| Philosophy Course Descriptions
For centuries a foundation in philosophy was considered essential for the development of the whole person and preperation for advanced studies. The philosophy core at JP Catholic provides the framework for understanding the world and preparation for advanced studies in their major and in theology.
PHIL 100 Introduction to Philosophy
This course will help guide the students as they inquire what it is to ask a philosophical question, to think philosophically, and how one learns to think in this way. One studies how philosophy grows out of wonder and marveling; why it is important for a fully human life; and what it can contribute to the development of one’s faith. Philosophy of the human person studies what it is to say that human beings are persons and have freedom and subjectivity; the different powers of the human person, including the powers of understanding, willing, feeling, and loving; the difference between body and soul in human beings, and the unity of the two; and the question of the immortality of the soul.
PHIL 200 Philosophy of Nature
This courses focuses on the principles of nature and the realm of contingent being. The relationship between philosophy and science is discussed. Consideration is given to such areas as change and motion, nature and mechanism, space and time, life and soul, and the philosophical problems posed by modern science, such as evolution and design.
PHIL 300 Epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophical inquiry that seeks to examine fundamental questions related to the possibility, nature, sources and justification of knowledge. Thfocus of the course is an intensive discussion of epistemological issues such as the nature of belief, truth, rationality and justifi cation. Special attention will be given to the rationality of religious belief, the modern 'critique of knowledge' and the development of Thomistic realism. Selected readings will likely include Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and Hume.
PHIL 301 Moral Theology and Ethics
The principles of Catholic moral theology are studied, as they are found rooted in the New Testament documents, Sacred Tradition, and articulated by the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church. Students will examine these principles as they provide a basis for a moral compass for today’s business leader. Topics covered include: the history and current state of business ethics; Catholic teachings on business ethics; the role of societal and organizational culture and power on business ethics; the moral responsibility of corporations; economic policy, business practices, and social justice; rights and obligations of employers and employees; meaningful work, motivation, and the worker; affirmative action and reverse discrimination; environment and natural limits of capitalism. Classroom discussion and exercise will role-play students in recent business controversies.
PHIL 400 Metaphysics
This course studies the science of 'being,' substance and form, act and potency and the transcendental attributes of being. Special attention will be paid to the problem of analogical language.
SPECIAL NOTE
The study of logic is incorporated into a 3 course sequence in the liberal arts program. (Grammar, Poetics, Rhetoric and Demonstrative Logic)
Philosophy Electives (Required for Pre-Theologate students)
PHIL 101 History of Philosophy I
This course is an introductory examination of the principal philosophies from the Pre-Socratics to the later Scholastic period. Emphasis is placed on the basic ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine and Aquinas. Themes to be considered are: faith and reason, nature and creation, causality and teleology, the existence and attributes of God, body and soul, the good life, happiness and virtue, and the purpose of political life.
PHIL 102 History of Philosophy II
The first part of the course will focus on the main ideas of representative thinkers and their writings from the early rationalist and empirical schools, the reaction of Rousseau, the transcendental critical philosophy of Kant, and Hegel's Idealism. The course will examine epistemological, ethical, cultural and religious principles of modernity. The second part of the course is an introductory examination of the main lines of contemporary thought from the late nineteenth century philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey to Hans-Georg Gadamer in the second half of the twentieth century. Representative texts from phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutic philosophy and thens 'Linguistic Turn' in philosophy are studied. The course begins with the Hegelian infl uence on Feuerbach and Marx, the reactions of Kierkegaard and Nietzsche; the historicism of Dilthey, the new attempts to refound philosophy in phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics and language. Some attention is paid to the notion of 'post-modern' philosophy. Special attention is also paid to the revival of Thomism in the twentieth century.
PHIL 202 Philosophy of Man
This course is an investigation into systematic philosophical anthropology: the relation between the soul and the body, life after death, free-will and determinism, the role of reason, language and emotions in human nature, the relationship between the individual and community, the meaning of personhood and the dignity of the human person. This course critically engages key thinkers and their representative texts from ancient times continuing through medieval and modern up to contemporary times.
PHIL 302 Ethics
This course is an introductory study of the sources, nature and justification of moral knowledge. This includes analysis of the human act, virtue and vice, happiness, objective and subjective morality, good and evil, the moral law and conscience. A critical analysis of moral subjectivism and relativism is given. Also discussed are deontological ethics, utilitarian ethics (including consequentialism and proportionalism), virtue ethics and natural law ethics. Special emphasis is given to the study of the moral philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Catholic moral tradition.
PHIL 402 Political Philosophy
This course is an introduction to the basic concepts of political thought in the Western tradition through reading classic texts, beginning with ancient Greece and Rome and continuing to the twentieth century. This includes a study of papal social thought, which constitutes a Catholic intellectual response to liberalism, socialism and nationalism.
PHIL 404 Philosophy of God
This course is an inquiry into those problems which pertain to the justice of God, or the justifi cation of God to man-theodicy. The course begins with the problem of faith and reason: as rational beings, how can we accept faith, which seems not only to be incapable of proof but also to confl ict with that reason tells us? This question is investigated by examining the arguments that attempt to show that reason and faith can be harmonized. Special emphasis will be given to the traditional proofs for the existence of a creator god. The course then turns to a second problem, which stems from the fi rst: the problem of evil. If the universe is governed by a creator and providential governor, how can one justify the existence of evil in the world, e.g., suffering and death, human ignorance and man's inclination to sin?
PHIL 500 Capstone Seminar
This course is a seminar integrating the major disciplines of the philosophy program (philosophy, theology and the liberal arts). Classic texts from the major disciplines are read and then discussed in class. These texts will be approached with philosophical questions in mind, as befi ts the capstone to the philosophy program. In order to bring about a genuine integration of the different disciplines, the seminar revolves around the theme of love and friendship, a theme common to all of the major disciplines. This theme is chosen not only because of its integrating character, but also because of its importance for philosophy and liberal education in general, and its peculiar relevance for seminary training in particular.
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