Classes in the History of Philosophy at ND
Outline
Fall 2026 Graduate Classes
CLLA 60050 // Philosophy & Science in Latin
Brian Krostenko | TTh 11:00am-12:15pm in DeBartolo 244
This course examines specimens of philosophical, scientific, and technical writing, both prose and poetry, composed in Latin from antiquity through modernity. The class will pursue two parallel themes. The first will be to appreciate the role of the sampled authors and their writings in Western intellectual history. The second will be to appreciate the contribution of the expressive resources of Latin to their several intellectual agendas. Topics to be considered include: the development of technical vocabularies; the influence of Greek; and the contribution of rhetorical form to technical writing. Areas of technical writing to be considered include moral philosophy (Cicero, Horace), Epicurean physics (Lucretius), architecture (Vitruvius), Stoic ethics (Seneca's letters), Christian philosophy (Boethius, Anselm), Scholasticism (Anselm), Thomism (Thomas Aquinas), astronomy (Copernicus), linguistics (Dante, de vulgari eloquentia), and logic (Francis Bacon).
Crosslisted With: CLLA 30050
CLLA 60100 // Ancient Virtue
Hildegund Muller | TTh 12:30am-1:45pm in DeBartolo 223
Crosslisted With: CLLA 20400
MI 83463 // Christianity in the Mirror of Medieval Judaism
Jeremy Brown | W 3:30pm-6:15pm in DeBartolo Hall 336
How did medieval Jews understand Christianity and express the range of challenges it presented? The seminar will explore representations of Christianity in medieval Jewish thought in texts composed within Christendom as well as Muslim ruled lands, writings dating from the late eleventh to the early fifteenth century. Students will examine the Bible Commentary of Rashi, Judah Halevi’s Book of the Kuzari, writings by Moses Maimonides, Moses Nahmanides, and refutation manuals from Franco-German territories and Iberia. Topics assessed in terms of historical development include the interpretation of Hebrew prophecies, eschatology, messianism, disputation, polemic, apologetics, and philosophy. Course serves masters and doctoral students in Theology (especially History of Christianity), Medieval Studies, and History.
Crosslisted With: THEO 83210, HIST 83210
PHIL 83211 // Aristotle's Categories and De Interpretatione
Paolo Crivelli | T 3:30-6:15 in Malloy Hall 220
The course will focus on Aristotle’s Categories and De Interpretatione, which are among the most influential texts in the history of Western philosophy. The course will divide into two parts, the first of which will be dedicated to the Categories while the second will focus on De Interpretatione. The topics covered will include: homonymy, synonymy, and paronymy; the quadripartite ontological division of entities of Categories 2; the classification of the categories; the accounts of substance, quantity, relatives, and quality; the theory of opposites of the Postpraedicamenta (relatives, contraries, privation-possession, and contradictories); the classification of types of priority; the theory of signification of De Interpretatione 1; the accounts of names, verbs, and formulas (logoi); declarative sentences; the ‘square of logical opposition’; future contingents (De Interpretatione 9); combinable and separable attributes; the treatment of modalities in De Interpretatione 12 and 13. The course will be a combination of upfront lectures by the instructor and presentations of important articles or chapters of books which will be offered by the other participants. Active contribution to the class discussion will be of the greatest importance and will contribute to the final evaluation. The evaluation will also be based on a final written essay.
PHIL 83242 // Medieval Jewish & Islamic Philosophies of Creation
Stephen Ogden & Tzvi Schoenberg | Th 12:30-3:15pm in Malloy 220
The idea of creation stands at the center of the Abrahamic religions and is pivotal to their respective doctrines of faith. Yet these doctrines took shape also in response to existing philosophical and scientific theories concerning the nature and origin of the world, often redefining the very concept of creation in this process. This interaction was especially fruitful for the Jewish and Islamic traditions during the Middle Ages, generating extensive discussions across theology, philosophy, and scriptural exegesis about the origin and structure of the cosmos. Among the central issues debated in this process were creation ex nihilo, temporal creation, the relation between causal necessity and divine voluntarism, the eternity of intelligible beings, and the material constitution and nature of the cosmos. In addressing these questions, Jewish and Islamic thinkers frequently adopted established philosophical frameworks—Aristotelian and Neoplatonic, among others—while reshaping them in light of their theological commitments and exegetical traditions. These encounters raise the broader question of whether we may speak of distinct “philosophies of creation” emerging from this intellectual exchange. The course will explore this question through a thematic reading of central texts from both traditions: on the Jewish side, Saʿadia Gaon, Solomon Ibn Gabirol, Abraham Ibn Ezra, and the Maimonidean tradition; on the Islamic side, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Avicenna, al-Ghazali, and Averroes. Particular attention will be given to the shared conceptual frameworks and points of transmission linking Jewish and Islamic discussions of creation, but we will also likely examine briefly the early Christian account of Augustine and the later Christian account of Aquinas in conversation with the Jewish and Islamic models.
Crosslisted With MI 83368
PHIL 93628 // Proust and the Philosophers
Stephen Watson | Th 3:30-6:15pm in Malloy Hall 220
Marcel Proust's À la Recherche Du Temps Perdue (In Search of Lost Time) has been called the most important novel of the twentieth century. Previous to its final inception, its author was uncertain of the work's status. "Must I make of it a novel, a philosophical study, am I a novelist?" (Notebook of 1908). Recent research has revealed the extent to which Proust himself was substantially trained in philosophy (for example, the metaphysics of Schopenhauer or the aesthetics of Hegel and Schelling). Perhaps even more significant is the extent of the influence of The Search on philosophers after it. Among others, Proust's work played an essential role in the arguments of Adorno or Benjamin, Merleau-Ponty and Ricoeur, Kristeva and Deleuze, or Nussbaum, Pippin, and Taylor. This seminar will begin by reading extensive parts of this multivolume work in translation and considering the philosophical positions it transforms. We will then examine Proust's influence in a number of areas of philosophy. This in turn will allow us to confront the relationship between philosophy and literature more particularly.
Crosslisted With PHIL 43210
POLS 60693 // The Political Thought of Hannah Arendt
Dana Villa | M 3:30-6:15pm in Corbett E378
This course is devoted to a reading of Arendt’s major works in political theory, including ‘The Origins of Totalitarianism,’ ‘The Human Condition,’ and ‘On Revolution.’ Selections from ‘Between Past and Future’ and the posthumously published collection ‘The Promise of Politics’ will also be addressed. Topics include her theories of political action and political judgement.
THEO 60812 // Nature and Grace
Fr. Nicholas Lombardo | MW 11:00am-12:15pm in Flanner Hall 323
This course offers an introduction to the theology of the human person, the field of theology known as “Christian anthropology” or “theological anthropology.” It focuses especially on topics such as the nature of human nature, our experience of divine grace, and the doctrine of original sin, with attention to practical and pastoral implications for the spiritual life and ecclesial community. The course aims to provide a comprehensive, historically contextualized overview of the field and to help students think with rigor and creativity about the human person in light of Christian faith. We begin by situating the topic of Christian anthropology in our contemporary context. Then, we consider the philosophy and theology of emotion, as a practical foundation for constructing a holistic Christian understanding of the human person, using the thought of Thomas Aquinas on emotion as a touchstone. With this foundation in place, we turn to thematic discussions of three central topics: human nature, original sin, and (especially) divine grace. At the end of the course, students should have a good knowledge of: the principal scriptural themes concerning the human person and the human condition and our divinization in Christ; the history of the Church’s reflection on nature, original sin, and grace; the relevance and significance of contemporary science for theological reflection on the human person and human origins; the enduring value of Christian reflection on human affectivity and human flourishing; the philosophical and theological elements necessary for an adequate contemporary Christian anthropology; the relevance of Christology to Christian anthropology; and the practical and pastoral importance of getting nature and grace right.
Crosslisted With THEO 40815
THEO 83835 // Memory & Desire
Fr. Kevin Grove | F 8:00-10:45am in Malloy Hall 320
This course focuses on the way in which memory and desire are utilized and problematized in modern and contemporary theology. The terms memory and desire have Christological and anthropological valences; the course will treat both. Further, because contemporary thinkers draw on and manipulate classical models of memory and desire, the first part of the course will reconstruct models presented in Scripture, classical philosophy, Augustine, and Bonaventure. The course will then turn to retrievals of these early models, discussing Heidegger, Rahner, Metz, Ratzinger, Marion, and Ricoeur. Because memory is correlated to desire, the course will investigate the way in which these thinkers present theological anthropologies of desire alongside memory. Careful attention will be paid not only to the individual person as remembering and desiring, but also the way in which the body of Christ (and therein ecclesiology) refines and challenges models of memory and desire. Beyond ST, students from other concentrations will be welcome to develop research projects relating the course to their particular interests.
Fall 2026 Undergraduate Classes
PHIL 20206 // Augustine's Confessions
David Cory | MW 11:00am-12:15pm in Corbett E202
This course in Augustine's Confessions offers a path for students to continue in philosophy through a deep encounter with a key text in the history of its development. Some key themes will be the tnesion between divine presence and divine transcendence, the metaphysics of evil, the emergence of the will as a philosophical theme, the limitations of human language to express truth, the relationship between the intellectual and the moral life, the role of friendship in the moral life, the nature of time, memory, and the effect of embodiment on our moral and intellectual welfare. Above all, we will explore the idea that a human life is a confession or a proclamation of what one most deeply believes is true and food. Students will be introduced to other intellectual movements that form the background for Augustine's writings, especially stoicism, Neoplatonism, and various forms of gnostic Christianity, but the primary focus will be on deep textual engagement with St. Augustine's most famous work. As a core text in the histories of both philosophy and theology, which plays a formative role in the Catholic intellectual tradition, the Confessions are an especially suitable subject matter for a second philosophy course, since Augustine introduces many problems and distinctions that become foundational in both disciplines.
Crosslisted With: PRL 20206
PHIL 20227 // Aristotle's Natural Philosophy
Paolo Crivelli | MW 2:00-3:15pm in O'Shaughnessy Hall 210
The course will focus on the first four books of Aristotle’s Physics, a text which shaped the way of understanding the physical world for many centuries (including the whole of the Middle Ages). The course will begin with a brief overview of Aristotle’s theory of science and of the theory of deduction that lies at its foundation and will then proceed to analyse Aristotle’s treatment of some concepts that are important for our understanding of the physical world: monism, becoming, causality, teleology, chance, change, place, the infinite, void, and time. The course will be a combination of upfront lectures by the instructor and presentations of important articles or chapters of books which will be offered by students. Active contribution to the class discussion will be of the greatest importance and will contribute to the final evaluation of the student’s performance in the course. The evaluation will also be based on three written essays (but every presentation offered to the class by the student will exempts him or her from writing one of the essays).
PHIL 20230 // 19th Century Philosophy
Andrew Huddleston | TTh 12:30pm-1:45pm in DeBartolo Hall 217
This course offers an overview of several of the key figures and trends in 19th Century Post-Kantian European Philosophy. Philosophers to be studied include: Hegel, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche. Topics include: the possibility of metaphysics after Kant, the aspirations of philosophical systematicity, the nature of the self, the status of morality, philosophical optimism/pessimism, the move toward increasing secularity, and the impending threat of nihilism.
PHIL 20429 // Aristotle's Ethics
Sophia Connell | TTh 2:00pm-3:15pm
This course will concentrate on the ethical theory set out in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. It includes the study of topics such as: methodology, the good life, virtue, character, the mean, moral responsibility, practical wisdom, justice, friendship, weakness of will, moral education and the contemplative life.
PHIL 20454 // Ancient Platonism
Justin Christy | TTh 2:00-3:15pm in Corbett E486
This course will explore the rich philosophical tradition inspired by the works of Plato, which was the source of a distinctive and highly influential set of interrelated ideas about God, human nature, the structure of reality, and happiness. We will explore Plato's treatment of these topics in dialogues like the Phaedo, Republic, and Timaeus, in connection with relevant background material from Plato's philosophical predecessors (particularly from the Pythagorean movement and from Parmenides of Elea). We will then trace the impact of Plato's ideas in the centuries following his death, with attention to their development by later "Neo-Platonic" philosophers like Plotinus and lamblichus, by Christian thinkers like the Origen of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa, and within lesser known philosophical and religious movements from antiquity. Like all ancient philosophical traditions, Platonism was not just a collection of abstract doctrines, but a way of life aimed at leading its adherents to happiness and flourishing. Accordingly, we will seek to understand not just what Platonist philosophers believed, but how they actually lived their lives. In addition to in-depth reading and discussion of primary texts, this will involve trying out for ourselves some of the lived practices central to the Platonist tradition.
PHIL 20809 // The Philosophical Thought of John Paul II
Samantha Ronge | TTh 9:30-10:45am in Corbett E478
The aim of this course is to explore the philosophical thought of John Paul II, with an emphasis on his philosophy of the human person. The first part of the course will cover important background information from his two primary streams of influence: Thomism (the thought of Thomas Aquinas) and phenomenology (the study of human experience). The remainder of the course will include a look at a few of his philosophical essays and an extended treatment of his Theology of the Body.
PHIL 30301 // Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
Joshua Trubowitz, Stephen Dumont | (meeting information varies by section)
This course will concentrate on major figures and persistent themes. A balance will be sought between scope and depth, the latter ensured by a close reading of selected texts.
PHIL 30302 // History of Modern Philosophy
Sam Newlands | TTh 2:00-3:15pm in DeBartolo 310
This course examines the sweeping transformations of philosophy in the 17th and 18th centuries by exploring some of the leading philosophers of that era. Topics include innovations in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophical theology, and the natural sciences, many of which continue to shape the agenda in contemporary philosophy.
PHIL 43428 // Social Contract Theory from Rawls to Hobbes
Alix Cohen | TTh 12:30am-1:45am in DeBartolo 231
This course aims to introduce students to central questions in political philosophy, through engagement with the work of several significant political philosophers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Immanuel Kant and John Rawls. The topics with which we will be most deeply concerned include the legitimacy of the state; the limits of the state’s authority; the basis of rights of resistance or rebellion; the relevance of consent to political authority; the nature and value of freedom; and the relationship between politics and human nature. We will also attempt to relate the views of these philosophers to contemporary issues.
PHIL 43806 // Aquinas on God
John O'Callaghan | MW 12:30-1:45pm in Hesburgh Library 201C
A close examination of several philosophical themes and arguments within the first thirteen questions of the first part of Aquinas' Summa Theologiae, as well as related texts elsewhere in his work, and related discussions in other authors as the occasion arises. The course will focus upon certain topics to the exclusion of others. One task of philosophy is to figure out what its subject matter is. So we will begin with an initial discussion of the nature of philosophy. Other topics of particular interest in the thirteen questions are the relationship between what Aquinas calls Sacra Doctrina and the exercise of reason apart from Sacra Doctrina in relationship to the nature of philosophy; the demonstration of the existence of a god, the simplicity of a god, the perfections that pertain to a god, our knowledge of God, and how we speak about God.
PLS 20301 // Philosophical Inquiry
Gretchen Reydams-Schils, Robert Goulding, Denis Robichaud | meeting times/venues differ by section
This course introduces philosophical inquiry, both as distinct from and as it relates to other disciplines, through the exploration of primary texts representative of its different forms and questions, and within the context of an integrated liberal education. It also investigates the formal and informal principles of logical reasoning. Readings include selections from the Pre-Socratics, Plato's Meno, selections from Aristotle, beginning with his Organon and Physics, and such authors as Boethius, Descartes, and Aquinas.
POLS 30161 // Black Political Thought
Bernard Forjwuor | MW 11:00am-12:15am in O'Shaughnessy Hall 110
This course will focus on the writings of Black political thinkers in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. Through critical examination of the conditions against, and contexts within, which the political theories of these thinkers are situated, this course hopes to arrive at some understanding of the principles, goals and strategies developed to contest and redefine notions/concepts of citizenship (vis-a-vis the imperatives of race/racism and the global colonial formations), humanity, justice, equality, development, democracy, and freedom.
Crosslisted With: AFST 30682, CHR 30712, HESB 30375 and PHIL 20409
THEO 20848 // The Mystery of Death: Theological and Philosophical Perspectives
Jay Martin | MW 12:30-1:45pm in Jenkins and Nanovic Halls B044
In this course, we will study the historical and conceptual development of the Christian understanding of death and how it relates to various theological themes including nature and creation, human being and subjectivity, and sin, salvation, eschatology, and the sacraments. Course readings will include the Bible and classical Christian literature, as well as readings from philosophy, literature, and the sciences.