PHIL 101  Introduction to Philosophy   An introduction to the philosophical project through a consideration of key themes of Ancient and Medieval Western philosophy. When it comes to the Ancient world, the course will include pre-Socratic thought, but will emphasize the thought of Plato and Aristotle. Study of the Medieval period will involve texts of the professor’s choosing from early Medieval thinkers such as St. Augustine and Boethius. The course will also include some Aristotelian logic and skills in critical reading and thinking. Required of all students.

PHIL 102  Philosophy of Human Nature   A systematic investigation of the nature of man, including a demonstration of the immateriality of the intellectual soul, the unity of the human person, his subsistence, freedom of the will, sensory and intellectual knowledge, and his natural end: God.  The study will be based largely on texts of St. Thomas Aquinas and will include a consideration of contrasting positions.  Required of all students.

PHIL 201 Ethics A systematic investigation of Aristotelian/Thomistic ethics, the subject of which is human action ordered to an end.  The good human life is understood in terms of achieving the ultimate end of contemplative union with God through growth in virtue, with the instruction of law.  Other topics include the voluntary character of human action and moral good and evil. Primary texts include the Nicomachaen Ethics of Aristotle and the Prima secundae of St. Thomas’s Summa theologiae.  Other major contemporary ethical systems will also be considered.  Required of all students.

PHIL 202 Metaphysics   An introduction to an elementary Christian metaphysics of being based on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas.  Topics covered include an analysis of being in terms of essence and existence, a demonstration of the existence and nature of God based on that analysis, the categories, the transcendental modes of being, and cognitional being.  Required of all students.

PHIL 101-202 are prerequisites for all advanced courses, unless an exemption is granted by the Academic Dean (302) or the Department Chair (courses numbered higher than 302).

PHIL 301 History of Medieval Philosophy  A survey of Medieval Philosophy from late classical antiquity to the late Middle Ages. Topics to be considered include issues in natural theology, the relation of faith and reason, human nature, and the problem of universals. Philosophic positions of Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and William of Ockham are featured. Primary texts are examined as appropriate, and the course discusses the relation of medieval thought to that of earlier and later periods of philosophy. Required of all students.

PHIL 302 History of Modern Philosophy  A survey of modern Western philosophy which covers the period Descartes to Nietzsche, although instructors may provide context before Descartes and after Nietzsche. One emphasis of the course is Descartes, Hume, and Kant on human nature, epistemology, and on our knowledge of the existence and nature of God. Primary texts are examined as appropriate, and the course discusses the relation of modern thought to that of earlier and later periods of philosophy. Required of all students.

PHIL 312 Thomistic Ethics   An in-depth study of the natural norms for the morality of human behavior as elucidated by the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.

PHIL 314 Philosophy of Family and Household   An investigation of the “second part” of ethics( the first being individual ethics and the third being political) that which concerns the household, and how human good is sought and achieved in that context.. Based upon readings from the primary texts of philosophers especially Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ commentary on Aristotle, as well as those of contemporary writers.

PHIL 315 Society and the Common Good  An investigation of the social nature of man and his ultimate end as a common good. Based upon readings from the primary texts of philosophers including Plato, Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as those of twentieth-century Thomistic commentators.

PHIL 321 Philosophy of Nature  An enquiry into the nature of the physical world based on the philosophy of nature of St. Thomas Aquinas. Includes readings from St. Thomas’s Principles of Nature and his Commentary on Aristotle’s Physics.

PHIL/CECS 322 Plato  A reading of several dialogues from different periods of Plato’s development, with reference to Plato’s influence on later philosophy.

PHIL/CECS 323 Aristotle  Reading and analysis of extensive selections from the Organon, Physics, On the Soul, Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics. The magnitude of Aristotle’s philosophical achievements, his profound influence on later ages, and the extent to which his work was used by the medieval schoolmen also will be considered.

PHIL/CECS 324 Philosophy of St. Augustine  The background, life, and writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, with special reference to his contributions to philosophy and his influence on Western thought.

PHIL 325 Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas  The background, life, and writings of St. Thomas, with special reference to his contributions to the various branches of philosophy.

PHIL 326 The Passions  An introduction to the thought of St. Thomas on the passions through a close reading and discussion of selected texts from his writings.

PHIL 327 Philosophy of Psychology  An investigation of the rise of modern psychology in the thought of Freud, the way it differs from a Thomistic philosophy of man and the way certain modern thinkers have placed the insights of Freud on a Thomistic basis. Other prominent modern psychologists will also be considered.

PHIL 328 Philosophy of Education  An investigation of the nature of teaching and learning with special emphasis on classical and Christian thinkers and a consideration of contemporary problems.

PHIL/THEO 329 Applied Rational Psychology  A study of the psychology of the human person using Thomistic principles of human nature. Theory and examples are studied to develop a proper understanding of the science of psychology as subordinated to a proper philosophic understanding of human nature. Defects of modern psychology are examined in so far as they arise from modern misunderstandings of human nature and of what a science is.

PHIL 330 The Cardinal Virtues  This course offers a comprehensive examination of St. Thomas Aquinas’ treatment of the cardinal virtues, with a particular emphasis upon the application of his virtue ethics to challenges associated with life in the 21st century. The principal texts will be St. Thomas’ Summa Theologiae and Josef Pieper’s The Four Cardinal Virtues.

PHIL 331 Freedom of the Will  This course focuses on one of the perennial questions about man, viz., the question of whether man acts freely. The course first considers the strongest arguments for determinism. Then the rest of the course considers the various arguments for free choice as given by St. Thomas Aquinas.

PHIL 332 Masculinity & Femininity   The purpose of the course on masculinity and femininity is to understand why and how man and woman are complementary embodiments of what it is to be human. More specifically, the purpose is to understand how man and woman complement one another physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Readings will be taken from different perspectives, e.g. biological, philosophical, psychological, and sociological. The course will cover a variety of texts drawn from both contemporary and older sources.

PHIL 333 Philosophy of Friendship  An in-depth study of one of the central themes in ethics/moral philosophy: the nature, kinds, and importance of friendship. Includes a careful reading of St. Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on Nicomachean Ethics (books 8 and 9) and St. Aelred’s Spiritual Friendship.

PHIL 334 Philosophical Themes in Film  This course encourages students to develop the habit of bringing their philosophical education to bear on their consumption of film. Philosophical readings will be paired with films from a variety of genres, cultures, and periods in cinematic history. The course will expand the student’s understanding of issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of nature and science, philosophy of human nature, ethics, political philosophy, and the history of philosophy, while also helping the student appreciate the unique way in which film is able to communicate philosophical insight.

PHIL 401 Recent Philosophy   A study of philosophy in the 19th and 20th centuries, with selected readings in primary sources. Required of Philosophy majors. Prerequisite: PHIL 302 or permission of the Chairman.

PHIL 403 Epistemology  An investigation into the nature of human knowing based on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas. The course may compare and contrast material from other thinkers.

PHIL 404 Philosophy of God   An advanced metaphysical study of the existence, nature, and attributes of God, based on the philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas with consideration of other philosophies. Required of Philosophy majors.

PHIL 412 Modern Moral Theories  An investigation of some of the major moral theories of the modern era beginning in the 16th century. Theories are examined in themselves and analyzed from the viewpoint of the Aristotelian/Thomistic tradition.

PHIL/SCIE 420 Philosophical Issues in Modern Science  The aim of the course is to familiarize students with the basic scientific discoveries of the 20th Century regarding the origin of the universe, the existence of a creator, and the immaterial nature of man and how they relate to the Thomistic understanding of the same issues. Topics include “Big Bang” Cosmology, Anthropic coincidences, the human mind and the computer, Quantum Mechanics and reality, and philosophical issues in contemporary evolutionary biology.

PHIL 421 The Will and the Virtues  A systematic study based on the Summa Theologiae of St. Thomas Aquinas of the nature of the will, the relation between intellect and will, the nature of habit and virtue, the types of virtue, and particular virtues, especially the cardinal virtues.

PHIL 422 Philosophy of Art and Beauty  With the aid of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, this course articulates an understanding of art as mimesis, or imitation, and the beauty that forms a crucial part of that understanding. The “languages” of specific mimetic arts—the novel, drama, painting, music, and cinema—will be considered, and a contrast made to the modern conception of art as a form of expressive authenticity.

PHIL/LATN/THEO 423 Latin Readings in St. Thomas Aquinas  An advanced study of scholastic Latin and an in-depth reading of selections from St. Thomas’s Summa Theologiae and other treatises. The portions of the Summa studied will vary. This course may be repeated for credit. (Cross-listed in Latin and Theology.)

PHIL 425 Contemplation and the Philosophical Life  An investigation of the nature and nobility of contemplation and the contemplative life, as well as of issues related to the pursuit of wisdom, such as discipleship, tradition, and philosophy as a craft.

PHIL 427 Issues in Contemporary Philosophy  A special study of some current theme, movement, or style of philosophizing, such as the thought of Karol Wojtyla, philosophy of science, philosophy of war, phenomenology, linguistic analysis, or contemporary Catholic philosophical movements.

PHIL 428 Ethics of John Paul II   An analysis of the ethical thought of John Paul II. The objective is to understand not only how the late Holy Father brings together different traditions in ethics, but also and primarily what he has to say about the truth about human beings and the goodness of their behavior, especially in their relations with one another, and especially in the relations of man and woman with each other. Readings will be taken from Love and Responsibility and Person and Community: Selected Essays.

PHIL 429 Philosophy of Creation  This course is unified by a single, trans-epochally fascinating question: What can reason know about the duration of the world? Answers to this question will be examined by reading texts from the Pre-Socratic philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Bl. Boethius, the Islamic and Jewish philosophers of the Middle Ages, among others, before special attention is given to the contentious debates about the question that arose among the medieval schoolmen, particularly St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, Siger of Brabant, and Boethius of Dacia. The course will conclude by putting the insights of modern cosmology and philosophy of science in conversation with the conclusions of the ancient and medieval philosophers. Along the way, a range of themes, such as the nature of time, the division of the sciences, the limits of faith and reason, and the relationship between God and creation will be addressed.

PHIL 430 Philosophy of Technology   This elective explores the philosophical origins and nature of that cultural phenomenon we call technology. Central to our discussion will be the question of whether modern technology is a mere continuation of processes first put in motion in pre-modern cultures, or whether it represents an essential transformation of culture and human consciousness.

PHIL 433 Philosophy of Culture   This course takes up four main tasks: [1] to pursue a philosophical definition of culture; [2] to distinguish the pre-modern understanding of culture as leisure, which flourished in the Christian Middle Ages, from the modern understanding of culture as progress; [3] to discuss how it is possible for there to be a dialogue of cultures aimed at truth; and [4] to explore practical means of reactivating a genuine understanding of culture within our current secular culture.

PHIL 434 Poetic Experience & Truth   Poetic experience refers to an engagement with reality defined more by intuition, the imagination, the emotions, and the will than by the reasoning modes of the intellect. Both Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas have important things to say about poetic experience, and their thought and writings play a crucial role in the inquiry of this course, as do writings by John Henry Cardinal Newman, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, Iain McGilchrist, and J.R.R. Tolkien.

PHIL 437: Ancient Philosophies of China and India  This course is designed to help students educated within the matrix of the Western and Christian world to engage and become conversant in the perennially important philosophical texts and ideas from China and India. Seminally important texts from the Confucian, Taoist, Mohist, Hindu, and Buddhist traditions will be read and discussed. Issues in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of nature, ethics, and politics will be emphasized.

PHIL 489 Honors Seminar  A seminar on a special topic in philosophy to be determined by the department chairman in consultation with interested and qualified students. Prerequisites: Minimum 3.25 GPA and permission of the Department Chairman. (4 credit hours)

PHIL 490-99 Special Topics or Directed Studies in Philosophy   A special study of some area such as axiology, cosmology, epistemology, logic, metaphysics, mathematics, moral philosophy, natural law, or philosophy of history.

PHIL 511: Senior Thesis Seminar  This seminar, a capstone experience of the philosophy major, focuses on items such as the art of choosing an appropriate thesis topic, research methods, and compositional elements and style—all in preparation for the writing of a thesis that will articulate basic principles of philosophy in the Thomistic tradition in dialogue with philosophical thinkers from rival traditions. The seminar will have its own set of mandatory readings and ancillary assignments.

PHIL 512 Senior Seminar and Thesis   Direction of the student with his senior thesis, a major scholarly paper on a philosophical topic of his interest. The student receives instruction and individual assistance in the development of a topic, research methods, outlining, organizing, and writing a philosophical paper. The student may be required to defend his thesis in an oral presentation.