101 Plato An examination of the main influences on Plato's formation and an analysis of his principal dialogues. Major themes of the course will be Plato's theory of Forms and their interrelation; the material world and the Demiurge; the soul, happpiness, and the influence of Plato's philosophy on subsequent writers.
Credit: 3 semester hours
102 Aristotle
A study of Aristotle's positions on the central philosophical issues. There will be an examination of Aristotle's understanding of philosophical method as well as his major treatises.
Credit: 3 semester hours
110 Metaphysics
An inquiry into some fundamental questions of metaphysics.
Credit: 3 semester hours
113 Aquinas
An analysis of the distinct philosophical contributions of Aquinas; his synthesis of Aristotle, Plato, and Augustine and his influence on later philosophers.
Credit: 3 semester hours
122 Ethics
An examination of the fundamental problems of ethics. Classical and contemporary ethical theories are evaluated.
Credit: 3 semester hours
132 Philosophical Anthropology
An examination, comparison, and evaluation of various conceptions of the human person that have been proposed in the history of philosophy.
Credit: 3 semester hours
133 Kant
A detailed study of the major works of Kant and the significance of these works for philosophy.
Credit: 3 semester hours
135 Logic
Methodological investigations of classical and non-classical systems.
Credit: 3 semester hours
140 Philosophy of Science
A study of the central issues in contemporary theory of science such as the nature of scientific explanation, the criteria for verification and corroboration, the role of falsification, the theory ladenness of obervation, the growth and development of scientific knowledge, and the ontological import of scientific theory.
Credit: 3 semester hours
145 History of Scientific Ideas I: Aristotle to Newton
A discussion of early scientific thought through a reading of the classic texts in the history of science. Among the authors read will be: Aristotle, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes, Kepler, and Newton.
Credit: 3 semester hours
146 History of Scientific Ideas II: 19th and 20th Century Science
A discussion of contemporary scientific thought through a reading of the classic texts in the history of science. Along the authors read will be: Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein, Freud, Bohr, and Hawking.
Credit: 3 semester hours
169 Commerce, Morality, and Public Policy (cf. Management 131)
An inquiry into the ethical, economic, social, and political concepts that underlie commerce and enterprise. In addition, an examination and discussion of the ethical issues faced by management and the role of government in commerce.
Credit: 3 semester hours
259 Philosophy of Law
A study of the historical development of the philosophy of law from its earliest thinkers (Plato, Aristotle) through the important developments of Stoicism and Aquinas to the most significant contemporary views.
Credit: 3 semester hours
267 Political Philosophy
An examination of the question: Is there any standard, norm, or principal by which a society's governmental, legal, and other institutional arrangements can be ethically evaluated? Theories of institutional justification are examined.
Credit: 3 semester hours
270 Theories of Knowledge
An examination of the central questions of epistemology. Classical, modern, and contemporary approaches to knowledge are evaluation. Special attention is given to the question: What is knowledge?
Credit: 3 semester hours
290 Philosophy of Religion
A study of the philosophy of religion as it has its foundation in an ontology of relatedness. The thought of Aquinas will be given special attention as well as that of Hume, Kant and Hegel.
Credit: 3 semester hours
325 Marxism
A tracing of the origins of Marx's thought in German Idealism through its development into a social, political and economic theory to its utilization in later schools (e.g., Frankfurt School, Liberation Theory). A close analysis of selected texts is conducted.
Credit: 3 semester hours
326 Descartes
An analysis of Descartes' major works, with special attention to the Meditations, and his continued influence in philosophy.
Credit: 3 semester hours
330 British Empiricism
A study of the presuppositions and implications in the thought of the British Empiricists--particularly, Lock, Berkeley and Hume. Primary attention will be given to how the epistemological issues raised by these thinkers affect contemporary views in philosophy of mind, scientific theory and method, natural theology and philosophical anthropology.
Credit: 3 semester hours
342 Hegel
A detailed study of the major works of Hegel and significance of those works for philosophy.
Credit: 3 semester hours
347 Heidegger
A study of the evolution of Heidegger's thought from the early phenomenological period through Sein und Zeit and the "turn" in 1930 that manifested itself in Vom Wessen der Wahrheit to the "poetic thinking" of the final phase of his thought.
Credit: 3 semester hours
350 Pragmatism
An investigation of some of the central theses of American Pragmatic thought in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of science. Peirce, James, Dewey, Lewis, Quine and Rorty are studied.
Credit: 3 semester hours
352 Existentialism
The origin of contemporary existentialism; its development, various forms and main representatives. The leading ideas will be presented and evaluated from selected writings especially those of S. Kierkegaard, M. Heidegger, J-P. Sartre, M. Merleau-Ponty, K. Jaspers and G. Marcel. Present discussion and problems regarding existentialism, as a whole will be considered.
Credit: 3 semester hours
354 Phenomenology
Foundation and development of Husserl's phenomenology and his influence on subsequent thinkers.
Credit: 3 semester hours
396 Analytic Philosophy
A study of basis trends in contemporary analytical philosophy; analysis and critique of language, ordinary and artificial language; verifiability, meaning, and truth; problems of analytic-synthetic distinction; the philosophy of Wittgenstein.
Credit: 3 semester hours