51 courses with the subject PL, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
PL 102THE ART OF SOCRATIC DIALOGUE3
We are told that part of being a good citizen or friend depends on whether we can respond charitably to others even when we disagree. "Civic" or "civil" dialogue is championed as the standard mode of communication in public and private spheres, even when there may be few examples we can name of civil or civic discourse in action. How, then, can we know and recognize what true dialogue is as distinct from everyday conversation, debate, or purely rhetorical speech-giving? This course will take students through the principles, practice, and end of authentic dialogue, primarily through the lens of a self-proclaimed lover of speeches, Socrates. Socrates is sometimes called the founder of a certain "method" or "art" of conversation aimed at uncovering truth-we even call his way of progressing through an argument "the Socratic method." But what exactly is this art? What are its criteria and how do we recognize true dialogue and dialectic? How do we distinguish Socrates' mode of conversation from rhetoric? What are tools available in the structure of our language that allow for us to construct true and beautiful arguments? What role does the principle of charity have in dialogue? Finally, what is the fundamental end of Socratic dialectic? In this course, students will have the opportunity to reflect on the answers to these questions as they learn to write and speak with excellence according to principles of good, charitable conversation.
This introductory course seeks to formalize the everyday use of logic to distinguish correct and incorrect forms of reasoning. After setting general terms for argument analysis, the distinguishing features of deductive and inductive arguments are noted. Language as the vehicle of logic is considered, including the purposes and types of definition and recognition of common informal fallacies. The balance of the 242
This course is an introduction to the liberal art of logic, teaching you how to reason effectively, analyze arguments, and question assumptions in the pursuit of knowledge. The focus is on syllogistic logic, and thus will help you learn the methods of reasoning at the heart of a liberal arts education. While logic can be used, and often abused, by those who seek power or to persuade others to accept their point of view, its true aim is to help one form the habits necessary for pursuing the Truth that alone can set one free. In order to focus on this liberating objective of logic, we will structure our study around the three acts of the mind by which one obtains knowledge.
This course considers philosophical thought from the late 16th century to the end of the 18th century--a period marked by profound intellectual, religious, and political revolutions. Through a radical critique of late medieval philosophy, modern philosophers created the new science that evolved into the natural sciences that we know today. And through a complex rethinking of the relationship between freedom, community, and law, they contributed to the political, moral, and religious transformations that set the stage for our contemporary culture. At the discretion of the instructor, this course will consider thinkers such as Montaigne, Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Rousseau, Hume, and/or Kant.
This course begins with a study of the monumental work of the 18th- century philosopher, Immanuel Kant, and then proceeds to consider the various reactions to this work in the following century. It is difficult to overestimate the influence of Kant, who not only set the terms for the debates that followed him, but provided a narrative of modern philosophy that continues to dominate discussions of the thought that preceded him. Although best known for his revolutionary critique of reason, which radically limits the access that the human subject has to the world-in-itself, Kant himself was equally concerned with questions about the moral, political, and aesthetic experience of the human subject. He insisted that human beings are agents with equal and inviolable dignity, and he reconceived of history as humanity's self-education in freedom. In so doing, he initiated a philosophical discussion emphasizing human subjectivity, individual freedom and self-expression, and a philosophy of history itself. This discussion was carried forward by numerous 19th-century thinkers, including Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Marx, and Nietzsche. The course will consider some of these thinkers (and possibly others), at the discretion of the instructor.
This course examines the philosophical thought of the 19th and 20th centuries. It takes as its starting point the rebellion against the Kantian world view, and focuses on the increasingly important roles played by history and human individuality in philosophical reflection. In pursuing this theme, the approaches of positivism, existential phenomenology, and the Anglo-American analytic movement will be examined. The course considers, among others, such thinkers as Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Russell, and Heidegger. Prerequisite: PL101.
The attention of this course is directed at the question: What does it mean to be a human being? The course will systematically examine some of the leading views of human existence set forth over the last 24 centuries. The guiding perspective for the investigation will come from contemporary suggestions. Thinkers of this century have urged that we must pay close attention to the fact that while humans do have the capacity to act independently of the constraints of instinctual and biologically determined behavior, we are embodied, and thus must acknowledge the historical, linguistic, and cultural elements of our being. Within this context, the course will reflect on the objective, subjective, or ultimately fluid character of human nature. It will examine the variously suggested rational, passionate, playful, moral, religious, or gender-based character of humanity. 3 credits
This course considers some of the philosophical underpinnings of leadership, broadly construed. We will consider various contexts of leadership, for example, political, business, communal leadership, in a way that is rooted within the mission of the college. 3 credits
This course will consider opposing viewpoints on contemporary issues such as abortion, racism, sexual morality, the environment, capital punishment, hunger, legislation, and public policy. Students will also be asked to review concepts such as subjectivism, psychological and ethical egoism, the relationship between morality and religion, and the possibility of objectivity in ethics. Prerequisite PL101.
This course investigates the different ways that human beings think of the environment and the influence that these various conceptions have upon defining what, if any, responsibility human beings have to the natural world. Special attention will be given to the source and meaning of the term "value" as well as to the specifications that are used to assign or distribute this term. The principal environmental theories that indicate the origin and range of value that will be examined include: anthropocentrism, individualism, holism, biocentrism, ecocentrism, speciesism and ecofeminism. Some practical concerns that will be examined in order to consider the implications of the various value theories are urban growth, poverty, use of natural resources, energy production, food production and distribution, pollution and population control.
Minors are listed in alphabetical order beginning on page 104. For information on Biology, Exercise Science, and n: Sustainability and Integral Ecology minors, please refer to that section. 41
This course explores, both topically and historically, the various avenues which philosophical thought has followed in its attempts to understand how humans gain knowledge of themselves and the world in which they are situated. Representative views of classical thought, continental rationalism, British empiricism, transcendental idealism, 20th-century realism, and phenomenology will be examined. In each case, the structure of consciousness and the relation of consciousness to objects known will be explored. Flowing from this will be a consideration of their respective accounts of perception, conception, memory, judgment, and truth. Throughout the course, each of the views will be critically evaluated as to its adequacy of the human experience. This course provides serious and advanced study in the discipline.
This course is designed to acquaint pre-theology students with the rudiments of philosophical inquiry. In addition to an overview of the basic questions, concepts and approaches of the various philosophical disciplines (e.g. epistemology, ethics, metaphysics), special emphasis is placed on presenting philosophy as a propaedeutic to theological studies. In the grand tradition of Saint Anselm's fides quaerens intellectum, the course seeks to guide the student along the border regions where faith and reason touch. Philosophy majors and minors only;
This course will examine the history, nature, and importance of the : emotions from various philosophical perspectives. Topics to be addressed include: What are the emotions, and how, if at all, do they differ from the passions? What theories (past and present) of emotions are available and viable? How do our emotions relate to our reason? Why are emotions so important to us? What is the relationship between the emotions and morality, and emotions and art? We will also discuss specific emotions, such as joy, grief, pride, and humiliation. The course is an appropriate second course in philosophy but also should be of interest to more advanced students.
In this course participants will seek to explore the puzzling relationship between Eros and philia. We will lay down a foundation by seeking traditional philosophical answers as to how to embrace the paradoxical aspects of love, looking for advice from such diverse thinkers as Plato, Augustine, Rousseau, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Freud. After establishing this footing we will extend our investigation by listening to the counsel of psychologists, psychoanalysts, artists and poets. Finally, we will look to contemporary contributions made by those employing the tools of feminism and post structural analysis. Interspersed throughout the course we will concretize our theoretical reflections with examinations of specific issues such as the dialectic between the erotic and the pornographic and the multivalenced direction of sexuality.
This course is designed to introduce the student to some of the basic metaphysical themes. It will be concerned with various areas of theoretical philosophy, considering questions regarding: the nature of the world, knowledge and truth, freedom, the mind-body view of man, and various conceptions of God. The approach of the course will be problem-oriented, and the medium will be the views of various major thinkers in Western Philosophy. This course provides serious and advanced study in the discipline.
In this course students will consider major theories in the philosophy of art, working to gain a pluralistic understanding of aesthetics. These concepts, from classical, contemporary and post-modern sources, will 244
This course discusses the term "god" as used among different peoples and cultures, with special emphasis, of course, on the Judeo- Christian understanding of it. Distinct from sacred theology, it examines by the light of reason the proofs for the existence of God and related questions. The course also considers modern problems about theism and atheism.
This course is designed to address the general question of what it means to take up the world in a "scientific" way. It traces the historical genesis of this special way of knowing, examining how scientific thought came to set itself apart from "non-scientific" engagement with the world. Of particular concern is the division of science, begun in the 19th century, into three branches: the natural, social, and human sciences. The justifications for this division are examined, giving careful attention to their divergence as well as to the question of an underlying commonality. Reflection on the ongoing ramifications of this rift for contemporary life brings the course to it close. Readings will be drawn from across the history of the philosophy of science, including such thinkers as Aristotle, Galileo, Bacon, Comte, Mill, Dilthey, Mach, Carnap, Popper, and Kuhn.
The course begins with basic propositional logic using truth table tests for arguments, then moves to the validation of arguments with the aid of simplification and inference rules. Attention is then directed to propositional proofs, including indirect and conditional proofs. Basic quantification logic follows, beginning with quantificational formulas, translations, proofs, and refutations. The next step is quantificational logic employing identity and relational translations, and arguments. As time permits, a study of modal logic will follow. Two previous courses in philosophy recommended.
Courses in many disciplines use non-print media such as music and film on an ad hoc or as-useful basis. The purpose of this course, in contrast, is to explore systematically and intentionally some relationships between traditional philosophical documents and cinematic "texts." Each section of the course explores a theme such as (but not limited to) philosophy and science fiction, existentialism, humor/comedy, God and religion, the works of Jane Austen, and so forth. Films shown as classroom assignments are treated as serious texts for analysis and critique, just as the philosophical texts that complement it are treated.
New technology always carries with it, new questions about the use and ramifications of such technology. This course addresses various morally relevant questions and problems that arise on account of technological advancement. It will survey the history and philosophy of technology and explore ethical theory with respect, but not limited, to cybertechnology, or surveillance technology and new media; robot technology and artificial intelligence; and biotechnology. Our goal is to consider certain moral frameworks in terms of how well they can provide directives in the face of growing automation. 3 credits
Just before facing execution, Socrates made the bold claim that philosophers do not fear death and even welcome it as a blessed release from bodily existence. Why do those of us who lack Socrates's courage fear death? What exactly are we afraid of? How do we live in the face of death? How do we confront it? This class explores such questions through the use of literature, philosophy, and film.
"Without music, life would be a mistake" (Friedrich Nietzsche). We lovers of music know exactly what Nietzsche means here: we have s been moved, disturbed, made joyous, or despairing, by the muse of melody and poetic verse. Why does music have this effect on us? What does it MEAN for us? Can music be good or bad for us? Is there a moral aspect to creating music or to listening to it? Such are the questions that inspire this course, which offers a reflection on music as a liberal art and in relation to our Catholic and Benedictine mission.
Outdoor leadership as a pedagogical movement can be traced to Kurt Hahn and to the Outward-Bound system of schools he helped to found in the 1940s. Since then, this unique form of education has developed into a variety of forms, and a wealth of philosophical principles have been developed to guide its implementation. Additionally, Benedictine monasticism is connected with outdoor education both historically and in contemporary scholarship. In this travel course, we will look at some of the key figures and philosophical ideas that guide outdoor leadership, and put them into practice ourselves during a fall break backpacking trip. Our course will consist of three components: first, study of the philosophical texts that have shaped the outdoor leadership movement and examination of their connections to Benedictine monasticism; second, backpacking, first aid, and wilderness training; and third, a 35-40 mile backpacking trip over fall break on the Laurel Highlands Trail that emphasizes the moral, physical, philosophical, and spiritual components of outdoor leadership. 3 credits
This course allows students to build upon their understanding of the philosophy and practice of outdoor leadership. Building upon what they learned in PL-263 (Outdoor Leadership: Philosophy and Practice), they will engage in research and take on greater leadership roles on the backpacking trip. PL-263: required pre-requisite. 3 credits. 245
A survey of the history of reflection on fundamental political goods by both classical and modern writers. Readings will normally include, but not be limited to, material from a subset of these philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Marx. Common themes may include the nature of law, justice and rights, the social contract, purposes and justifiability of economic institutions, cultural influences on the identification and attainment of social values, the possibility of political objectivity or neutrality, and the like.
Catholicism has a long tradition of political inquiry that has made many important theoretical and practical contributions to the way we live. From a philosophic perspective, it bears a close resemblance to ancient political philosophy yet diverges in significant ways from modern political philosophy. This divergence raises an important practical question: How can Catholics in America reconcile faith and citizenship? This class is designed to answer that question. To do so we will read important contributors to the Catholic intellectual tradition, contemporary authors, as well as political rhetoric in America. Cross-listed with PS-261.
* Students may test out of these courses + Offered every other spring in odd-numbered years Communication and Media Studies (18 Credits): Required Courses (4 courses/ 12 credits):
St. Thomas Aquinas is a thinker and saint for all times, in the words of Pope St. John Paul II, "a master of thought and a model of the right way to do theology." The Church upholds Aquinas as the Common Doctor and those who want to understand Her teachings must have a solid grasp of his methodology, technical vocabulary, and theoretical framework. This class serves as an introduction to Aquinas's thought, focusing specifically on his practical philosophical theology (moral, economic, and political thought).
While all of the virtues play important roles in moral action, justice and charity stand apart as the two virtues that allow us to secure the good of the community. It is through justice that we give to others what is due, and through charity that we direct our actions to the highest good of eternal happiness. This course provides a thorough study of these two virtues and their role in moral, economic, and political life. It will do so via a close examination of one of the greatest exponents of virtue theory, St. Thomas Aquinas. After a systematic study of Aquinas' key principles and concepts, the final section of the course will show how his insights can be applied to contemporary issues and to the study of Catholic Social Teaching. 3 credits
In the 1850s, John Henry Newman became involved in a project to found a new university in Dublin, Ireland that would serve the marginalized Catholic population. To this end, determined to set forth the guiding principles of the school he would be so instrumental in founding, he gave a series of lectures on the nature of a university. These lectures eventually were worked into the book The Idea of a University. In addition to the impact of these lectures on the Irish educational system, his writings are still held up today all around the world as a model articulation of the mission of higher education. After a look at the primary texts that have shaped Irish intellectual life, we will then turn to Newman himself and his contribution to the pressing questions of Irish education in his times and into the Irish present, and conclude our course by thinking on how these lessons from the Land of Saints and Scholars could be applied to our globalized world. The travel component of this course will take us to the Emerald Isle itself. Over the course of a week during Christmas break, we will visit historic sites associated with the great figures and Institutions shaping Irish intellectual life, paying special attention to the Dublin campus Newman established.
This course will examine various aspects of the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche, his critical reception and ongoing influence. For the specific themes to be addressed during a given semester, please consult with the instructor. Prerequisite: two courses in philosophy or the permission of the instructor. 3 credits
Independent study is primarily intended for the student who has advanced past a basic understanding of the field. It provides an opportunity to explore in greater depth and sophistication a specific philosophical topic or question of the student’s choice. Selection of the topic of study is initiated by the student, while the structuring of the course is done in consultation with the instructor. Variable credit. 246
Ancient Rome's contribution to political thought and practice would be difficult to exaggerate. Western civilization, including the United States, and much of the East have inherited the Roman conceptions of civitas, statesmanship, law, citizenship, virtue, rhetoric, civil religion, and imperialism. Accordingly, this course will focus on the primary texts of those who shaped or later reflected upon Rome. Potential authors may include but are not limited to Cicero, Lucretius, Livy, Virgil, Tacitus, Marcus Aurelius, Plutarch, St. Augustine, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, and Gibbon.
PL 440 or 450 Senior Capstone Exam or Thesis 3 PL Elective 3 See page 328 for the recommended 8-semester program plan. These plans are designed to be a road map to help students finish their degrees in a timely manner and should be utilized in consultation with their Academic Advisor.
In this independent study course the student will work with a faculty member in the department who will serve as his or her advisor. The student will meet periodically with this advisor to aid in his or her preparation for the exam. These meetings may include practice exams. The exam itself will take place towards the end of the semester. It will be an oral examination, usually lasting about 60 minutes, conducted by the student's advisor and at least one other member of the philosophy department. Should the student's performance be unsatisfactory, she or he will be given one other opportunity to re-enroll in the course and pass the exam. PL 440 is taken in the second semester before graduation. P/F.
In this independent study course the student works closely with a faculty advisor to fully develop the capstone project in philosophy, the Senior Thesis. This process prepares the student for work beyond the undergraduate, developing the skills of independent scholarship: informed philosophical research, skillful analysis, thoughtful synthesis and fluent written work. PL 450 is taken in the second semester before graduation.
The internship is an opportunity for philosophy majors and minors to gain work experience, and discern a future career path. In consultation with a faculty member in the department, a suitable employer will be found and a determinate number of hours established for the semester. For every 45 hours of work, the student will receive one course credit, with a maximum of three per semester. The student must submit a summary of the work done and reflection on the experience at the end of the semester. This course may be repeated, but this course does not count toward the fulfillment of the major or minor requirements. 1 to 3 credits. Majors and minors only.
Subject
PL
Type
course
Repeatable
may be repeated, but this course does not count toward the fulfillment of the major or minor requirements.
