putative grounds of reason and those based on putative grounds of experience. The questionable success of such proofs will raise several questions: what is the nature of human reason, what is the nature of faith as a distinct epistemic attitude, and how should we think about the relation between them? We shall then pursue Kant's systematic answers to these questions with the hope that they will give us a workable and empowering alternative to the arguments studied earlier in the course. Possible further topics for the course include (1) the possibility of understanding the history of arguments for God's existence as a progressive development of reason's awareness and articulation of its needs, and (2) the application of Kant's analysis of reason to some fundamental claims and themes of the Christian religion in order to show how they can be understood as having a basis in reason.
Prerequisites: (PHL 154 and ENG 101) and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 364 God, Evil, and Hiddenness (3 credits)
This course will examine recent arguments against the existence of God based on the problem of evil and the problem of divine hiddenness. (The problem of evil is the problem of reconciling God's existence with the presence and severity of suffering in the world, and the problem of divine hiddenness is the issue of understanding why God would provide so few clear and dramatic signs of his presence.) Although no prior mathematical knowledge will be presupposed, as part of the process of understanding the arguments students will also be expected to master some basics of probability theory.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 365 Christianity and Evidence (3 credits)
This course will investigate several topics surrounding Christianity and evidence. The course is divided into two sections. The first is an exploration of the question of whether we have good evidence for Christianity. Included in this first unit will be a discussion of both scriptural evidence and the evidence provided by purported miracles in the modern world. The second section will examine the relationship between belief and evidence, in an attempt to understand whether Christian belief (and religious belief more generally) should be based on evidence in the same way as many other kinds of beliefs.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 370 Special Topics in Philosophy (3 credits)
Topics will vary according to the semester in which the class is offered.
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 377 Inside-Out (3 credits)
This class offers a unique opportunity to have meaningful discussions about a range of topics from inside a correctional facility. Inside-Out classes bring together students from Saint Joseph's University and adult students who are incarcerated to learn about and discuss topics such as the causes of crime, racism, literature, philosophy, and restorative justice. Through the readings and dialogue, inside and outside students will be able to integrate their theoretical knowledge with lived experiences. It is through this exchange that we hope to critically analyze and challenge the current system in the U.S. that has resulted in a higher incarceration rate than other similar countries.
Attributes: Faith Justice Course, Justice Ethics and the Law , Service Learning Course, Undergraduate
PHL 395 Junior Seminar (3 credits)
Readings, research, and discussion concerning a common theme. Junior majors, minors with chair's permission.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Restrictions: Enrollment is limited to students with a major, minor, or concentration in Philosophy.
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 401 Ancient Philosophy (3 credits)
What is the nature of ultimate reality? What standards must our beliefs meet if they are to qualify as knowledge? Is the soul distinct from the body, and what sort of trait is virtue? These are among the most basic questions of philosophy, and they took shape originally in the ancient world of Greece and Rome. This class provides a critical survey of the questions and possible answers provided by the founders of the western philosophical tradition. Philosophers discussed include the Presocratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ancient Studies Course, Undergraduate
PHL 402 Plato and Aristotle (3 credits)
A focused examination of the major ethical, metaphysical, and political theories of Plato and Aristotle. The class will cover the ideas of these two philosophers on such topics as the nature of virtue, the soul, change in the physical world, substance, the best political regime, and the relation between political activity and philosophy.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Ancient Studies Course, Undergraduate
PHL 404 Love, Friendship,Ancient World (3 credits)
This course explores a number of descriptions of love and friendship found in works of literature and philosophy from ancient Greece and Rome. Two topics in particular will be studied in these works on love and friendship. The first is the connection between friendship, justice, and politics that is asserted in a number of ancient works. The second is the presentation of erotic love as a form of divine madness that can be both dangerous and beneficial. Some authors to be read include Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Catullus.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and ENG 101
Attributes: Ancient Studies Course, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 409 Philosophy of St. Augustine (3 credits)
This course examines the philosophical thought of Augustine of Hippo through three of his most important works. The course will engage with a number of themes that are central to Augustine's thought-for example, sin and free choice, evil, the human condition, human flourishing, desire, cognition, memory, time, as well as creation and its relationship to God, and the nature of God Itself.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Medieval, Ren & Reform Studies, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 410 Medieval Philosophy (3 credits)
An introduction to medieval philosophy through a study of its most important thinkers (e.g., Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas) and its central questions (e.g., the existence and nature of God, the problem of evil, the compatibility of human freedom and divine foreknowledge, the limitations of human reason, the immortality of the soul, happiness, virtue, natural law).
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Medieval, Ren & Reform Studies, Undergraduate
PHL 412 The Philosophy of Aquinas (3 credits)
A close examination of Thomas Aquinas's writings on topics such as proofs for the existence of God, the nature of God, creation, providence, the relation of body and soul, immortality of the soul, human knowing, happiness, virtue, natural law
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Medieval, Ren & Reform Studies, Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 420 Early Modern Philosophy (3 credits)
A critical analysis of the rationalist and empiricist movements of the 17th and 18th centuries. Emphasis will be placed on the epistemological and metaphysical theories of the following thinkers: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 428 The Enlightenment& Its Critics (3 credits)
This course provides a survey of the "critical tradition" in philosophy - a tradition seeking to ascertain the nature and limits of human reason in the hopes of moving toward social and cultural progress. The course will begin with the critical tradition's roots in the thinkers of the French and German Enlightenments of the 18th century, continue with three of the Enlightenment's major critics - Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud - and culminate in the critical social theories of the Frankfurt School and Michel Foucault in the 20th century. In the end, the course will consider the tenability of the Enlightenment project and its hopes for the future as well as the status of critical social theory today.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 430 Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason (3 credits)
In this course we shall pursue a close study and critical assessment of Kant's highly original theory of transcendental idealism as it is presented in his seminal work, the Critique of Pure Reason. Specific topics will include, but are not limited to, the nature of human reason, the nature of experience, the possibility of synthetic a priori knowledge, the relation between mind and world, the limits of human knowledge, transcendental idealism vs. transcendental realism, varieties of skepticism and responses to them, self-knowledge, the problem of free will, and philosophical method. We shall begin the course by sketching some of the problems that Kant inherited from early modern philosophy and to which he is responding.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 432 German Idealism (3 credits)
In this course we shall explore the views of the major thinkers of the German idealist period-namely, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel-with respect to such topics as the nature of human reason, knowledge and the self, the relation between mind and world, the unconditioned, freedom and morality, the nature and role of art, God and religion, and reason in history. We shall begin the course by sketching the philosophical context and a set of problems that helped motivate the movement as a whole. Some attention may also be paid to some of the lesser-known figures of the period, such as Reinhold, Jacobi, and Maimon.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 434 Existentialism (3 credits)
A study of the Existentialist movement, from its 19th century origins in Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and the Phenomenology of Husserl to its most prominent 20th century representatives, including Heidegger, Jaspers, Sartre and Camus.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Philosoph Anthropol, Undergraduate
PHL 440 Phenomenology (3 credits)
A study of the philosophical background, methods, and results of the phenomenological movement in 20th century European thought. After examining a cluster of philosophical problems that gave rise to the movement, we shall focus mainly, though not exclusively, on the work of Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre. In addition to our study of philosophical method, we shall explore phenomenological accounts of various matters such as consciousness, perception, hermeneutics, the existential nature of human beings, transcendence, self- deception, and otherness.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 446 Feminist Epistemology (3 credits)
Feminist challenges to traditional ways of thinking in epistemology, philosophy of science, metaphysics and ethics. Examination of feminist criticisms regarding: the nature and justification of knowledge; dominant conceptions of rationality and objectivity; various dualistic ontologies; and prevailing conceptions of the self. Consideration of possible gender-bias in traditional philosophical methods.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 450 American Philosophy (3 credits)
Philosophy in the American context: the "American experience", historical and contemporary; philosophical concerns that arise in that context; the classical American philosophers-Edwards, Peirce, James, Royce, Dewey, and Whitehead. Central concerns: the meaning of experience; scientific inquiry as a model of knowing; the meaning of religion and religious experience; the problems of value (moral and aesthetic); the problem of community.
Prerequisites: PHL 154 and (THE 153 or THE 154 or THE 155 or THE 221)
Attributes: American Studies Course, Faith-Reason Course, Undergraduate
PHL 461 Contemporary Thomism (3 credits)
St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest philosopher-theologians of the Middle Ages, employed both faith and reason to conceive a remarkably comprehensive and nuanced understanding of reality. Recently, some philosophers have been returning to the works of Aquinas and attempting to transpose his vision to meet the distinctive intellectual challenges of our own quite different age. After providing an introduction to Aquinas' thought, this course will examine in depth the writings of one or more contemporary Thomists (e.g., Bernard Lonergan, Jacques Maritain, Etienne Gilson, Karl Rahner, Pierre Rousselot, Joseph Marechal, Josef Pieper).
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 470 Special Topics in Philosophy (3 credits)
Topics will vary according to the semester in which the class is offered.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 471 Problems in the Theory of Know (3 credits)
A critical examination of key problems in contemporary epistemology. Problems relating to the analysis of knowledge and justification will be examined. Topics may include: knowledge and warrant; knowledge closure; skepticism of various forms; foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism, contextualism; virtue epistemology; internalism and externalism; the role of formal (probabilistic) models in epistemology.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 473 Philosophy of Mind (3 credits)
A critical examination of metaphysical and epistemological issues in the contemporary philosophy of mind. These issues include the problem of reductionism, the problems of intentionality and mental representation, personal identity, conceptual foundations of psychology, and the possibility of artificial minds.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 474 Language and Thought (3 credits)
Rene Descartes held a view called "mind-body dualism," according to which human persons are fundamentally thinking substances that are somehow causally linked to particular physical substances: bodies. One of his reasons for holding this view was that he believed that the human faculty of language could never, even in principle, be adequately explained by any purely physical description of things. Language, as he saw it, is evidence of mind, and indeed he believed that where language is absent, mind is also absent. Creatures without language are, in Descartes' view, mindless organic automata. Few today would defend Descartes' view in all details, but the general sense that language is an important "mark of the mental" has not gone away. Instead, it has given rise to a cluster of narrower but interesting and important questions: Are certain kinds of mental states impossible without language? Does the specific language that we speak influence our thoughts in some way? Do our innate tendencies of thought force our languages to take certain forms?
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 475 Language and Meaning (3 credits)
This course examines the core issues in the philosophy of language, focusing on the nature of linguistic meaning. What is linguistic meaning? Are meanings things in the world, ideas in our minds, or something else? How does the meaning of a sentence depend on the meaning of the words that compose it? In what ways does the content we communicate go beyond the words we use? How is meaning related to grammar? In what ways does meaning depend on context? We will examine how philosophers and linguists have answered these questions.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 481 History of Analytic Philosophy (3 credits)
This course will explore important figures and themes from the history of analytic philosophy. We will start with the birth of modern logic in the seminal works of Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell. As time permits, we will also discuss the project of philosophical analysis in the works of G.E. Moore, Russell and the early Ludwig Wittgenstein, the rise of logical positivism and emotivism (Rudolph Carnap, Susan Stebbing, A. J. Ayer, C. L. Stevenson), W. V. Quine's critique of Logical Positivism (in particular, his critique of the analytic-synthetic distinction), and the rise of ordinary language philosophy in the works of J. L. Austin, Peter Strawson, and the later Wittgenstein.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate
PHL 493 Independent Research in Phil (3 credits)
PHL 494 Independent Research in Phil (3 credits)
PHL 495 Senior Seminar (3 credits)
Readings, research, and discussion concerning a common theme; a paper is required. Senior majors; minors with chair's permission.
Prerequisites: PHL 154
Attributes: Undergraduate