Moral and Philosophical Reasoning

(8 credits)

What am I? How should I live? Philosophers throughout the centuries have pondered these questions which are of decisive importance for the whole of human life.

In the first course, students will study the elements of logic, the method of philosophy, and will read about the nature of the human person. In the second course, students will focus on questions of human conduct – questions about what is right and wrong, good and bad, in the lives of individual persons and human societies. These courses are not mere histories of philosophical opinion; they are substantive inquiries into the meaning of human life insofar as it can be grasped by reason alone. Thus, they complement the courses students take in theology and in other areas.

The two core courses are:

• PHIL 115 Philosophy of the Human Person
• PHIL 214 or 215 Introductory Ethics