Philosophy Courses
PL 070 Philosophy of the Person I (Fall/Spring: 3)
Satisfies Philosophy Core Requirement
Two-semester, six-credit course
This course introduces students to philosophical reflection and to its history
through the presentation and discussion of the writings of major thinkers
from ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary periods. The course is
designed to show how fundamental and enduring questions about the universe
and about human beings recur in different historical contexts. Emphasis
is given to ethical themes, such as the nature of the human person, the
foundation of human rights and corresponding responsibilities, and problems
of social justice.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 071 Philosophy of the Person II (Spring: 3)
Satisfies Philosophy Core Requirement
Two-semester, six-credit course
See description under PL 070.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 088 Person and Social Responsibility I (Fall: 3)
Corequisite:
TH 088
Satisfies Theology Core Requirement
Satisfies Philosophy Core Requirement
Satisfies Philosophy and Theology Core requirements.
Enrollment limited
to freshmen, sophomores, and juniors
The course requirements include ten to twelve hours per week of community
service. In light of classic philosophical and theological texts, students
in this course address the relationship of self and society, the nature
of community, the mystery of suffering and the practical difficulties of
developing a just society. PULSE students are challenged to investigate
the insights offered by their readings in relationship to their service
work. Places in the course are very limited.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 089 Person and Social Responsibility II (Spring: 3)
Corequisite:
TH 089
Satisfies Theology Core Requirement
Satisfies Philosophy Core Requirement
See description under PL 088.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 090 Perspectives on Western Culture I/Perspectives I (Fall: 6)
Corequisite:
TH 090
Satisfies Theology Core Requirement
Satisfies Philosophy Core Requirement
Satisfies Philosophy and Theology Core requirements.
Freshmen only.
The course introduces students to the Judeo-Christian biblical texts and
to the writings of such foundational thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine,
Aquinas, Luther, Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Hegel, and Kierkegaard.
The first semester considers the birth of the self-critical Greek philosophic
spirit, the story of the people of Israel, the emergence of Christianity
and Islam, and concludes with a consideration of medieval explorations of
the relationship between faith and reason. Attention will also be paid to
non-Western philosophical and theological sources.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 091 Perspectives on Western Culture II/Perspectives II (Spring: 6)
Corequisite:
TH 091
Satisfies Theology Core Requirement
Satisfies Philosophy Core Requirement
See description under PL 090.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 116 Medieval Religions & Thought (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with
TH 116
The medieval world of philosophy and theology was a multicultural world:
Arabian, Jewish, and Christian thinkers, representing the world's three
great religions, adapted and shared the philosophical riches of the classical
world and the religious resources of the biblical heritage. This course
introduces students to the great Arabian thinkers Alfarabi, Avicenna, Algazel,
and Averroes; the respected Jewish authors Saadiah Gaon, Moses Maimonides,
and Gersonides; and the famous Christian writers Anselm, Bonaventure, and
Thomas Aquinas; as well as the intellectual challenges from the Greek intellectual
world that they met and faced in the Middle Ages.
Stephen F. Brown
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 160 The Challenge of Justice (Fall/Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
TH160
This course satisfies the introductory requirement for students taking the
minor in Faith, Peace, and Justice Studies. Other students interested in
examining the problems of building a just society are welcome.
This course introduces the student to the principal understandings of justice
that have developed in the Western philosophical and theological traditions.
Care is taken to relate the theories to concrete, practical and political
problems, and to develop good reasons for choosing one way of justice rather
than another. The relationship of justice to the complementary notion of
peace will also be examined. Special attention is paid to the contribution
of Catholic theology in the contemporary public conversation about justice
and peace. Problems discussed may include human rights, hunger and poverty,
and ecological justice.
Matthew Mullane
Stephen Pope
Meghan Sweeney
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 216 Boston: An Urban Analysis (Spring: 3)
This course is intended for PULSE students who are willing to investigate,
analyze, and understand the history, problems, and prospects of Boston's
neighborhoods. With the exception of the fourth session, class meetings
in the first half of the semester will meet on campus. Class number four
will meet in the Skywalk Observation Deck at the Prudential Center. For
the second half of the semester, as snow banks give way to slush and sun
and blossoms, we will meet in the South End of Boston for a case study of
a most intriguing and changing inner-city neighborhood.
David Manzo
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 233 Values in Social Services and Health Care (Fall: 3)
Through readings, lectures, discussions, field placements, and written work,
we will attempt the following: to communicate an understanding of the social
services and health care delivery systems and introduce you to experts who
work in these fields; explore ethical problems of allocations of limited
resources; discuss topics that include violence prevention, gangs, homelessness,
mental illness, innovating nursing initiatives, economy inequality, community
wealth ventures, and the law; and consider possibilities for positive changes
in the social service and health care system.
David Manzo
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 259 Perspectives on War, Aggression, and Conflict Resolution I (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with
SC250, TH327
The Faith, Peace, and Justice Program at Boston College sponsors this course
as an introduction to the field of Peace Studies.
This course develops an interdisciplinary approach to the study of war and
conflict and investigates alternatives to their resolution in contemporary
global society. The course is organized along multidisciplinary lines, with
faculty members from various academic departments responsible for each topic
of discussion. This interdisciplinary approach demonstrates the varied and
complex perspectives on the causes of war and conflict and attempts to develop,
out of the resources of these respective disciplines, intelligent insights
into the resolution of conflicts and the development of alternatives to
war.
Matthew Mullane
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 261 Telling Truths I: Writing for the Cause of Justice (Fall: 3)
This PULSE elective will explore writing as a tool for social change. Students
will read and experiment with a variety of written forms, including fiction,
poetry, creative non-fiction, and journalism, to tell the "truth" as they
experience it in their own direct encounters with social injustice. This
workshop is intended to provide a comprehensive introduction to the range
of literary strategies that social prophets and witnesses have used, and
are using today, to promote the cause of justice.
Kathleen Hirsch
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 262 Telling Truths II: Depth Writing as Service (Spring: 3)
This PULSE elective will enable students to produce a portfolio of writings
that engage a serious social concern. Class will be run as a writing workshop.
Students early on will identify an issue they wish to pursue in depth through
the course of the semester. At the same time, they will want to develop
and to work in non-fiction, fiction, journalism, or poetry. Students may
expand on an issue that has affected them personally or which they have
observed in their service work while at BC.
Kathleen Hirsch
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 264 Logic (Fall/Spring: 3)
This course will consider the principles of correct reasoning together with
their application to concrete cases.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 291 Philosophy of Community I (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite:
Limited to Members of the PULSE Council
Offered Biennially
This seminar explores the nature of community, with particular focus on
community in the American context. Some of the central historical, cultural,
political and religious forces that have shaped both American community
and the American understanding of community are examined. These questions
are initially approached from an historical perspective with an assessment
of philosophical ideas which were dominant in the political thinking of
the American founders. The seminar then considers the historical development
of those ideas in light of the way they are concretized in political practice,
arriving at an assessment of contemporary American thinking on community.
David McMenamin
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 292 Philosophy of Community II (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Limited to Members of the PULSE Council
Offered Biennially
This course is a continuation of the themes of Philosophy of Community I
which further explores the themes of that course: the nature of community,
particularly in the American context; the historical, cultural, political
and religious forces that have shaped American community and the American
understanding of community.
David McMenamin
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 299 Readings and Research (Fall/Spring: 3)
By arrangement.
The Department
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 314 Mind and Body (Fall: 3)
What does it mean to be a person? Am I the same as my brain? Is there
a spiritual dimension to life beyond the capacities of "matter"? These
are some of the questions this course will explore.
Ronald K. Tacelli, S.J.
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 343 Introduction to Black Philosophy (Spring: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course introduces students to writings by and about persons of African
descent. Readings will be drawn from works by G. Yancey, H. McGary, W. Lawson,
W.E.B. DuBois, H.L. Gates, C. West, L. Outlaw, and B. Boxill.
Jorge Garcia
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 377 Normative Ethical Theories (Fall: 3)
This course examines approaches to morality's theoretical reconstruction
that respectively emphasize: (1) achieving good results, (2) performing
dutiful actions, and (3) cultivating virtuous character. Readings will be
selected from classic works by such philosophers as J.S. Mill, Kant, and
Aristotle, as well as from recent writings by contemporary thinkers, including
M. Baron, C. Korsgaard, P. Pettit, T.M. Scanlon, M. Slote, and L. Zagzebski.
Assignments will probably include three in-class examinations.
Jorge Garcia
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 398 Senior Thesis (Fall/Spring: 3)
By arrangement.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 403 Does God Exist? (Fall: 3)
Offered Biennially
This course aims to be a serious examination, for capable undergraduates,
of arguments for and against the existence of God.
Ronald K. Tacelli, S.J.
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 405 Greek Philosophy (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite:
Philosophy of the Person I & II or Perspectives I & II
This course is organized around the central philosophical questions asked
and answered, in various ways, by philosophers in the ancient Greek-speaking
world. We will consider the pre-Socratics, Plato, Aristotle, and, more briefly,
some Hellenistic authors such as Plutarch, Epictetus, and Plotinus. Topics
include theories of material bodies and of change; whether anything immaterial
or immutable exists, and if so whether it is single or multiple and its
relation to this changing world; the human soul; the question of the criterion
of truth, and the process by which humans may come to know; the question
of the criterion of ethics.
Sarah Byers
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 406 History of Modern Philosophy (Fall: 3)
The course presents in a synthetic but not superficial manner the major
philosophies, from Descartes to Kant, which have punctuated the emergence
of the modern mind, the development of scientific knowledge and transformations
of Western societies, during a period in which conquering rationality asserted
its autonomy and gave rise to the idea of Enlightenment, but at the same
time reflected on its own limits. This comprehensive survey will cover metaphysics,
epistemology, ethics and political thought. We will analyze representative
sources, paying attention to their argumentative structures, and highlighting
the logic in the unfolding of problems and answers. Syllabus on http://www2.bc.edu/~solere/pl406.html
Jean-Luc Solere
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 407 Medieval Philosophy (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Ancient Philosophy.
Far from being monolithic and repetitive, the Middle Ages were a creative
period during which multiple solutions were proposed to make sense of the
world and of human life. The legacy of Antiquity, the philosophic and `scientific'
knowledge of the time, and religious views were combined in original syntheses.
The aim of the course is to provide a precise picture of this diversity,
through a study of the main problems that a wide range of authors (Christian
thinkers from St. Augustine to Ockham, but also Islamic and Jewish philosophers)
faced. Syllabus on https://www2.bc.edu/jeanluc-solere/pl407.html
Jean-Luc Solere
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 408 Nineteenth- and Twentieth- Century Philosophy (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Some background in Kant, although not mandatory, is strongly recommended.
This class will be devoted to some of the most important issues in philosophy
in the past two centuries. In particular, we will study the development
of Kantian transcendental philosophy in German Idealism, Neokantianism,
and Husserlian Phenomenology. In the last section of the class we will consider
the rise of analytic philosophy in the works of Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein.
Andrea Staiti
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 429 Freud and Philosophy (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Philosophy Core
This introductory course for the interdisciplinary minor in psychoanalysis
(open to all interested) is designed to acquaint students with the scope
and evolution of Freud's thinking and with significant developments in psychoanalysis
since his time. Students will study and assess Freud's and Breuer's first
formulation of the nature and etiology of hysteria; Freud's groundbreaking
work in dream interpretation and the nature of unconscious processes; Freud's
attempt to apply his novel theory of unconscious mechanisms to cultural
anthropology as well as individual psychology; and the implications of the
ongoing revisions in Freud's classification of the drives.
Vanessa P. Rumble
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 442 Romanticism and Idealism (Fall: 3)
Prerequisites:
Core, preferably some exposure to Kant's thought.
Offered Biennially
Kant's transcendental idealism has been charged with divorcing the subject
of understanding from the subject of moral experience. We shall examine
the basis of this claim as well as the attempts by Romantic writers and
German Idealists to provide a fresh account of the integrity of human experience.
We begin examining Kant's attempt, in The Critique of Judgment, to
bridge the moral and natural realms through aesthetics. We then trace the
progressive emancipation of the imagination in the later development of
German Idealism and Romanticism.
Vanessa P. Rumble
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 453 Gandhi, Satyagraha, and Society (Spring: 3)
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
Well known as a freedom fighter for India's independence, Gandhi's deep
concern regarding the impact of industrialization and injustice on the social
fabric is not as well known. His analysis of the effects of technological
civilization on society was not provincial (limited to what is sometimes
called the third world) but universal. We will examine Gandhian thought
through his own writings, explicate their relevance to the contemporary
society, and examine selections from classical and contemporary literature
on the philosophy and ethics, which will help us understand Gandhi's integrated
vision of the citizen as a reflective and active individual.
Pramod B. Thaker
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 458 Sacred Buddhist Texts (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
TH 454
See description under TH 454 in the Theology Department's section of the
catalog.
John Makransky
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 470 Philosophy of World Religions (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite:
Philosophy core fulfilled.
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
The purpose of this course is as follows: (1) to familiarize students with
the teachings of each of the world's major religions; (2) to understand,
empathize with, and appreciate them; (3) to appreciate one's own religion
(or lack of one) better by comparison; (4) to philosophize critically and
rationally about a subject that is not in itself critical and rational;
and (5) to question and search for a universal nature of core of religion,
if possible.
Peter J. Kreeft
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 472 Buddhist Ethics:Ancient and Contemporary (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
TH472
Offered Periodically
Topics include: mindfulness, faith, insight, and ethics as means of individual
awakening in contemporary Buddhist practice; emptiness, compassion and bodhisattva
action in the mind-heart training tradition of Tibet; faith, sudden enlightenment,
and creative responsiveness in Zen and Pure land traditions of China and
Korea, current Buddhist ethical reflection on war and peace, economics,
ecology, and justice. Daily mindfulness practice, based on class instruction,
is required. Weekly writing; four concise papers
John Makransky
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 493 Bioethics:Ethical Issues in Healthcare (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
Should doctors ever be allowed to help their patients die? How much healthcare
are we entitled to receive? What, if anything, is wrong with cloning human
beings? Is abortion morally wrong? May parents be allowed `designer babies¿?
What moral obligations do doctors have toward disadvantaged populations?
In this course, we will examine some philosophical answers to these pressing
questions of modern societies. Topics include justice and health-care, stem-cell
research, euthanasia, human cloning, abortion, ethics and medical research
in underdeveloped countries.
Marius Stan
Last Updated: 08-MAY-12
PL 500 Philosophy of Law (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with
LL669
Offered Periodically
This course is intended for both pre-law students and those interested in
the contemporary interface of philosophy, politics, and law. The course
will cover the following four topics: (1) brief overview of the history
of interrelation between law and philosophy (Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, and
Hegel); (2) constitutional legal theory (Dworkin, Ackerman, Michelman, Breyer);
(3) political liberalism, public reason, and international law (Rawls, Habermas);
and (4) human rights and globalization. The course is intended both to provide
an overview of these various positions and to enable students to take a
critical stance toward current debates.
Jonathan Trejo-Mathys
Last Updated: 16-MAY-12
PL 508 Dante's Divine Comedy in Translation (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with
RL 526, TH 559, EN 696
Course description is listed under Romance Languages department.
Laurie Shepard
Last Updated: 12-DEC-11
PL 512 Philosophy of Existence (Fall: 3)
Offered Biennially
An introduction to the main questions of existentialist philosophy from
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. The major issues
dealt with include freedom and determinism, desire and death, anxiety and
the search for the absolute. Final paper, presentations, and class participation
are required.
Richard M. Kearney
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 514 Philosophy of Love & Friendship (Spring: 3)
In this course we will examine a number of works on the philosophy of friendship
and romantic love from authors both ancient and modern. The course will
include readings in philosophy as well as literary works that encourage
philosophical reflection on love, friendship, and marriage.
Marina B. McCoy
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 517 Kant & Kantians on Moral Law (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
In this class, we will examine Kant's account of the categorical imperative,
and his attempt to show that it is the supreme principle of all morality.
We will read Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and Critique
of Practical Reason. Alongside these primary texts, we will also examine
different interpretations of the categorical imperative by contemporary
philosophers, including Christine Korsgaard and Allen Wood. Our goal is
to understand Kant's account of the moral law, as well as the prospects
and problems for different versions of Kantian moral philosophy.
Micah Lott
Last Updated: 03-MAY-12
PL 518 Philosophy of Imagination (Spring: 3)
Readings in the philosophy of imagination from ancient myth to post-modernity.
Beginning with Biblical and Greek accounts of images and image-making, this
course will explore three main paradigm shifts in the western history of
imagination: (1) the ancient paradigm of the Mirror (Plato to Augustine);
(2) the modern paradigm of the Lamp (Kant to Sartre); and (3) the postmodern
paradigm of the circular Looking Glass (Lacan to Derrida). The course will
conclude with a critical evaluation of the political and ethical functions
of imagination in our contemporary civilization of cyberf-antasy, simulation,
and spectacle. Final paper, attendance, class participation required.
Richard M. Kearney
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 519 Being in the World (Spring: 3)
An exploration, comparison, and critical reflection on the interpretations
of being in the world proposed by Heidegger, Sartre and Levinas. Work will
include some study of the conceptions of being and world underpinning those
three interpretations, a focus on the differing conceptions of human being
at their hearts, and particular concentration on the questions of responsibility
for oneself and for others. This will require a close reading of central
passages, but by no means all of, Being and Time, Being and Nothingness,
and Totality and Infinity.
Jeffrey Bloechl
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 525 Contemporary Aristotelian Naturalism (Spring: 3)
Offered Periodically
In recent decades, there has been a revival of interest in Aristotelian
naturalism in the work of philosophers such as Elizabeth Anscombe and Philppa
Foot. In the first part of the course, we will consider how contemporary
Aristotelians naturalists have connected ethics and the "logic of life."
The second part of the course focuses on the role that moral virtue plays
in Aristotelian naturalism. The third part of the course examines Aristotelian
accounts of justice compared to rule-consequentialism, on the hand, and
Kantian-inspired contractualism, on the other.
Micah Lott
Last Updated: 03-MAY-12
PL 531 Discourse & Metaphysics of Ethics (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
We examine most of the 20thCentury's principal positions on the metaphysics,
knowledge, and modes of discourse within and behind moral judgment, as developed
within Anglo-American philosophy: axiological non-naturalism, deontological
non-naturalism, emotivism, prescriptivism, neo-naturalism, anti-realism,
projectivism, and constructivism. Readings will be selected from such thinkers
as G.E. Moore, W.D. Ross, J.N. Findlay, A.J. Ayer, C.L. Stevenson, R.M.
Hare, P. Foot, E. Anscombe, J. Mackie, S. Blackburn, and J. Rawls.
Jorge Garcia
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 532 Philosophy of Religion in Human Subjectivity (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Two courses in philosophy completed.
A course on how the question of God or of supernatural religion arises in
a post-modern existential philosophy of subjectivity and how it comes to
be answered in the affirmative as seen in Maurice Blondel's Philosophy of
Action.
Oliva Blanchette
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 538 Capstone: Journey to Self-Discovery (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Core
Cross Listed with
UN 542
See course description in the University Courses section.
Brian J. Braman
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 541 Philosophy of Health Science: East and West (Spring: 3)
Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core Requirement
This course will explore the underlying ethical suppositions of health care
practice. Starting from concrete clinical problems such as the care of the
elderly and the influence of technology, the course will attempt to draw
out the philosophical assumptions of health care practice and show the necessity
of an appropriate philosophical perspective in the resolution of day-to-day
ethical dilemmas in health care. A close examination of medical practice,
from Hippocratic regimen to high-tech medicine, will be undertaken. As a
counterpoint, another ancient medical tradition from India, of about 500
B.C., will be studied.
Pramod B. Thaker
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 542 Themes in Modern Political Philosophy (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
We will study themes which became central to the tradition of Western political
philosophy in the modern period, when revolutionary changes were occurring
in religious and political spheres due to the Reformation, Wars of Religion,
and the intellectual sphere due to the burgeoning Scientific Revolution.
After a look at ancient and medieval philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle,
Augustine and Aquinas to understand what was genuinely new in modern political
thought, we will turn to intensive engagement with great modern figures
such as Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Rousseau, and end with some contemporary
approaches to political authority and obligation.
Jonathan Trejo-Mathys
Last Updated: 19-MAR-12
PL 550 Capstone: Building A Life (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with
UN550
See course description in University section of the catalog.
David McMenamin
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 552 God, Ethics & the Sciences (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
TH552
Offered Periodically
This course examines some important questions regarding relationships between
belief in God and scientific approaches to humanity and the natural world.
We explore both the arguments for the incompatibility between science and
theism, as well as constructive ways of understanding their potential relationships.
We will examine major historical contributors to the discussion including
Aquinas, Galileo, and Darwin. Central methodological questions focus on
forms of naturalism, reductionism, and evolution. Other course topics include
the ethical significance of neuroscience and evolutionary psychology, particularly
concerning the relation between brain and mind, the meaning of responsibility,
and the natural basis of moral decision-making.
Stephen Pope
Patrick Byrne
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 553 Capstone: Poets, Philosophers, & Mapmakers (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
UN553
See description in the University Courses section of the catalog.
Paul McNellis, S.J.
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 577 Symbolic Logic: Theory and Practices (Fall: 3)
An introduction to the powerful ways the logical forms woven into deductive
reasoning and language can be analyzed using abstract symbolic structures.
The study of these structures is not only relevant for understanding effective
reasoning, but also for exploring the Anglo-American analytic philosophical
tradition and foundations of mathematics, computer science, and linguistics.
Philosophically interesting properties about logical systems will be explored,
including the task of proving whether a logical system is complete and consistent.
A number of interesting topics of twentieth-century logic will be briefly
considered, such as set theory, Russell's paradox, and Goedel's theorems.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 578 Kant's Critique of Pure Reason (Fall: 3)
This course serves as an introduction to Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason."
Virtually every section of Kant's masterwork has led to conflicts in interpretation,
and an introductory course cannot comprehensively address these controversies.
Instead, we will focus our efforts on a close exegesis of the text, touching
on fundamental conflicts of interpretation when necessary, while at the
same time situating Kant's position in relation to both his predecessors
and the contemporary debates of his time.
Mary S. Troxell
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 583 Philosophy of Biology (Spring: 3)
An introduction to core and cutting edge issues in three central areas of
the history and philosophy of biology: (1) evolutionary theory, (2) genetics
and molecular biology, and (3) embryology and developmental systems theory.
Topics to be discussed include attempts to integrate these three areas into
a unified theoretical perspective, conceptual issues in evolutionary theory
(natural selection, fitness, adaptation, species-concepts, units of selection,
theoretical structure, evolutionary psychology, and recent developments),
origins of life, reductionism, determinism, teleology and mechanism, naturalism,
and associated social-philosophical issues such as the creation-evolution
controversies, concepts of race and gender, and attempts to relate biology
to ethics.
Daniel McKaughan
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 586 Platonic Dialogues (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
In this course, we will read a range of Platonic dialogues as an introduction
to the epistemological, moral, and political content of Plato's work. Special
consideration will be given to his understanding of the nature of philosophical
practice as exhibited in the dialogue form.
Marina B. McCoy
Last Updated: 28-MAR-12
PL 593 Philosophy of Science (Fall: 3)
An introduction to the central themes of twentieth-century history and philosophy
of science. Topics to be discussed include the classic and contemporary
problems of demarcation, explanation, confirmation, laws of nature, inter-theoretic
reduction, social and historical critiques of neo-positivism, and the realism/anti-realism
debate. We will examine some philosophical perspectives sometimes thought
to be closely associated with science including empiricism, pragmatism,
naturalism, and physicalism. We will also discuss a number of other issues,
including questions about objectivity and the role of values in science,
the methods, scope, and limits of science, and whether science provides
anything like a worldview.
Daniel McKaughan
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 604 Social Construction (Spring: 3)
Offered Biennially
This course explores recent claims that important categories of social life--notably
including race, ethnicity, and gender--are not grounded in nature, but are
inventions of human societies. We treat the content of such claims, reasons
adduced for them, and some of their implications for individual attitudes
and social policies.
Jorge Garcia
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 611 Global Justice and Human Rights (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
LL 611
This course will study the history of the idea of global justice from its
early inception in Stoic law to its formulation in social contract theory
in Hobbes and Locke, through Kant's idea of cosmopolitan justice, and on
to its contemporary reconstruction in John Rawls, David Held, Jurgen Habermas,
and Thomas Pogge. In the context of examining the status of global justice
we will consider the problem of world poverty and how human rights can be
defended in a global context with the ever-increasing problems associated
with homelessness on a world scale.
David M. Rasmussen
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 614 Passions: Medieval and Modern Views (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course will look at how philosophers from Aquinas to Kant have understood
the emotions and appetites, their relationship to the body, to reason, and
to the moral life. Can the emotions be controlled by the mind? Is reason
the slave of the passions? Are our actions moral only when they are devoid
of passion? We will read the works of Aquinas, Descartes, Hobbes, Hume,
Rousseau, and Kant with an eye both to the way their accounts of the emotions
fit into their larger philosophical views and how their accounts of the
emotions mesh with our own emotional experience.
Eileen C. Sweeney
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 625 The Problem of Self-Knowledge (Fall: 3)
A human being is more than a rational animal. We are symbolic beings with
a polymorphic consciousness and have language and a relational existence
to others, the cosmos, and transcendence. Insights from the selected readings
and pedagogy will serve both as a maieutic and a heuristic; inspiring us
to articulate who we are, how we ought to live with others, and how we are
to collaborate with others and transcendence in originating creative and
healing insights in response to challenges of humanity at the dawn of our
21st century. This course is inspired by Socrates' imperative and dictum:
"Know Thyself."
Brian Braman
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 626 Hermeneutics of God (Spring: 3)
This seminar explores recent debates in continental philosophy of religion
about the "God who comes after metaphysics." Beginning with the phenomenological
approach of Husserl, Heidegger, and Levinas, the course will proceed to
a discussion of more recent retrievals of the God question in hermeneutics
and deconstruction—Ricoeur, Derrida, and Caputo. Key issues explored
include the critique of omnipotence, God as possible/impossible, theism/atheism/posttheism,
and the question of interreligious dialogue and pluralism. The seminar invites
class presentations from students.
Richard M. Kearney
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 632 Ethical Classics (Spring: 3)
An exploration of 14 short Great Books in ethics centering on the practical,
personal question "What is the good life?" (1) Ecclesiastes, (2)
Plato's Gorgias, (3) Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, (4) Epictetus'
Enchiridion, (5) Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, (6) Augustine's
Confessions (excerpts), (7) Aquinas' Summa (excerpts), (8)
Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, (9) Kant's Metaphysics of Morals,
(10) the Humanist Manifesto, (11) C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of
Man, (12) Sartre's Existentialism and Human Emotions, (13) Marcel's
The Philosophy of Existentialism, and (14) Frankl's Man's Search
for Meaning.
Peter J. Kreeft
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 643 Freud's Civilization&Its Discontent (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite:
Basic familiarity with Freudian thought desirable, but not strictly necessary.
Offered Periodically
This course will develop a close reading of Freud's text, with attention
to the therapeutic concerns and technical difficulties that frame it and
the cultural critique that it proposes. We will also consider the question
of Freud's legacy, as debated between ego psychology and the interpretation
developed by Jacques Lacan.
Jeffrey Bloechl
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 670 Technology and Culture (Fall: 3)
Cross Listed with
SC670
This interdisciplinary course will first investigate the social, political,
psychological, ethical, and spiritual aspects of Western cultural development
with a special emphasis on scientific and technological metaphors and narratives.
We will then focus on the contemporary world, examining the impact of our
various technological creations on cultural directions, democratic process,
the world of work, quality of life, and especially on the emergent meanings
for the terms "citizen" and "ethics" in contemporary society. Students will
explore technologies in four broad and interrelated domains: (1) Computers,
Media, and Communications and Information Technologies, (2) Biotechnology,
(3) Globalization, and (4) Environmental Issues.
William Griffith
Last Updated: 08-DEC-11
PL 706 Advanced Topics in Medieval Philosophy (Fall: 3)
The class is especially designed for giving graduate students a strong and
in-depth presentation of medieval thought, an essential moment of the development
of western philosophy. This semester, we will study how Neo-Platonism and
Aristotelism dialogued, argued, merged, parted in medieval metaphysics,
especially in Aquinas', Scotus' and Ockham's thought, during the 13th and
14th centuries. The opportunity will thus be offered to work on fundamental
concepts such as participation, causality, creation, being, essence and
existence, form and matter, substance and accident, etc.
Jean-Luc Solere
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 725 Topics in Contemporary Critical Theory (Spring: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course looks at some of the most influential and productive recent
contributions to the Frankfurt School tradition of critical social theory
in the context of contemporary social and political problems, most of which,
as we will see, have international, transnational and global aspects. It
consists in essence of a survey of important texts from the three most important
recent critical theorists in Germany, Jürgen Habermas, Axel Honneth, and
Rainer Forst, and the bodies of theory they have elaborated around the respective
paradigms of communication, recognition and justification.
Jonathan Trejo-Mathys
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 728 Kant and Lonergan on Ethics (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
Kant effected a "Copernican Revolution" not only in the theory of knowing
but in ethical and moral philosophy as well. His remarkable synthesis was
a powerful inspiration for virtually all contemporary moral standards, including
independent choice, universal human rights, and equal treatment before the
law (i.e., procedural justice). Lonergan's work in cognitional theory was
a response to the limitations in Kant's theory of knowledge. But his ethical
and value theory was also a response to Kant's moral philosophy. This course
will undertake a careful reading of Kant's major works in moral philosophy
and the responses from Lonergan's works.
Patrick H. Byrne
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 741 Aesthetics (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course will deal with the classical themes of the philosophy of art
such as beauty, the relation between art and truth, and the connection between
art and nature. A selection of texts will be read by such philosophers
as Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty. Special attention will be
given to the writings and artwork of Paul Klee in connection with the Klee
exhibition and conference being held at Boston College in Fall Semester
2012.
John Sallis
Last Updated: 31-JAN-12
PL 746 Rawls' Political Philosophy (Fall: 3)
Prerequisite:
Familiarity with the Works of John Rawls
Offered Periodically
Now that most of Rawls' work is available, I plan to teach a seminar which
covers his work from A Theory of Justice to The Law of Peoples.
David M. Rasmussen
Last Updated: 28-MAR-12
PL 747 Philosophy of Life (Spring: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course will explore the origins of a philosophy of life in certain
texts of Aristotle before moving on to a detailed discussion of the Lebensphilosophie
of Dilthey and Simmel. It will conclude with a series of participatory
seminars on key texts by Bergson, Merleau-Ponty, Freud and Agamben. The
main focus will be an interrogation of the critical relationships between
1) bios and zoe, 2) bios and logos, and 3) eros and thanatos.
Richard M. Kearney
Andrea Staiti
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 761 Hegel's Phenomenology of the Spirit (Spring: 3)
Offered Biennially
This seminar will consist of a careful reading of Hegel's Phenomenology,
with special insistence on its method as a science of experience or of the
spirit in its appearing. We shall touch on the key points of transition
in the first part, going from Consciousness to Self-Consciousness and on
to Reason, in order to spend more time in the culminating chapters on Spirit
and Religion. Each student will make two class presentations on the text
as part of a preparation for a final paper to be handed in prior to the
final oral examination.
Oliva Blanchette
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 762 Soren Kierkegaard (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Undergraduates require permission.
Offered Periodically
This course will deal primarily with the early pseudonymous writings of
Soren Kierkegaard. The following topics will be emphasized: (1) the function
of irony and indirect communication in the pseudonymous works, (2) Kierkegaard's
conception of freedom and subjectivity, and (3) the nature of the relationship
which Kierkegaard posits between reason, autonomy, and faith.
Vanessa P. Rumble
Last Updated: 30-JAN-12
PL 793 Aristotle on the Soul (Spring: 3)
Offered Biennially
TBD
William Wians
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 794 Philosophy and the Church Fathers (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
TH 794
Introduction to the major Church Fathers and their varying attitudes towards
philosophy. Topics include the role of philosophy in the development of
patristic theology; particular influences of Aristotle, Epicurus and the
Stoa; and the reception and transformation of Platonism and the reciprocal
influence of Christianity upon Greek thought.
Margaret Schatkin
Last Updated: 01-NOV-11
PL 799 Readings and Research (Fall/Spring: 3)
By arrangement.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 811 Merleau-Ponty (Spring: 3)
Prerequisite:
Basic understanding of phenomenology. Students new to phenomenology may wish to read an introductory work in advance of the course.
Offered Periodically
This course will study the development of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy from
early criticism of modern psychology into a measured enthusiasm for Husserlian
phenomenology and new reflection on subjectivity, corporeality and nature.
Readings will be taken mainly from The Structure of Behavior and The Phenomenology
of Perception.
Jeffrey Bloechl
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 823 Heidegger (Spring: 3)
Offered Periodically
This course will deal with certain major themes in Heidegger's thought such
as truth as unconcealment, technology and history, language and art.
John Sallis
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 826 Seminar on Law and Justice (Spring: 3)
Cross Listed with
LL822
This seminar will focus on three major areas of current concern in the realm
of law and justice. About a third of the course will be devoted to the following
three topics: human rights, religion and the public sphere, and recognition.
This course is conceived of as a seminar in which students can make presentations
if they wish to do so. We will also invite outside speakers who are experts
in the topics we will cover.
David M. Rasmussen
Last Updated: 10-JAN-12
PL 827 Advanced Topics in Modern Philosophy: Pleasure and Ethics (Spring: 3)
This class is especially designed for providing graduate students with an
in-depth presentation of different aspects of early modern thought. This
semester, we will study the controversies about the role of pleasure in
moral life, from Descartes to Kant: neo-epicurism versus rigorism, classical
rationalism versus 18th C. hedonism and utilitarianism, pure love versus
Augustinianism, self-interest versus esthetic and alruistic pleasures, etc.
Jean-Luc Solere
Last Updated: 16-JAN-12
PL 862 Diacritical Hermeneutics (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
The course is a critical engagement with some of the main figures of 20th
century hermeneutics - Heidegger, Gadamer, Ricoeur - culminating in a 'diacritical'
turn. This turn will be examined under five main traits: critical; criteriological;
semiotic, diagnostic and carnal. The seminar will conclude with discussion
of a phenomenological hermeneutics of the flesh in Merleau-Ponty.
Richard M. Kearney
Last Updated: 21-FEB-12
PL 871 The Summa Theologiae of St Thomas Aquinas (Fall: 3)
Offered Periodically
TBD
Peter J. Kreeft
Last Updated: 09-FEB-12
PL 888 Interim Study (Fall/Spring: 0)
Required for master's candidates who have completed all course requirements
but have not taken comprehensive examinations. Also for master's students
(only) who have taken up to six credits of Thesis Seminar but have not yet
finished writing their thesis.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 990 Teaching Seminar (Fall/Spring: 0)
This course is required of all first- and second- year doctoral candidates.
This course includes discussion of teaching techniques, planning of curricula,
and careful analysis of various ways of presenting major philosophical texts.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 998 Doctoral Comprehensives (Fall/Spring: 1)
Required for doctoral candidates who have completed all course requirements
but have not taken their doctoral comprehensive examination.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11
PL 999 Doctoral Continuation (Fall/Spring: 1)
All students who have been admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree are
required to register and pay the fee for doctoral continuation during each
semester of their candidacy. Doctoral Continuation requires a commitment
of at least 20 hours per week working on the dissertation.
The Department
Last Updated: 31-OCT-11