Philosophy - PHI
PHI 101 Introduction to Philosophy 3 Credits
Core Curriculum Foundation Course. A study of the major eras in the history of philosophy: Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary and also of principal branches in philosophy: Aesthetics, Epistemology, Theories of Ethics, Logic, Metaphysics, and Theories of Justice. Students study the Catholic/Jesuit tradition and become able to identify the elements of rational argumentation. PHI 101 is a prerequisite for PHI 200 courses.
PHI 211 Philosophy of Religion 3 Credits
A study of principal contemporary and classical discussions about the existence and nature of God, God's relationship to the world, the individual and society.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/HON 110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Global Awareness
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 225 Logic 3 Credits
An introductory study of logic treating such topics as: deduction, techniques for evaluating reasoning, language and meaning, various formal and informal fallacies, and the notion of implication.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: once a year.
PHI 240 Justice 3 Credits
A study of enduring questions such as: What does it take to be a just person and to create a just society? Includes investigations of (1) theories of justice and (2) problems of justice relating to injustice and oppression due to race, class, species, and gender.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: once a year.
PHI 241 Ethics: Traditions in Moral Reasoning 3 Credits
A survey of principal traditions in moral reasoning with attention to moral principles inclusive of utility, deontology and virtue, and their applications to contemporary social realities.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: every fall & spring.
PHI 242 Ethical Issues in Business 3 Credits
A study of important concerns in business and market realities with special concern to applying moral principles in decision making.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: every fall & spring.
PHI 243 Bio-Medical Ethics 3 Credits
A study of important moral issues in relation to current concerns in medicine, medical technology, and the life sciences.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: once a year.
PHI 244 Environmental Ethics 3 Credits
A study of classical and contemporary moral theories concerning the relationship of human beings to the manifold of their natural surroundings.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 245 Animal Ethics 3 Credits
What do we mean by classifying together all non-human animals as 'animals'? This course critically examines the traditional notion that animals are commodities or resources for human use. It questions whether all sentient beings have intrinsic value and should be respected and what form that 'respect' should take.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: every fall & spring.
PHI 246 Ethics of Technology 3 Credits
A study of how prominent technologies such as television, cellular phones, and medical breakthroughs affect individual persons and our society, and in what ways technological innovations make us better or worse. Utilizes movies and/or episodes of Black Mirror.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 247 Food and Agricultural Ethics 3 Credits
A study of the moral implications of the current food system in connection with the production, distribution, and consumption of food and aims to examine what might constitute a reasonable position regarding the ethics of what we eat and what each of us can do to help bring about a more just food system.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 252 Happiness, Virtue and the Good Life 3 Credits
A study of the role of virtue and vice in the moral life, how they emerge from developments of personal character and relate to meaningful human happiness, fulfillment, and the good life.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Ethics, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 258 Minor Service 0 Credits
Required course for specific minors. This course requires 20 hours of direct service. Students pursuing the ethics minor will register for 258E and students pursuing the justice minor will register for 258J.
Offered: every fall & spring.
PHI 261 Philosophy of Law 3 Credits
A study of the nature, sources and sanctions of law and legal theory, treating concerns of legal positivism, natural law theory, rights and justice, and the relationship between law and morality.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: every fall & spring.
PHI 267 Faith, Reason, and Justice Catholic Social Thought 3 Credits
A study of the philosophical foundations of Catholic social teaching, articulated from the time of Pope Leo XIII through present day, and those features that make it unique, both as compared to other contemporary accounts of justice and in identifying and rectifying current injustices.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 271 Philosophy of Human Rights 3 Credits
A study of various issues of human rights in global perspective to ask if human rights transcend political orders, whether they are universally applicable to all human beings, or determined to be culturally relative.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: every fall & spring.
PHI 272 Gender and Philosophy 3 Credits
An investigation into feminist theories that analyzes the role that gender plays in society and in the formation of the masculine and feminine subjects; an examination of notions of power, structure and work; and gender as performance and representation.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: once a year.
PHI 273 Race and Philosophy 3 Credits
A study of philosophical assumptions underlying concepts of race that treats designations of racial identities, the political effects of racial classification, the ethics of race and the metaphysical legitimacy and social reality of racial designations.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: once a year.
PHI 274 Social and Political Philosophy 3 Credits
A study of foundational philosophical theories on how to organize the collective and social life of individual human beings, examining justifications for state authority, establishing citizen's rights and allocating resources for human well-being.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 275 Global Feminisms 3 Credits
This course studies feminist philosophy and feminist theories of justice in global contexts, including Indigenous America, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This course will compare feminist theory from Western contexts (European and American) with its global counterparts, with special focus on the way gender, sex, and sexuality operate differently in different global contexts.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 280 Philosophy of Mind 3 Credits
A study of contemporary views concerning the philosophy of mind and consciousness. Topics may include the mind-body problem, the nature of the mental and mental content, problems in intentionality, perception, language, artificial intelligence and the nature of consciousness.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 285 Black Philosophy 3 Credits
A study of philosophical trends within the black diaspora with attention to the contributions of prominent black philosophers and social activists.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy), Justice
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 291 Philosophy of Art 3 Credits
A study of various approaches to thinking philosophically about art and covering the history of aesthetics with special emphasis on contemporary arts including film and music.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 292 Philosophy of Beauty 3 Credits
A study of various approaches to thinking philosophically about beauty and covering the concept in the history of aesthetics with special emphasis on the problems of beauty in contemporary culture.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110.
Fulfills College Core: Diversity, Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 293 Philosophy of Film 3 Credits
This course is an introduction to the philosophical analyses of film, and the growing literature on philosophy of film. With some variation, courses tend to focus on topics such as film realism, the nature of documentary film, auteur theory, cognitivist or psycho-dynamic theories of spectating, the nature of horror or comedy films, etc.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102.
Fulfills College Core: Field 2 (Philosophy)
Offered: occasionally.
PHI 300 History of Philosophy I 3 Credits
This course covers major figures and movements in western philosophy in the ancient, medieval and early modern periods. Students will be introduced to major figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume and Kant.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110 and one Field 2 course.
Offered: every fall.
PHI 310 History of Philosophy II 3 Credits
A course that covers major figures and movements in western philosophy from the 19th to the 21st Century. Movements include German Idealism, Marxism, Utilitarianism, and Phenomenology. The course then considers developments in Continental and Anglo-American traditions.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102/110 and one Field 2 course.
Offered: every spring.
PHI 401 Topics in Philosophy 3 Credits
A seminar style course offered by faculty in the Department of Philosophy on a rotating basis and focusing on a different topic each time it is offered. Check with the department to find out what will be offered in any given academic year.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 or HON 102 and any upper level Philosophy course.
Offered: every spring.
PHI 451 Senior Thesis 3 Credits
Philosophy majors who plan to attend graduate school in philosophy should complete a senior thesis. This is a culminating experience in which a student expresses mature habits of self-directed study and critical analysis, with an ability to integrate knowledge beyond the expectations of a seminar paper. A senior thesis addresses a select philosophic topic and is especially concerned with philosophic argumentation. A philosophy major who writes a senior thesis demonstrates ability to exercise appropriate research methods, to provide critical assessment of issues, to assess theoretical presuppositions underlying a discourse and to advance well-constructed argumentation. A senior thesis ought to exhibit the values of the department mission.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 & at least two 300-level philosophy courses.
Offered: every fall.
PHI 499 Independent Study 1-3 Credits
A tutorial style course on a topic approved by the department and agreed upon between the student and a professor. Independent studies require an application and approval by the associate dean.
Prerequisite: PHI 101 & at least two 300-level philosophy courses.
