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 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 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 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:
HUM 365 Seminar on Dissent
HUM 455 Seminar in Existentialism
PHIL 239 Philosophy and Literature
PHIL 449 Seminar in Ethics
Recommended Courses
PSC 362 Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau
PSC 363 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 103 Reasoning and Argumentation
Presents examples of analysis and argumentation in order to examine what constitutes either 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.
Formerly PHI 103 Reasoning and Argumentation.
3 credits
Core IV
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 allows for reasoning about individual objects.
[new course]
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
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.
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
Introduces students to theories of justice and theories of politics. What is the connection between culture and politics? The course will examine current cultural or political issues that express potential conflicts between principles of justice and politics.
Formerly PHI 205 Current Questions in Social and Political Philosophy.
3 credits
FLC Area III – Philosophy Cluster
Core IV
PHIL 233 Aquinas, Locke & Marx: Human 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: A Critique of the West
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.
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 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.
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, and treatment of patients with AIDS.
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
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 Persons, Respect, and Community
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.
Formerly PHI 325 Persons, Respect, and Community.
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 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
Prerequisites: 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
Prerequisites: 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
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor
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