PL 160 01 Challenge of Justice
Kelly Brotzman MW 3
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
This course will survey some important theories of justice from western philosophy and theology. These theories will be analyzed in relationship to practical issues such as poverty, hunger, etc.
Readings and Requirements: To be Determined
PL 160 01 Challenge of Justice
Matthew Mullane M W 3*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
This course introduces the student to the principal understandings of justice that have developed in the Western philosophical and theological traditions. Care is taken to relate the theories to concrete, practical and political problems, and to develop good reasons for choosing one way of justice rather than another. The relationship of justice to the complementary notion of peace will also be examined. Special attention is paid to the contribution of Catholic theology in the contemporary public conversation about justice and peace. Select problems may include human rights, hunger and poverty, and ecological justice.
PL 193 01 Chinese Classical Philosophy: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism
Frank Soo TTH 10:30*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
Description:
Starting from the general introduction to Chinese culture & philosophy as a whole, the course will focus on three of the most important Chinese classical philosophies: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Emphasizing social harmony and order, Confucianism deals mainly with human relationships and human virtues. Centered on the balance and harmony among Nature, man, and society, Taoism teaches the most natural way to achieve this balance and harmony: Tao. Synthesized as soon as it arrived in China from India, Chinese Buddhism teaches that there is “Buddha-hood” in every one of us, and that the Buddhist Way is to have “infinite compassion” towards others.
Requirements:
- Midterm
- Final
- One paper (and 5-6 small written assignments)
- Participation that includes:
[a] Class attendance (obligatory)
[b] Group discussions
[c] Meditations
[d] Group-Project, etc.
Reading:
[1] Chan W.T, A Source of Chinese Philosophy
[2] Confucius, The Analects
[3] Lao Tzu, The Tao Te-ching
[4] John Koller and Patricia Koller, Asian Philosophies
[5] Carole Cusack, The Essence of Buddhism
[6] Christmas Humphreys, A Western Approach to Zen
PL 216 01 Boston: An Urban Analysis
David Manzo TH 3-5:20
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
“Intuition alone is never enough to explain what you see. One must not only learn to trust intuition but also to pursue its leads: to follow hints from peripheral vision but always to dig beyond first impressions; to see through a scene and its many processes, but also to see through it in time to understand how it came to be, and to guess more skillfully at what I might become.”
– Grady Clay, How to Read the American City
“In our American cities, we need all kinds of diversity.”
- Jane Jacobs, Death and Life of American Cities
This course is intended for PULSE students who are willing to investigate, analyze, and understand the history, problems, and prospects of Boston neighborhoods. The above quotes by Grady Clay and Jane Jacobs frame our method of investigation. Assignments will require that you spend time observing, researching, and writing about the neighborhood in which your PULSE placement is located.
With the exception of the third session, class meetings in the first half of the semester will meet on campus. (Class # 3 will meet in the Prudential Center).
For the second half of the semester, as snow banks give way to slush and sun and blossoms, we will meet in the South End of Boston for a firsthand study of a most intriguing and changing inner-city neighborhood.
PL 222 01 Self and the City: An Exploration in Writing
Kathleen Hirsch W 3-4:50
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Prerequisite: Philosophy Core Fulfilled
Description:
This PULSE elective, which requires a PULSE placement, will aim at a deepened understanding of the Self as it evolves in the major life experiences of contemplation, relationship, education, and our encounters in the world. Readings, combined with placement experiences, will prompt class discussion of such questions as the following: how do we become self-aware; how do we best witness to Self and others? The course will emphasize the potential of the written word to inform, to teach, and to inspire others.
PL 264 01 Logic
Stuart Martin MWF 11
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
Logic is the science of correct reasoning. The study of this science aims at perfecting the student’s practical ability for critical analysis and precise argumentation. This course will emphasize the elements of traditional logic but will also introduce the student to the field of modern symbolic notation.
Requirements: Working exercises are supplied for each unit of study, and class participation is encouraged. There will be two tests during the semester as well as a final examination.
Reading: Robert J. Kreyche, Logic for Undergraduates
PL 264 02 Logic
Deborah DeChiara-Quenzer MWF 1
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
This is an introductory course designed to treat the principles of formal deductive reasoning through the study of Aristotelian and symbolic logic. One of the purposes of this course is to help the student examine an argument to determine whether the conclusion stated necessarily follows from the premise(s) given – in such a case the argument is said to be valid. Determining whether an argument is valid or not is useful to one's evaluation of philosophical arguments, theological arguments, arguments in other fields of study, and arguments that arise in a person's everyday life.
In regard to Aristotelian logic, students will study the four basic types of categorical propositions, students will study some of the immediate inferences derived from those categorical propositions, and students will learn to determine whether a categorical syllogism is valid or invalid by applying the rules of the syllogism. In regard to symbolic logic, students will study propositional logic. Students will learn to translate propositions and arguments into symbols, to determine the truth value of compound truth functional statements, and will learn the rules of inference and replacement in order to construct formal proofs of validity for arguments. In regard to symbolic logic, students will also be introduced to the basics of predicate logic.
Requirements:
Two Quizzes (approximately 33 1/3 of the final grade), one in-class exam (approximately 33 1/3 of the final grade), final exam (approximately 33 1/3 of the final grade), as well as class attendance, preparedness, and participation.
Readings:
A Concise Introduction to Logic, Hurley (Thomson/Wadsworth)
PL 268 01 History and Development of Racism
Paul Marcus T 3-6 30
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
Description:
This course includes a discussion of major forces that have contributed to the development of racism in the United States, including Exploration & Evangelization, Anglo Attitudes, Colonial Laws, views of the Founding Fathers, the US Constitution, and African Enslavement. Periods of history which are explored will include the Abolition Movement and more modern movements of the twentieth century.
Requirements:
Five personal journals; two “directed” journals, one Book Reflection, a paper which can be written either individual or in a group, a final exam
Reading:
Autobiography of Malcolm X, Haley; Lies My Teacher Taught Me, Loewen; Hard Road to Freedom, Horton; The Debt, Robinson; Selected articles
PL 282 01 Philosophy of Human Existence II
Oliva Blanchette MW 3*
Level - Core
Prerequisite: Philosophy of Human Existence I
Description:
This is a continuation of Philosophy of Human Existence I
PL 292 01 Philosophy of Community II
Joseph Flanagan, S.J. T 4:30-6:15
David McMenamin
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Prerequisite: Limited to members of PULSE Council
Description:
This seminar, the second semester of a year-long course, explores the nature of community, with particular (but not exclusive) focus on community in the American context. Some of the central historical, cultural, political and religious forces which have shaped both American community and the American understanding of community are examined.
These issues are initially approached from a historical perspective with an assessment of the philosophical ideas that were evident in the political thinking of the American framers. The seminar then considers the historical development of those ideas in light of the way they are concretized in American political practice nationally and in local communities, arriving at a critical assessment of contemporary thinking on community and the relationship between community and individual.
Reading: Alexis DeTocqueville, Democracy in America, Vol. II; Michael Kammen, Spheres of Liberty; Richard Lewis, American Adam; Jane Jacobs, The Economy of Cities and Dark Age Ahead; The Gospel according to John
PL 339 01 Heidegger Project II
Thomas Owens T TH 1:30*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Prerequisites: PL 338
Description:
This is a continuation of PL 338 given during the first semester and open only to students who have participated in that course.
Requirements: class presentations, term paper, oral, final examination
PL 343 01 Introduction to Black Philosophy
Jorge Garcia TTH 12*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
The course introduces students to the philosophical examination of important writings by or about persons of African descent. Topics treated include the morality of community leadership, racism’s nature and psychology, African-American oppression and advancement, the content and ethics of racial identity, the reality and construction of races, and racial pride and shame.
Requirements: Two in-class midterm examinations and essays comprising about twelve pages in answer to a take-home final examination
Reading: Will be drawn from works by W. E. B. DuBois, Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cornel West, Charles Mills, Lewis Gordon, and Lawrence Blum
PL 404 01 Rhetoric: Beauty, Truth, and Power
Marina McCoy MWF 11
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
In this course, we will begin with the sophists, orators, and playwrights of ancient Greece and study their approaches to speech and persuasion. We will then read Plato's criticisms of rhetoric, as well as examine his own distinct use of rhetoric as an author of the dialogue form. Finally, we will examine more formal classical theories of rhetoric, beginning with Aristotle's Rhetoric and moving on to Cicero's De Oratore and Augustine's On Christine Doctrine. In the course of our discussions, we will also ask questions such as: To what extent is the practice of rhetoric concerned with truth, beauty, and/or power? Is rhetoric separable from inquiry into what is true, or inevitably a part of philosophical discovery itself? Is beautiful speech something that beguiles the audience, or something that better illuminates what is real, or potentially both? Is a rhetorician's manipulation of his or her audience's emotions justifiable or not? What is the relationship between philosophy, as love of wisdom, and rhetoric? Classical authors' claims as to what "works" to persuade your audience will also be examined, and students will be encouraged to relate the ideals of these texts to contemporary examples of public speaking, political debate, advertising, and the like.
Requirements: Three short papers, one longer paper (as the final project), and active class participation.
Reading:
Greek Orators-I (Antiphon and Lysias) (Aris and Philips)
Alcidamas, The Works and Fragments (Bristol Press)
Gorgias, "On Non-Being" and "Encomium to Helen" (handouts)
Isocrates, Isocrates I (Loeb edition)
Plato, Gorgias, trans. Zeyl (Hackett Press)
Aristophanes, Knights (Penguin edition)
Plato, Phaedrus (Focus Library edition)
Aristotle, Rhetoric (McGraw Hill edition)
Cicero, De Oratore --handouts
Augustine, On Christian Teaching (Penguin edition)
PL 407 01 Medieval Philosophy
Jean-Luc Solere TTH 10:30*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
Far from being monolithic and repetitive, the Middle Ages were a period during which multiple solutions were experimented to give sense of the world, combining philosophic and ‘scientific’ knowledge with religious views. The aim of the course is to provide a precise image of this diversity of thoughts, through a study of their fundamental orientations and choices, the main problems they faced and the issues at stake.
This will be the opportunity to study a wide range of Christian authors, from S. Augustine to Ockham, as well as to take in account Byzantine, Islamic and Jewish thoughts. The course will also highlight the essential concepts that were elaborated in the Middle Ages and that have been transmitted to modern philosophy, in metaphysics and ontology, theory of knowledge, ethics, etc.
Requirements: midterm and final exams
Readings: R. N. Bosley and M. M. Tweedale, Basic Issues in Medieval Philosophy, 2nd edition, Broadview Press 2006.
PL 408 01 19th and 20th Century Philosophy: Nihilism and Logic
Richard Cobb-StevensT TH 1:30*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
This course will begin with an examination of two revolutionary themes from nineteenth century philosophy: Nietzsche's critique of modernity as nihilism and Hegel’s master/slave dialectic. A study of key texts by these thinkers will set the stage for an understanding of major movements in twentieth century philosophy: phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism, and analytic philosophy. Readings will be selected from such authors as: Wittgenstein, Kojeve, Husserl, Sartre, Foucault, Ricoeur, Quine, and Nagel.
Requirements: Mid-term exam (written); Final exam (oral); Term paper (8-12 pages)
Reading:
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy and Other Writings, eds. Raymond Geuss and Ronald Speirs (Cambridge Univ. Press)
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison (Vintage Books)
Gabriel Marcel, The Philosophy of Existentialism, (Citadel Press)
Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness (Washington Square Press)
Thomas Nagel, The Last Word (Oxford)
Edmund Husserl, The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology (short selections)
Alexandre Kojeve, "Hegel's Master-Slave Dialectic" (short selections)
Gottlob Frege, "Conceptual Notation," "Function and Object" and "On Sense and Reference" (short selections)
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (Prentice Hall)
Willard Quine, From a Logical Point of View (short selections)
PL 453 01 Gandhi: Satyagraha & Society
Pramod Thaker T TH 9*
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
Description:
Gandhi is well known as a freedom fighter for India’s independence. But his deep concern regarding the impact of ‘modern civilization’ on the social fabric and fundamental philosophical reasons underlying his use of nonviolent methods are perhaps not as well known. Moreover, his analysis of importance of social justice was not provincial—limited to what is sometimes called “the third world”—but was universal. In this course, we will examine Gandhian thought through his own writings, and explicate their relevance to the contemporary society. We will examine certain selections from the classical as well as contemporary philosophical literature. This will help us to understand fully Gandhi’s integrated vision of the citizen not only as a reflective but also as an active individual.
Requirements: Two papers, and a final written examination.
Readings:
1) Gandhi Mohandas K. [With a Forward by Sissela Bok] An Autobiography: My Experiments with Truth, Boston: Beacon Press, 1993
2) Mahatma Gandhi: Selected Political Writings. Edited by Dennis Dalton, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
3) Gandhi, Mohandas K., Satyagraha in South Africa, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1996
PL 497 01 Parmenides and the Buddha
Stuart B. Martin MWF 2
Level 1 – Undergraduate Elective
Description:
Parmenides lived during a time when momentous yet similar changes were taking place--or being resisted--in civilizations as distant as Greece and China, and as diverse as Israel and India. What relation did his teaching that Being is One have in the resulting divisions within human consciousness? Was his teaching a logical miscalculation? Or is it a mystical insight? Arguably, Parmenides' message is especially relevant to our own time when the claims of Rationalism and the allure of technology are gradually eroding our appreciation of, and access to, the mysterious realms of myth and religion.
PL 500 01 Philosophy of Law
David Rasmussen TTH 1:30*
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
This course is intended for both pre-law students and those interested in the contemporary interface of philosophy, politics, and law. It will cover the following four topics: (2) a brief overview of the history of interrelation between law and philosophy (Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, and Hegel); (2) constitutional legal theory (Dworkin, Ackerman, Michelman, Hart); (3) critical legal studies (David Kennedy, Duncan Kennedy, and Roberto Unger); (4) law and violence (Nietzsche, Derrida, Foucault, and Rorty).
The course is intended both to provide an overview of these various positions and to enable students to take a critical stance toward current debates.
PL 502 01 American Pragmatism
Catharine Wells TBA
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
Pragmatism is the most distinctive philosophical movement to arise on American soil. Its origins can be traced to a post Civil War discussion group called the Metaphysical Club whose members included Charles Peirce, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and a number of other distinguished thinkers. Their influence extended to many fields well into the twentieth century. In this class, we will consider pragmatism as a theory of meaning, a philosophy of science, and a political theory that places an on-going human community at the center of the quest for knowledge. Readings will include excerpts from the work of Emerson, Bowen, Peirce, James, Holmes, Royce, and Dewey,
Requirements: A short (approximately two pages) reflection paper each week, a class presentation, and a final exam.
PL 505 01 The Aristotelian Ethics
Arthur Madigan, S.J. MWF 1
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
This course includes a reading of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, and it
examines its principal themes: happiness, virtue, responsibility, justice, moral
weakness, friendship, pleasure, and contemplation.
Requirements: Close reading of Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, regular
participation in class meetings: two 3-5 page explications of selected texts; midterm exercise; final examination.
Reading: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, transl. Terence Irwin (2nd ed.)
PL 520 01 Introduction to Existentialism
Richard Kearney TTH 3*
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate
Description:
An introduction to the main questions of existentialist philosophy from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. The major issues dealt with include freedom and determinism, desire and death, anxiety and the search for the absolute.
Requirements: final paper, oral exam
Reading: to be provided in class
PL 541 01 Health Science: East and West
Pramod Thaker TTH 12*
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Satisfies University Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
Description:
This course will explore the underlying ethical suppositions of health care practice. Starting from concrete clinical problems such as the care of the elderly and the influence of technology, the course will attempt to draw out the philosophical assumptions of health care practice and show the necessity of an appropriate philosophical perspective in the resolution of day-to-day ethical dilemmas in health care. A close examination of medical practice, from Hippocratic regimen to high-tech medicine, will be undertaken. As a counterpoint, another ancient medical tradition, from India of about 500 B.C. will be studied. We will investigate how the physicians and philosophers of such diverse schools approach philosophical and ethical problems inherent in medical practice.
Requirements: two papers and a final written examination.
Reading: Selected literature volume to be purchased from the BC Bookstore, 'handout' material given in the class, books on the reserve list in the library
PL 554 01 Philosophy of Poetry and Music
Joseph Flanagan, S.J. MW 4:30*
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction into the world of painting, music, architecture and the dance. Some familiarity with literature will be presumed. After an initial exploration of these artistic worlds, participants will be encouraged to examine their experience in a more philosophical manner, trying to appropriate in a personal way the deeper significance and meaning of art. The influence of art in the formation of culture will be a subsidiary theme. Also, special attention will be given to the ways that the various art forms interrelate and support one another.
Requirements: mid-term exam, final exam, three observation papers
Reading: Four Quartets, Eliot; The Wasteland and Other Poems, Eliot; The Wasteland: A Poem of Memory and Desire, Gush; Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, Vol. 2; The Story of Art, Gombrich; Genius Loci, Norberg-Schulz
PL 577 01 Symbolic Logic: Theory and Practice
Ronald Anderson, S.J. TTH 1:30*
Level 3 - Undergraduate/Graduate
Description:
The intent of the course is to introduce the ways abstract symbolic structures may be used to analyze the logical forms that constitute and are woven into deductive reasoning. The study of these structures is important for exploring the Anglo-American analytic philosophical tradition as well as a range of diverse disciplines that form significant parts of the contemporary intellectual landscape such as the foundations of mathematics, computer science, and linguistics. The course will also explore philosophically interesting properties about logical systems related to the theory of logic - the project of "meta-logic" - including the task of proving if a logical system is complete and consistent.
A number of foundational topics of 20th century logic will be briefly considered such as set theory, Russell's paradox and the main ideas of Gödel's theorems and the associated philosophical issue of whether the procedures of symbolic logic when computerized can capture the full range of human reasoning. The nature of foundations in human knowing forms one of the contested and exciting topics in our contemporary intellectual culture: the implications of logic for exploring this topic will form a background theme to the course. Moreover the course provides resources for understanding the nature of effective reasoning.
Requirements: A number of short take-home assignments during the
semester and open book mid-semester and final exams. The course will require a preparedness to deal with the analysis and manipulation of symbolic structures and for it to work, a commitment to steady practice of techniques between classes. Some prior courses in mathematics or logic then would be an asset, but are not essential as no prior knowledge of logic will be presupposed and the course is an introductory one in that sense.
Readings: 1) The Logic Book with CD solutions, 4th edition. M. Bergmann, J. Moor, and J. Nelson (McGraw-Hill); 2) Gödel's Proof Nagel & Newman, Douglas R. Hofstadter (W. W. Norton ); 3) Various course handouts.
PL 593 01 Philosophy of Science
Ronald Anderson, S.J. T 4:30-6:50
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
The intent of this course is to provide an introduction to the main themes and issues of 20th century philosophy of science as well as the current issues within the discipline. Philosophy of science flourished during last century, largely as a result of remarkable discoveries in the natural sciences that led to a transformed understanding of the nature of science and the traditional studies within philosophy associated with the nature of physical reality.
Following the historical development of the discipline the components of science knowledge and practice such as observation, induction, theory formation that dominated 20th century philosophy of science will be considered first. This will be followed by tracing the transformation of the discipline in the 1960s that arose by the increased attention to the history of science. The work of Kuhn dominated this transformation and helped unravel the earlier epistemologically driven philosophy of science.
Since then other voices have considerably enriched the study of science such as the increased attention to the sociology of scientific knowledge and studies that have explored the role played by culture, power, and institutional contexts in the formation and construction of scientific knowledge. Of particular significance has been the focus on the material aspects of science such as experimentation and the role of scientific texts in the practice of science. Together these studies have made philosophy of science one of the most exciting areas of modern philosophy. They will figure prominently in the course as well as the more systematic issue as to how science is remarkably successful in providing us with knowledge of the structure of the world.
Requirements: A short weekly summary (1-2 pages) on the readings of each topic; a mid-term project consisting of an exploration of one of the course topics; a final written assignment consisting of two or three short essays based on issues that have emerged during the class.
Readings: 1) Peter Godfrey-Smith, Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science (University of Chicago, 2003)
2) Thomas Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (University of Chicago, 3rd edition, 1996)
3) A selection of readings
PL 594 01 Foundations of Ethics
Patrick H. Byrne TH 4:30-6:50pm
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
The problem of ethical thought and ethical living has always been a central concern of philosophical reflection. In the late twentieth century, however, the problem of ethics has reached a state of crisis, as increasingly people have come to suspect that no normative basis for ethics can be found.
The various forms of consensus regarding right and wrong action, good and evil, ethics and morality have become weakened. Traditional communities of ethical formation and sanction display a greater degree of uncertainty and bewilderment, on the one hand, and defensiveness, on the other. In their place there have arisen small but influential and persuasive communities advocating heroically living with "contingency and irony" on the one hand, and assertively attacking traditional standards as repressive.
Underlying at least some of this social, political and cultural crisis is a parallel crisis regarding the "foundations" of ethics as a philosophical mode of inquiry. The "antifoundationalist" critique has been put forth most forcefully by Richard Rorty and other post-modern thinkers.
The many formulated Codes of Ethics – in medicine, law, nursing, engineering, and other professions – have not been sufficient to address these crises. Behind the Codes are the people living or not living out the deeper values behind the codes. This raises the question of what lies behind the Codes – what are the deeper Foundations of Ethics?
In this course we will consider the antifoundationalist challenge to the possibility of foundations, particularly foundations of ethics, in comparison to the work of traditional as well as contemporary thinkers.
Requirements: (1) A term paper identifying and describing in some detail a contemporary ethical issue of special concern to you; summarizing contemporary debate surrounding that issue, analyzing the "foundations" that underpin various positions in the debate, and (2) a final exam,
Readings: Rorty, Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature; Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals; Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics; Austen, Pride and Prejudice; Lonergan, (selected readings); Cronin, Value Ethics; MacIntrye, After Virtue
PL 595 01 Kant’s Critique
Ronald Tacelli, S.J. MW 3*
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
This course is an analysis of the major theme of Kant's philosophy as expressed in his first critique, including a study of its antecedents and consequences in the history of philosophy.
PL 610 01 Pleasure, Happiness and Ethics
Jean-Luc Solere W 2-3:50
Level 3 – Undergraduate/Graduate Elective
Description:
We will examine the status and the role of pleasure in moral life, starting with its foundations in the classical tradition: Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, the Stoics, S. Augustine; we will then consider the problem of beatitude in Middle Ages (intellect vs. will, philosophical beatitude vs. beatific vision), the controversies about pleasure and moral intention in early modern ethics (from Descartes to Kant), with possibly some forays in modern philosophy and psychology (utilitarism, Freud).
Requirements: Since this is an intermediate course (undergrad and grad), the evaluation will be differentiated according to the student’s level. Typically: one longer research paper for grads, a mid-term exam and a paper for undergrads.
Readings: texts selection, to be given in class
PL 720 01 Platonic Theories of Knowledge
Gary M. GurtlerT 4:30-6:15
Level - Graduate
Description:
The purpose of this course will be twofold: 1) to explore Plato’s analysis of perception and memory in the Theaetetus and dialectic and the interweaving of the forms in the Sophist; 2) to investigate Plotinus’ retrieval of this Platonic inheritance in his study of the unity of the soul and its ways of knowing. Both philosophers show the intersection of perception and intellectual knowledge in a way that is essential for understanding the Platonic project as a whole and the possibilities and limits of human knowledge.
Requirements:
Term paper, class summaries, two exams.
Readings:
Plato, Theaetetus (Hackett, 1992) ISBN 0-87220-158-9
Plato, Sophist (University of Chicago, 1984) ISBN 0-226-67032-5
Plotinus, Ennead IV (Harvard, 1984) ISBN 0-674-99488-4
PL 736 01 Theories of Metaphor
Eileen Sweeney M 3-4:50
Level - Graduate
Description:
This course will look at theories of metaphor as a way into important theories of language. We will look at theories of metaphor as a way of considering and perhaps bridging the gap between analytic and continental philosophy in the theories of W.V.O. Quine, John Searle, Donald Davidson, Paul Ricoeur, and Jacques Derrida. We will also consider some of the important theories of metaphor proposed in the twentieth century by Max Black, I.A. Richards, George Lakoff, Robert Fogelin, and others.
PL 742 01 Philosophy of Narrative
Richard Kearney T 6:30-8:15
Level – Graduate
Description:
Exploration of modern philosophies of narrative and its relation to memory and history with particular attention to the recent work of Paul Ricoeur.
Requirements: To be determined in class.
Readings: (Required) P. Ricoeur, Time and Narrative. Vols 1-3, Chicago Univ. Press, 1986-1988; R. Kearney, On Stories, Routledge, 2002.
(Optional) Questioning Ethics, ed. M. Dooley, Routledge, 1999 .E. Casey, Remembering, Indiana Univ. Press, 1987; S. Friedlander, Probing the Limits of Representation, Harvard Univ. Press, 1992; D. Carr, Time, Narrative and History, Indiana Univ. Press, 1986; S. Felman & D. Laub, Testimony, Routledge, 1992; L. Langer, Holocaust Testimonies, Yale Univ. Press, 1991; J. LeGoff, History and Memory, Columbia Univ. Press, 1992; R. Kearney, Strangers, Gods and Monsters (Routledge, 2003).
PL 753 01 Recent Metaethics
Jorge Garcia T 4:30-6:20
Level – Graduate
Description:
Beginning with a short discussion of early and mid-twentieth century treatments of moral ontology, discourse, and reasoning in British and American philosophy, this course concentrates on controversies since the late 1970s focusing on the metaphysics, linguistics, rationality, and motivational force of moral judgments and sentiments. Thinkers treated include G.E. Moore, J. Mackie, J. McDowell, M. Smith, S. Blackburn, P. Pettit, and A. Gibbard.
Readings: Arguing about Metaethics, ed. A. Fisher and S. Kirchin; other articles and chapters to be made available on library reserve.
Requirements: One term paper of about 16 pages and one in-class oral presentation.
PL 776 01 The Greeks and Human Knowledge
William Wians TH 4:30-6:20
Level G – Graduate
Description:
But we must not follow those who advise us, being humans, to think of human things, and, being mortal, of mortal things, but must, so far as we can, make ourselves immortal, and strain every nerve to live in accordance with the best thing in us; for even if it be small in bulk, much more does it in power and worth surpass everything.
Nicomachean Ethics x 7, 1177b31-1178a2 (trans. Ross)
What's th' matter, Pearl Baby?
Too much knowledge, Frankie, too much knowledge.
Pearl Bailey and Frank Sinatra, 1954
From the beginnings of their literature, Greek writers showed a constant concern and even preoccupation with what human beings may know and what may lie concealed from human knowing. The concern is readily apparent in the so-called Pre-Socratic philosophers; but it figures prominently in the works of epic and tragic poets, as well. The course will be devoted to a careful examination of a range of texts relevant to the Greek problem of human knowledge. Seminar members will begin by studying the pre-Platonic phase of the issue, especially as it appears in Greek tragedy and in the fragments of Xenophanes and Heraclitus. We will then examine how the problem of human knowledge informs the works of Plato and Aristotle, as evident in the dialogues Apology and Timaeus, and in key passages of the Metaphysics and Ethics.
Requirements: In addition to regular seminar participation and weekly short position papers, students will submit one research paper. They will also be required to take a self-guided tour of Greek art at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts.
PL 794 01 Philosophy and the Church Fathers
Margaret Schatkin MW 430*
Cross Listed with TH 794
Description:
Introduction to the major Church Fathers and their varying attitudes towards philosophy. The role of philosophy in the development of patristic theology. Particular influences of Aristotle, Epicurus and the Stoa. Reception and transformation of Platonism and the reciprocal influence of Christianity upon Greek thought.
Readings:
- Jaeger, Werner. Early Christianity and Greek Paideia. Harvard.
- Cochrane, Charles. Christianity and Classical Culture. Oxford.
- Pelikan, Jaroslav. What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Univ. of Michigan.
- Stead, Christopher. Philosophy in Christian Antiquity. Cambridge.
- Kofsky, Aryeh. Eusebius of Caesarea against Paganism. Brill Academic.
- Brown, Colin. Christianity and Western Thought: A History of Philosophers, Ideas and Movements. Volume 1: From the Ancient World to the Age of Enlightenment. Intervarsity.
- Brown, Colin. Philosophy and the Christian Faith. Intervarsity.
PL 807 01 Kant’s Critique of Judgment
John Sallis W 4:30-6:50
Level - Graduate
Description:
This course considers the Critique of Judgment both as the completion of the critical philosophy and as the pivotal work of modern aesthetics. The classical themes to be discussed include natural and artistic beauty, genius, aesthetic ideas, and the divisions and nature of the various arts.
Requirements: A term paper will be required.
Readings: Kant, Critique of Judgment.
PL 809 01 Law and Politics in Kant
David Rasmussen TH 4 30-6 20
Level – Graduate
PL 832 01 Philosophy and Theology in Aquinas
Oliva Blanchette M 6:30-8:15
Level – Graduate
Description:
A study of how Aquinas comes to understand theology as a scientific discipline that has to use philosophy to make the truth of Revelation manifest. Special attention will be given to methodological discussions at the beginning of the various parts of the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles as well as to the order of both theology and philosophy as he understood them. An attempt will be made to show how the commentaries on Aristotle, in which he is most properly himself a philosopher, are an essential part of his being a theologian.
Requirements: term paper, final oral examination
Reading: Aquinas: Summa Theologiae; Summa Contra Gentiles; In Boethium De Trinitate; etc.
PL 833 01 Towards an Ethics of Psychoanalysis
William Richardson, S.J. TH 6:30-8:30
Level G - Advanced Graduate Seminar
Description:
Jacques Lacan (1900-1981), the so-called “French Freud,” claimed that Freud’s discovery of the unconscious reveals a dimension of the human subject that sabotages all traditional approaches to ethics and challenges us to rethink the foundation of ethics in these newly discovered terms. This Seminar proposes to evaluate this claim, by asking whether the human subject, conceived in such fashion, can indeed serve as ground for an ethics specifically proper to the psychoanalytic experience..
Requirements:
The Seminar will presuppose a general familiarity with the Freudian problematic but not necessarily a sophisticated one.
Active participation in class discussion will be expected , whether participants seek academic credit or not. In other words, there will be no passive spectators.
For academic credit, one term paper (of approximately 1500 words in length) will be expected, to be followed by a ½ hour discussion with he professor of both paper and the general themes of the course. Grades will be based ex aequo both on this discussion and on general class participation.
Readings:
J Lacan, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan, Book VII. The Ethics of Psychoanalysis (1959-1960). Trans. by D, Porter. New York: W.W. Norton, 1992.
Selected readings. To be distributed.
Recommended background:
P. Gay, Freud. A Life for Our Time. New York: Norton, 1988.
W. W. Meissner, The Ethical Dimension of Psychoanalysis. A Dialogue. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. 2003.
PL 856 01 Seminar: Heidegger II
Thomas J. Owens W 3-4:20
Level - Graduate
Prerequisite: PL 855
Description:
This is a continuation of the fall semester course (PL 855) and open only to students who have participated in that course.
Requirements: class presentations, term paper, oral, final examination
PL 871 01 The Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas
Peter Kreeft TH 430-615
Level -Graduate
Description:
Investigation into Thomistic metaphysics (1) in St. Thomas himself and (2) in light of contemporary movements especially in phenomenology and existentialism, and (3) its radical consequences in epistemology, anthropology, and ethics.
Prerequisites: familiarity with Aristotelian logic and philosophy (suggested minimum: Mortimer Adler, Aristotle for Everybody) and the major figures in the history of philosophy.
Requirements: to be chosen by the class: seminar papers, take-home exam, supervised term papers, or other. This class is designed as a seminar; active participation and discussion is expected of all.
Readings: Summa of the Summa (edited version of the Summa's philosophically important passages). The Elements of Christian Philosophy by Etienne Gilson (exposition of Thomistic philosophy following the order of the Summa). Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Dumb Ox by G.K. Chesterton (lively biography which the best Thomistic scholars have all called the best book ever written about St. Thomas). The One and the Many by W. Norris Clarke, S.J. (the signature themes of Thomistic metaphysics related to modern philosophy, especially phenomenology, existentialism, and philosophy of science). Summa Contra Gentiles, Book I (more extensive version of the philosophical beginnings in the Summa Theologiae)
PL 901 01 Husserl’s Later Works
Richard Cobb-Stevens T 4:30-6:15
Level – Graduate
Description:
This course is designed as a continuation of the fall semester course in Husserl's Logical Investigations. It will focus on the principal themes of the following works of the later Husserl: Cartesian Meditations, The Crisis of European Sciences and
Transcendental Phenomenology, and On the Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time (1893-1917).
Requirements: a research paper
Readings:
Edmund Husserl, Cartesian Meditations (Kluwer Academic Publishers)
Edmund Husserl, The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, trans. David Carr (Northwestern Univ. Press)
Edmund Husserl, On the Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time (1893-1917) (Kluwer Academic Publishers)
PL 990 01 Teaching Seminar
Richard Cobb-Stevens F 4:30-6
Level – Graduate
Description:
This course is required of all first- and second-year doctoral candidates. This course includes discussion of teaching techniques, planning of curricula, and careful analysis of various ways of presenting major philosophical texts.
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