DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

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1 DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE PHILOSOPHY UNDERGRADUATE COURSES FALL SEMESTER DPHY 1100 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY JEAN-FRANÇOIS MÉTHOT MONDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM This course will initiate students into the universe of philosophers and philosophy through the study of fundamental texts of the Western philosophical traditions. The emphasis will be on the study of the nature, scope and necessity of philosophical inquiry as an intellectual endeavour, distinct from other disciplines, namely theology and science. We will also discuss some philosophical problems, such as human knowledge and freedom. DPHY 1210 ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHY FRANCIS PEDDLE TUESDAY & THURSDAY, 8:30-11:30 AM This course is divided into four parts. (1) The Pre-Socratics: a discussion beginning with the Ionians, moving to Parmenides and Heraclitus, and touching upon the Atomists, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Pythagoreans, and the Sophists. (2) Socrates and Plato. (3) Aristotle (and touching upon the Stoics, Cynics, Epicureans). (4) Neo- Platonism. Most attention is paid to Plato and Aristotle.

2 DPHY 1103 LOGIC I TUESDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM This course is an introduction to symbolic logic. By means of truth tables, consistency trees and derivations, we will study the two fundamental tools for logical calculus: propositional calculus and first order predicate calculus. DPHY 1111 HISTORY OF IDEAS I. THE RISE OF ANCIENT CIVILISATION WEDNESDAY, 8:30-11:30 AM From Prehistory to History. Ancient Egypt: monarchy and social structures. The immortality of the soul. The kingdoms of Mesopotamia: Sumerians and Amorites. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Code of Hammurabi. The universal empire of Persia. The Zoroastrianism. Ancient Greece: the political structures of the Mycenaean Society. The Iliad and the Odyssey. The notion of Polis. Athens: democracy and social knowledge. The Sophists. Politics in Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The educative ideas of Isocrates. Rome: the idea of a universal empire. Rome and the laws. The philosophical ideas of Cicero and Seneca. DPHY 1211 THE MAIN DOCTRINAL CURRENTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES TO BE DETERMINED WEDNESDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM This course will study: the transformations of the ancient heritage (Saint Augustine, the pseudo-dionysius, Boethius); the leading thinkers and schools of the XIth and XIIth centuries; the translations of Aristotelian, Arab and Jewish works; the high points of Scholasticism in the XIIIth century (Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus); and Ockham s nominalism, in the XIVth century.

3 DPHY 3822 ANCIENT AND MODERN DIALECTIC JAMES LOWRY THURSDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM This course will attempt to understand how the immense contrariety between the ancient Greek confidence in reason and the modern assurance that such confidence is futile can be overcome. The class will read various texts, ancient and modern, in the context of this effort at a systematic reconciliation. DPHY 2750 EPISTEMOLOGY FRIDAY, 8:30-11:30 AM Knowledge its nature, status, conditions and limits has always been a fundamental issue in Philosophy. Considering the problem as stated in ancient Philosophy, this course explores some of the main views of knowledge in modern and contemporary traditions. Special attention will be paid to Hume s sceptical position and to the ensuing responses, notably in Kant and in analytical Philosophy. DPHY 2332 DESCARTES FRIDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM After a presentation of relevant elements from the historical, scientific, philosophical and theological contexts, the course offers an analysis and an interpretation of major works of Descartes: Discourse on the Method and Meditations.

4 WINTER SEMESTER DPHY 2442 ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHYMETHODOLOGY JEAN-FRANÇOIS MÉTHOT MONDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM This course will survey the Analytic tradition in Philosophy. From the linguistic turn of Frege, Russel, Moore and Wittgenstein, it will explore the development of this tradition, notably through logical positivism (Carnap, Ayer) and ordinary language Philosophy (Ryle, Austin). We will also consider important figures in epistemology (Quine) and ethics (Rawls). DPHY 2668 CURRENT ISSUES IN ETHICS I WESLEY FURLOTTE MONDAY, 6:00-9:00 PM This course serves as a general introduction to the problems of applied ethics. It will propose readings addressing a variety of ethical issues, in society at large, as well as in specialized sectors. Students will survey various issues in ethics, which will enrich their research and understanding in applied ethics. DPHY 3640 METAPHYSICS MAXIME ALLARD TUESDAY, 8:30-11:30 AM Metaphysics starts from the consideration of the being which is found in sensibly evident things and ends with the consideration of God as creator. In this course a brief survey of the history of metaphysics is given, together with discussions of being as divided by categories, being as divided by actuality and potentiality, and being as characterized by truth and goodness.

5 DPHY 1113 HISTORY OF IDEAS III. MODERN THOUGHT TUESDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM The Renaissance: its origins. The ideal of liberty and the emergence of humanism. Arts and modern capitalism. The age of princes. Machiavelli: man s nature and political morality. Reformation and the birth of European States. Lutheranism and absolutism. The age of discoveries and a new conception of the universe. Counter Reformation and constitutionalism: Francisco Suárez and the natural-law theory of State. Society, culture, theater and literature in 16th and 17th centuries. William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Science and philosophy: Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes. The English revolution: John Locke and the parliamentarian theory. The Enlightenment. The Encyclopedia. Rationalism and sentimentalism: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Napoleon and the end of the Holy Roman Empire. DPHY 2690 SCIENCE AND ETHICS HUGH HUNTER TUESDAY, 5:30-8:30 PM The morality of science has been a debated topic at least since the emergence of modern science. This course examines scientific discourse and practice as presented by philosophy of science. After a survey of some of the main approaches to the justification of scientific theories, such as confirmationism and falsificationism, Thomas Kuhn s model of scientific revolution, and Paul Feyerabend s anarchistic position, we will look at the history of scientific ideas, notably through the study of Michel Foucault s, The Order of Things. We will then explore the intersection of values and ethics to consider the old cliché that science is fundamentally a-moral through the study of various cases provided by the professor and the students, such as human experimentation, animal experimentation, stem-cell research, pharmacocentrism, environmental responsibility and many others. Finally, we will explore research ethics and research ethics bodies in Canada.

6 DPHY 2334 KANT WEDNESDAY, 8:30-11:30 AM Kant s intention was to limit the claims of metaphysics in order to make room for faith. He saw his philosophical efforts as a revolution akin to that of Copernicus. The course will consider Kant s claim that his critique was a call to reason to undertake anew the most difficult of all its tasks, namely, that of self-knowledge. A close reading of parts of Kant s Critique of Pure Reason and of other major texts will be used as a basis for this consideration. DPHY 2322 EMPIRICISM IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES HUGH HUNTER WEDNESDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM A study of the most important ontological and epistemological doctrines of empiricism, as developed within the English-language tradition, mainly through the study of John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume. DPHY 3660 INTRODUCTION TO APPLIED ETHICS WEDNESDAY, 5:30-8:30 PM This course will look at the fundamental approaches and methods in applied ethics. It will introduce students to the case study method and emphasize decisionmaking and decision theory in ethics. The course will also look at effective ethics programmes for organizations, ethics codes, professional ethics and other measures and activities in the organizational world.

7 DPHY 2336 HEGEL FRANCIS PEDDLE THURSDAY, 8:30-11:30 AM Hegel thought it possible to reassert over and against Kant and modern empiricism the primacy of pure thought. His contention depends on the proposition that the history of the world and the dialectic of conceptual thought are one and the same. The course will consider Hegel s claim to have reconciled modern subjectivity with Christianity through a careful reading of parts of the Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences and of other major Hegelian texts. DPHY 1104 CRITICAL THINKING AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FRIDAY, 1:30-4:30 PM The course aims to develop fundamental skills in reasoning and critical thinking through the study of argument types, logical structures, criteria used in the evaluation of arguments, and forms of fallacious reasoning. Students will also be introduced to the basic elements involved in conducting philosophical and theological research, and will learn about the various phases and major components of a research project.