Spring 2024 Classes in the History of Philosophy at ND

Outline

• Graduate Classes
• Undergraduate Classes

Graduate Classes

PHIL 83206: Towards a history of psychology: Ancient and medieval therapies of the soul

Wiebke Marie Stock | MW 11:00am-12:15pm

In ancient and medieval texts the soul is the principle of life, of sense-perception, emotions, passions, rational thought and ethical behavior. Throughout history, the investigation of the soul has been special in two ways. First of all, we are not addressing an external topic; we are treating ourselves. Secondly, this study of ourselves is not merely meant to describe and analyze, but to change and to form. Ancient philosophers thought of their work as "care of the soul". The soul is not a mechanism or machine, but something living which can err and go wrong. Pre-modern authorities often described this in the terms of sickness: The body may be sick and need the help of the doctor, and the soul may need therapy if it is sick. In the course, we will address a selection of texts and topics from ancient and medieval sources (Plato, Aristotle, Galen, the Stoics, Neoplatonic authors and Christian authors from late Antiquity and the Middle Ages), and compare them with select contemporary texts. What constitutes a healthy soul? What are the sicknesses of the soul? What therapies are recommended? How can one build resilience and how much resilience is right? What role does gender play? The course will also integrate lectures/discussions with practicing therapists and a field trip to "mindworks" (Chicago Museum of cognitive psychology).

Crosslisted With: MI 33022, HHS 33022, CLAS 33022, STV 33022

PHIL 93238: Avicenna, Averroes, and Aquinas on the Intellect

Therese Cory & Stephen Ogden | T 3:30pm-6:15pm

An in-depth investigation into three competing medieval theories of intellect, from Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Averroes (Ibn Rushd), and Thomas Aquinas. These are three of the most important medieval noetic systems, which adapt Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic views within the Islamic and Christian traditions and which shape influential debates into later medieval and Renaissance philosophy. Readings include Avicenna's Psychology of The Cure; Averroes' Long Commentary on De Anima; Aquinas's De Unitate Intellectus; and important secondary scholarship.

Crosslisted With: MI 93366, HPS 93238

PHIL 93606: Philosophy of Edith Stein

Kristopher McDaniel | Th 12:30pm-3:15pm

This course will focus on some of the central texts of the philosophy of Edith Stein. Edith Stein was an important member of the phenomenological movement: she was Husserl's first assistant (Heidegger followed after) and wrote important works in this tradition. She was also a scholar of scholastic philosophy. One of her last works is a treatise on systematic metaphysics that integrates insights from phenomenology, neo-Kantianism, and scholastic metaphysics. We’ll begin by discussing the general philosophical and contextual background to Edith Stein's early works. We’ll then discuss several of her works, ranging from her first book The Problem of Empathy up to Finite and Eternal Being. We will largely focus on her views about philosophical methodology, phenomenology, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics, though we will also touch on her ethics and philosophy of religion.

PHIL 93812: History of Philosophy of Science from the Scientific Revolution to 1900

Don Howard | TTh 11:00am-12:15pm

This course examines the work of key figures from the history of natural philosophy and science. Placing the philosophical work of Leibniz, Newton, Hume, Kant, Alexander Humboldt, Whewell, J. S. Mill, Helmholtz, Ernst Mach, Wilhelm Wundt, William James, Einstein, Henri Poincare, Bergson, and others, within a wider philosophical, historical, and cultural context, we will explore how and why they identified their central problems and the methods they used to approach those. We will focus on understanding how the central problems and theories that these figures worked on, ranging from questions of space, time, motion and substance/matter to theories of human sensibility and perception, to wider epistemological and metaphysical investigations, engaged the scholarly communities surrounding them, and helped them promote broader programmatic goals for reshaping and reforming philosophy/science. As they engaged contemporary philosophers/scientists over fundamental philosophical questions, they pressed new ideals of knowledge and programs to reform natural philosophy and reorganize the broader scholarly community - and society itself (e.g., Kant). We will explore how these natural philosophers framed new epistemologies and simultaneously promoted new ideals of the philosopher, scholar, and/or educated citizen, who would be capable of creating valid knowledge. In sum, we will explore how preeminent natural philosophers, at once, made original contributions to epistemology, understanding of space and time, and metaphysics, as they framed new visions of the knowing subject within a changing society.

Crosslisted With: HPS 93812

MI 60801: Augustine's Confessions

Hildegund Müller | TTh 12:30pm-1:45pm

A reading of Augustine’s Confessions, partly in Latin and in its entirety in English, with a special emphasis on close reading and precise grammatical and stylistic analysis. We will focus on understanding Confessions as a work of Latin literature and Christian philosophy, part of the great late ancient endeavor to develop new genres and styles to mirror the new belief system, yet connected to the classical world in multiple ways. In addition to the narrative itself, Augustine’s personal experience, Confessions allows the reader to gain insight into his major philosophical tenets and the conversations and controversies of his life. We will also discuss important scholarly questions (origin, historical setting, sources and parallels, biblical framework, structure, philosophical background, modern readings, etc.) and read selections of scholarly literature.

Crosslisted With: CLLA 40054, CLLA 60054,  MI 40801

MI 80367: Elements of Reasoning in Neoplatonism: Metaphysics and Nature

Denis Robichaud | TTh 9:30am-10:45am

A distinctive feature of premodern philosophy and science is the organization of nature, reasoning, and methods into elements. Philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians in the premodern world conceived of elements of reasoning as they developed axiomatic methods of demonstration and argumentation. Perhaps the most famous example of this kind of reasoning is Euclid’s Elements, but other ancient and medieval philosophers composed works in elemental modes and formulated axiomatic methods (sometimes known as demonstrating in more geometrico or a geometrical way) to study metaphysics and nature. Proclus’s Elements of Theology are a foundational and paradigmatic text in this tradition (and to a lesser extent so too is his shorter Elements of Physics). This course is centered on a close examination of Proclus’s Elements of Theology but will also study selections in this premodern tradition, including Porphyry’s Sententiae, and Cusanus’s De non aliud, as well as Boethius’s De Hebdomadibus and the Liber de causis, along with their respective commentaries by Thomas Aquinas. No prerequisites are required for the course, but familiarity with ancient and medieval philosophy would be useful. Students will be invited to read texts in translations and in their original language. No knowledge of ancient languages (Greek and Latin) is required nor of other modern languages (e.g., Italian, French, German) but some linguistic training in these languages would be beneficial.

Crosslisted With: HPS 80146

THEO 60713: Modern Jewish Theology

Isaac Slater | MW 3:30pm-4:45pm

Abraham Heschel’s assertion that “no religion is an island” is especially true of modern Judaism. From Moses Mendelssohn’s defense of religious freedom to Heschel’s support of the civil rights movement, modern Jewish theology is characterized by an ongoing dialogue with other faith traditions, especially Christianity. This course explores the diverse manifestations of modern Jewish theology and its dialogical contextualizations from the eighteenth century to the present. We will read and analyze seminal works by Heschel, Mendelsohn, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Margarete Susman, and Emmanuel Levinas, among others. In each case, we will analyze their reliance on diverse ancient, medieval, and modern traditions. Topics to be discussed include the theology of praxis, modern messianism and mysticism, political theology, theological ethics, theories of religious language, and Jewish existentialism. In addition to providing access to texts and ideas that continue to shape contemporary Judaism, the arc of the course invites reflective wrestling with its core definitions: What should we consider modern in the context of Jewish thought? What speculation amounts to a system we can call theology? Does modern interreligious dialogue blur the boundary between Christian and Jewish theology? And if so, what makes certain ideas Jewish?

Crosslisted With: THEO 40729

Undergraduate Classes