Philosophy

Faculty
Description
Minor Requirements
Program Policies
Course Descriptions

Faculty

Minerva San Juan, Associate Professor of Philosophy (Program Chair)
Cynthia Chance, Assistant Professor of Philosophy

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Description

Philosophy explores the ideas, values, principles, and arguments through which we shape our lives and our learning. The study of philosophy engages students in living the examined life and in developing intellectual abilities important for life as a whole beyond the knowledge and skills required for any particular profession. It supports graduate studies in philosophy as well as certain professions, like law, the ministry, and government service; and it complements other interests, such as literature, political science, sociology, and education. It develops analytical, critical, and interpretive capacities needed to pursue other disciplines and to engage with life in general. It develops discipline and motivation to confront problems for which there are no easy answers. A strong education in philosophy thus enhances the human capacity to respond wisely and prudently to the challenges of personal, professional, and public life.

Trinity's mission as a Catholic university committed to the empowerment of women and to the advancement of social justice calls for an in-depth analysis of the ways in which philosophical ideas both contribute to and militate against the human flourishing of people of all genders, races, classes, and ethnic groups. The Program offers the opportunity for such analysis.

The Program in Philosophy supports Trinity's Foundations for Leadership Curriculum by its emphasis on the interdisciplinary nature of human knowledge. The courses offered all emphasize the foundational assumptions of the traditional disciplines and examine the ways in which these assumptions are interrelated. The program also offers internships and practica that range from experiential learning opportunities with migrant workers in Apopka, advocacy for patient autonomy at St. Elizabeth's, implementation of subject-protection guidelines at the National Institutes of Health, and work with various area hospitals' ethics committee.

The Philosophy Program offers a minor in both the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Professional Studies; students interested in pursuing an individualized minor in bioethics or environmental ethics should consult the Program Chair. The Program also supports all the College's majors and allows for students to construct an individualized or interdisciplinary major. Courses that meet FLC requirements may also count toward the minor.

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Minor Requirements

The minor requirement in philosophy requires the completion of 21 credits selected from program offerings in consultation with the Philosophy Program Chair and the student's faculty advisor. In addition to a minor in philosophy, students may select program offerings to construct minors in areas of individual interest; possible minors include bioethics and environmental ethics.

Required Courses (21 credits)

ONE course chosen from between: 

PHIL 103 Reasoning and Argumentation
PHIL 105 Introduction to Propositional Logic 

TWO courses chosen from: 

PHIL 211 Ancient Philosophy
PHIL 213 Medieval Philosophy 
PHIL 215 Modern Philosophy

ONE course chosen from between: 

PHIL 241 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics 
PHIL 245 The Moral Dimension

ONE course chosen from between: 

PHIL 341 Moral Psychology
PHIL 491 Internship

ONE course chosen from: 

PHIL 361 Readings in the Theory of Knowledge 
PHIL 363 Readings in Metaphysics 
PHIL 365 Readings in the Philosophy of Science

ONE seminar chosen from: 

PHIL 465 Seminar on Dissent
PHIL 455 Seminar in Existentialism
PHIL 449 Seminar in Ethics 

Recommended Courses

POLS 351 Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau 
POLS 353 Modern Political Thought

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Program Policies

Advanced Placement:
Three credits granted for a score of 4 or 5 on the AP examination in logic in fulfillment of the 100-level minor requirement.

CLEP Policy:
Credits earned through CLEP examinations do not fulfill requirements of the philosophy minor.

Grades in Minor Courses:
Students are required to earn a grade of "C" (2.0) or better in all courses counted to fulfill requirements for the minor. 

Pass/No Pass:
With the exception of practica and internships, courses fulfilling minor requirements may not be taken pass/no pass. 

Senior Assessment:
All students in any of the minors offered in the Philosophy Program are required to take a capstone seminar that will include a comprehensive assessment.

Study Abroad:
Students may meet minor requirements with courses taken during their study abroad.

TELL Policy:
The Philosophy Program supports and encourages the College's TELL Policy. Students applying for experiential learning credits should consult with the program faculty.

Transfer Credits:
Transfer credit from accredited institutions may be counted for minor requirements, dependent on program review and approval.

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Course Descriptions

PHIL 105 Introduction to Propositional Logic
Introduces students to the fundamental concepts of propositional logic as they apply to the assessment of arguments, particularly the concepts of validity, inference, truth-functional schema, material implication, and material equivalence. The construction of truth tables as a method of assessment and the process of natural deduction as demonstration and proof will be emphasized. Formerly PHI 102 Introduction to Symbolic Logic.
3 credits

PHIL 107 Introduction to Predicate Logic
Introduces students to predicate logic, which examines reasoning about individual objects.
3 credits

PHIL 211 Ancient Philosophy
Introduces the students to the beginning of philosophical reflection through the writings of Plato and Aristotle, paying particular attention to the problems that have engaged philosophers from the start. The primary objective of the course is to generate in the student an appreciation of why the questions philosophers perennially raise are problematic for the human being. Formerly PHI 201 History of Philosophy: Ancient.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster
Core IV

PHIL 213 Medieval Philosophy
Invites the student to consider the major thinkers of the medieval period: St. Augustine, Boethius, the Arabic background of 13th-century thought, and Aquinas. The course focuses on themes in metaphysics and theory of knowledge. Formerly PHI 202 History of Philosophy: Medieval.
3 credits

PHIL 215 Modern Philosophy
Examines readings from Descartes to Kant in the context of the Rationalist-Empiricist debate and of the early modern scientists to whom the philosophers are responding with their proposals about a theory of ideas as an account of knowledge and reality. Formerly PHI 203 History of Philosophy: Modern.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster

PHIL 221 Classical Buddhist and Hindu Philosophy
Traces the development of the six major systems of classical Hindu thought through their responses to questions of epistemology and ontology; examines the general context of early Buddhist thought. . Formerly PHI 270 Classical Buddhist & Hindu Philosophy.
3 credits

PHIL 225 Islamic Philosophy
Examines the implications for metaphysics of the fundamental beliefs of Islamic thought. Formerly PHI 275 Islamic Philosophy.
3 credits

PHIL 231 Current Issues in Social and Political Philosophy
Examines the theories of justice that inform our political and civic institutions, particularly contractarianism, libertarianism, and communitarianism. The course provides opportunities for analysis of these theories in light of critical perspectives on the social significance of race, class, and gender. We will also examine contemporary social problems through the lens of political philosophy.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster
Core IV

PHIL 233 Aquinas, Locke & Marx: Property Rights
Examines the respective analyses of the notion of private property presented by each of these three philosophers and assesses the implications for economic theory. The students will also discuss the various theories of human nature that are implicit within the arguments presented as justifications and constraints on the concept of private property. The primary readings will be supplemented by contemporary essays on commerce and ownership as well as selected narratives. Formerly PHI 209 Aquinas, Locke & Marx.
3 credits
Core IV

PHIL 235 Philosophy of Religion
Examines some of the principal questions in the philosophy of religion, including arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, the relation of faith and reason, and the attributes of God.  Formerly PHI 330 Philosophy of Religion.
3 credits
Core IV

PHIL 237 Women and Philosophy
Presents a theoretical framework for examining the significance of gendered perspectives on history, culture, and contemporary society and examines the philosophical voice of woman in the classical, medieval, and modern accounts of human nature. Formerly PHI 250 Women and Philosophy: A Critique.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster
Core IV

PHIL 239 Philosophy and Literature
Examines the connection between emotion and belief and between belief and action as it is expressed in the literary form of the narrative. This exploration is intended to provide insight into a conception of human rationality not separable from human emotion but enhanced by giving intellectual priority to the perception of particular people and situations.  Formerly HUM 360 Philosophy and Literature.
3 credits
FLC Seminar II
Core IV

PHIL 241 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics
Examines Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics and Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals in order to see how these texts expose the influence and direction of our consciousness of obligation on our actions. The focus is on what kind of agency human beings must have in order to be in a moral domain and on what the influence of socialization and biology might be on our understanding of this domain. Formerly PHI 210 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster

PHIL 245 The Moral Dimension
Introduces the student to social ethics and the concepts of person and community by examining the moral traditions that inform our understanding of the individual. The course traces the focus of ethics from a concern about what kind of person to be to the more modern and narrow concern in how to act in both the public and private domains, acknowledging the ways in which our cultural and historical practices help shape our vision. Formerly PHI 212 The Moral Dimension: Persons and Community.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster
Core IV

PHIL 251 Bioethics
Examines the legal and moral issues in areas dealing with the biology of human health and development, for example, experimentation on human subjects, organ transplants, euthanasia, abortion, fetal tissue use, contraception, and other aspects of human reproduction, as well as questions regarding rights to health care. Formerly PHI 211 Applied Ethics: Bioethics.
3 credits
Core IV

PHIL 253 Business and Professional Ethics
Engages the students in an analysis of cases in business and other professions that appear to present a conflict between the demands of institutional practices and the demands of morality. The course presents a Kantian theory of ethics and investigates the cases within the framework of this theory. Formerly PHI 213 Applied Ethics II: Business and Professional Ethics.
3 credits
Core IV

PHIL 255 Environmental Ethics
Focuses on contemporary issues and controversies central to the relation between humans and the nonhuman environment. It examines the impact of increased and increasing human activity on the nonhuman environment and explores the scope of human responsibility for and toward this environment. Formerly PHI 215 Environmental Ethics.
3 credits

Core IV

PHIL 341 Moral Psychology
Addresses the relation between obligation and motivation. The traditional analysis raises two questions: What kind of answer is it appropriate to give an agent when she asks why she should do what she is obliged to do? And, how does this answer make the action psychologically possible? Formerly PHI 315 Moral Psychology.
3 credits

PHIL 345 Respect and the Ethics of Persons and Communities
Explores the nature of central concepts in ethics like personal integrity, respect, and self-respect in particular as these are related to our notions of community and to our social institutions. The course examines the social origins and social dimension of a central principle in ethics, the principle of respect and self-respect and traces the effects of social and economic inequalities, and of the policies that attempt to redress such inequalities, on self-respect and on the possibility of mutual respect among members of a community. The course readings reflect the perspectives of marginalized social groups. 
3 credits
Core IV

PHIL 361 Readings in the Theory of Knowledge
Focuses on the discussion of the basic problems concerning the nature of knowledge and studies the relation of knowledge to perception, belief, and language. In particular the course will examine the traditional representative phenomenalist and idealist theories of perception and the nature of perceptual experience. It will also present the feminist critique of traditional Western accounts of knowledge. Formerly PHI 301 Readings in the Theory of Knowledge.
3 credits
Core IV

PHIL 363 Readings in Metaphysics
Studies classical, modern, and contemporary philosophers on the subject matter of metaphysics, the concept of being in general, and the foundation of individual being, as well as the criticism of the possibility of such knowledge. Formerly PHI 302 Readings in Metaphysics.
3 credits

PHIL 365 Readings in the Philosophy of Science
Addresses the structure of scientific knowledge, the nature of explanation, the nature of the standards for acquiring knowledge of the physical world, and especially the problems raised by biology. Formerly PHI 303 Readings in the Philosophy of Science.
3 credits

PHIL 449 Seminar in Ethics
Examines current readings in ethical theory and applications. Students take a central role in conducting the seminar and each will undertake and present an independent research project. Considered as a Senior Seminar for philosophy majors or minors. Formerly HUM 450 Seminar in Ethics.
3 credits
FLC Seminar II

PHIL 455 Seminar in Existentialism
Investigates the historical and contemporary significance of the tensions characterizing human existence in the 20th century. The readings include French, Spanish, and other continental philosophers. Students take a central role in conducting the seminar and each will undertake and present an independent research project. Considered a Senior Seminar for philosophy majors or minors. Formerly HUM 455 Seminar in Existentialism
3 credits
FLC Seminar II

PHIL 465 Seminar on Dissent
Examines the kinds of processes that persons engage in when deciding when and how to dissent, the ways in which mainstream cultural institutions deal with dissenters and the kinds of strategies that individuals and groups have available in carrying out their dissent.  The course will make use of the paired example analytic methodology developed by Noam Chomsky and bell hooks as well as the powerful critique of practices developed by recent American pragmatist philosophers. Considered a Senior Seminar for philosophy majors or minors. Formerly HUM 321 Seminar on Dissent.
3 credits
FLC Seminar II

PHIL 491 Internship
Offers the student an opportunity for service learning by special permission of the program faculty and under the supervision of a faculty member. Formerly PHI 310 Internship in Applied Ethics and PHI 399 Internship.
3 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

PHIL 497 Directed Research
Offer the student an opportunity to pursue an intensive research project under the direction of a faculty member.
3 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

PHIL 498 Independent Study
Allows a student to pursue an independent course of study under the direction of a faculty member. Formerly PHI 498 and PHI 499 Independent Study.
3 credits
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor

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