Philosophy Faculty Minerva San Juan, Associate Professor of Philosophy (Program Chair) Michael Miller, Assistant Professor of Philosophy 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 college 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 the 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 Institute of Health, and work with various area hospitals' ethics committee. The program offers three minors in both Weekday and Weekend Programs and supports all the College's majors as well as the possibility of an individualized or interdisciplinary major. Courses that meet FLC requirements may also count toward the minor. Minor Requirements: Philosophy (21 credits) ONE course chosen from between: PHI 102 Introduction to Symbolic Logic PHI 103 Reasoning and Argumentation TWO courses chosen from: PHI 201 History of Philosophy: Ancient PHI 202 History of Philosophy: Medieval PHI 203 History of Philosophy: Modern ONE course chosen from between: PHI 210 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics PHI 212 The Moral Dimension: Persons and Community ONE course chosen from between: PHI 310 Internship in Applied Ethics PHI 315 Moral Psychology ONE course chosen from: PHI 301 Readings in the Theory of Knowledge PHI 302 Readings in Metaphysics PHI 303 Readings in the Philosophy of Science ONE seminar chosen from: HUM 450 Seminar in Ethics HUM 455 Seminar in Existentialism INT 415 Seminar on Death and Dying INT 420 Philosophy and Public Policy Recommended courses: PSC 362 Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau PSC 363 Modern Political Thought Minor Requirements: Bioethics (21 credits) ONE course chosen from between: PHI 102 Introduction to Symbolic Logic PHI 103 Reasoning and Argumentation TWO courses chosen from: PHI 201 History of Philosophy: Ancient PHI 202 History of Philosophy: Medieval PHI 203 History of Philosophy: Modern ONE course chosen from between: PHI 210 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics PHI 212 The Moral Dimension ONE course chosen from between: PHI 303 Readings in the Philosophy of Science PHI 310 Internship in Applied Ethics BOTH of the following courses: PHI 211 Applied Ethics: Bioethics INT 415 Seminar on Death and Dying Recommended courses: BIO 151 General Biology I BIO 152 General Biology II BIO 222 Introductory Genetics Minor Requirements: Environmental Ethics (21 credits) ONE course chosen from between: PHI 102 Introduction to Symbolic Logic PHI 103 Reasoning and Argumentation ONE course chosen from between: PHI 210 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics PHI 212 The Moral Dimension ALL of the following courses: ENV 241 Global Environmental Science HUM 450 Seminar in Ethics PHI 203 History of Philosophy: Modern PHI 215 Environmental Ethics PHI 303 Readings in the Philosophy of Science Recommended course: ENV 250 Environmental Field Camp 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. Course Descriptions PHI 102 Introduction to Symbolic Logic 3 cr Introduces students to the fundamental concepts of modern symbolic 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. FLC, Area V, Level 2 PHI 103 Reasoning and Argumentation 3 cr Presents examples of analysis and argumentation in order to examine what constitutes both a deductive and an inductive argument, the notions of validity and truth, the justificatory power of evidence as well as common informal fallacies. The course provides practice in various techniques of argumentation and critical analysis. FLC, Area I and IV, Level 1 PHI 201 History of Philosophy: Ancient 3 cr 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. FLC, Area III and IV, Level 1 Core, IV   PHI 202 History of Philosophy: Medieval 3 cr 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. FLC, Area III and IV, Level 1 PHI 203 History of Philosophy: Modern 3 cr 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. FLC, Area III and IV, Level 1 PHI 205 Current Questions in Social and Political Philosophy 3 cr Introduces students to theories of justice and theories of politics. What is politics? How, generally, can we translate a theory of justice into political action and into political institutions? Core, IV PHI 209 Aquinas, Locke, and Marx 3 cr 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. FLC, Area IV, Level 1 Core, IV PHI 210 Introduction to Theoretical Ethics 3 cr 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. FLC, Area IV and VI, Level 1 PHI 211 Applied Ethics: Bioethics 3 cr 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, and treatment of patients with AIDS. FLC, Area IV and V, Level 2 Core, IV PHI 212 The Moral Dimension: Persons and Community 3 cr Introduces the student to social ethics and the concepts of person and community by examining the moral traditions that have played out historically in the United States. 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, acknowledging the ways in which our cultural and historical environments help shape our vision. FLC, Area III and IV, Level 1 Core, IV PHI 213 Applied Ethics II: Business and Professional Ethics 3 cr 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. FLC, Area V and VI, Level 2 Core, IV   PHI 214 Philosophy of Law and Law Enforcement 3 cr Examines the relationship between case studies and recent Supreme Court rulings will be used to illuminate principles of law and legal practice. PHI 215 Environmental Ethics 3 cr 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. FLC, Area V, Level 2 PHI 219 Ethics and Politics 3 cr Examines how ethics ought to constrain public policy, based on the assumption that the giving and asking of reasons for what we do is a fundamental practice of the human being. The course studies theories of social justice and uses case studies to see how issues from ethics apply to the making of public policy. Traditional Catholic teaching on social justice of the last 50 years will figure prominently in the course. PHI 220 Independent Studies in Ethics 3 cr Examines special topics in ethics that are of central interest to the field and of interdisciplinary interest to the student. The course permits the student to engage in directed readings and tutorials with individual faculty. PHI 250 Women and Philosophy 3 cr Presents a theoretical framework for examining questions of gender differences in history, culture, and contemporary society and examines the philosophical voice of woman in the classical, medieval, and modern accounts of human nature. FLC, Area II, Level 1 Core, IV PHI 270 Classical Buddhist and Hindu Philosophy 3 cr Examines the general context of early Buddhist thought. Traces the development of the six major systems of classical Hindu thought through their responses to questions of epistemology, ontology, cosmology, psychology, soteriology, and their impact on theology PHI 275 Introduction to Islamic Philosophy 3 cr Examines the implications for metaphysics of the fundamental beliefs of Islamic thought. PHI 301 Readings in the Theory of Knowledge 3 cr 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. FLC, Area IV, Level 2 Core, IV PHI 302 Readings in Metaphysics 3 cr 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. FLC, Area III and IV, Level 2 PHI 303 Readings in the Philosophy of Science 3 cr 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. FLC, Area V, Level 2   PHI 310 Internship in Applied Ethics 3 cr Offers the student an opportunity for service learning by special permission of the program faculty and under the supervision of a faculty member. PHI 315 Moral Psychology 3 cr 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? FLC, Area IV, Level 2 PHI 320 Philosophical Logic 3 cr Studies Turing Machines, the concept of "artificial" intelligence, computability, truth, incompleteness, and the limit of logic, especially insofar as it represents reasoning about necessity and possibility. Core, IV PHI 325 Persons, Community, and Respect 3 cr Explores the nature of personal identity, respect, and self-respect as these concepts are related to our notions of community and to our social institutions. In particular the course examines the social origins and dimensions of self-respect and 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. FLC, Area VI, Level 2 Core, IV PHI 330 Philosophy of Religion 3 cr 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. FLC, Area IV, Level 2 Core, IV PHI 401 Social and Political Philosophy 3 cr Examines general questions about the purpose of politics, political theories, and the method and significance of interpretation. The course will focus on various social practices and institutions and critique them vis-a-vis various conceptions of justice. FLC, Area III and IV, Level 2 NOTE: Descriptions for courses listed as HUM (humanities) and INT (interdisciplinary) appear in the interdisciplinary courses section of this catalog.