SPRING 2025 ELECTIVES

314-Feminist Philosophy

DIANDA 

MWF

12:00-12:50

17901

314 Feminist Philosophy

Humanities Elective, Diversity Flag, Gender and Diversity Studies,Peace and Justice

Feminist philosophy is a tradition of thought that has at its core a commitment to the critique of gender oppression. Under this general category of feminist philosophy, we find numerous and competing ideals, frameworks, and positions. Though feminism might be most recognizable as a political movement, in the philosophical tradition feminism expresses itself in areas stretching from metaphysics and epistemology to ethics and politics. This course will provide students with a survey of some of the major contributions of feminist philosophers, giving students insight into both the complexity and diversity of the feminist tradition and to the relationship between the philosophical tradition and those who have been historically excluded from the activity of philosophy. Over the course of the term, we will focus on key concepts such as sex, gender, race, sexual difference, intersectionality, misogyny, domination, and objectification. And we will as questions such as: What is a woman? What is gender?; What is a feminist philosophy? How does gender oppression manifest in the history of philosophy, our theories of knowledge, and our politics? This course carries the core diversity flag and is cross listed with the Gender and Diversity Studies Program.

318-Philosophy of Sex-Sweeney

SWEENEY 

11:30-12:45

15078

318: Philosophy of sex

Humanities Elective, ERS Flag

PHIL 329 Bioethics

DWYER 

4:30-5:45

11224

329-01 Bioethics

Humanities Elective, ERS Flag

As Xavier constructs one of the region’s premier medical teaching facilities (College of Osteopathic Medicine), we face the pressing need to construct and evaluate arguments about the ethical aspects of healing, caring, living, dying, and related existential issues. The goal of the course, therefore, is to develop and enhance your critical thinking skills in a global health context by doing three things: (1) evaluating claims in an applied ethics course such as this about real-life biomedical dilemmas, (2) understanding primary sources in philosophy and medical literature, and (3) applying your own rational, imaginative, and affective capacities to contemporary case studies. The course is structured by readings in philosophical ethics (Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and their 21^st contemporaries/critics such as virtue ethicists, deontologists, utilitarians, care ethicists, and other health experts). The case studies are drawn from dilemmas that call for serious attention to the meaning and application of contemporary bioethical concepts (paternalism, patient autonomy, truth-telling, full disclosure, informed consent, genetic therapy/enhancement, human research, gender-based care, medical racism, abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide). We will also reflect together about any other emerging bioethical issues which become relevant to all class members.

PHIL 331-Philosophy and Literature

POLT 

2:30-3:45

11226

331, PHIL AND LIT

Humanities Elective, Writing flag, ERS flag

This course explores the relation between philosophy and literature, and the way they shape our worldview. It includes the study of philosophical interpretations of various literary genres. We will focus on four ancient literary legacies.

The Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh, which survives in fragments of different versions and was rediscovered only in the nineteenth century, tells a story of power, friendship, mortality, and self-knowledge that invites philosophical interpretation.
Sophocles’ tragedy Oedipus the King raises questions about knowledge, blindness, and fate; it is a model for Aristotle’s analysis of drama in his influential Poetics, which can be read not only as literary theory but as an exploration of human existence.
Sappho was the most renowned lyric poet of the ancient world; the surviving fragments of her work suggest insights into love that have been explored by classicist and poet Anne Carson.
Pindar’s odes celebrate athletic achievement and offer broad and deep insights into life.

We will close with the dialogue Ion, in which Plato investigates whether poets are qualified to interpret their own work

337-Response to Liberalism SZYMKOWIAK

SZYMKOWIAK 

MWF

1:00-1:50

17334

337, RESPONSES TO LIBERALISM

Restricted to PPP or Philosophy majors

PHIL 339: Revolution & Its Aftermath

FRANKEL 

10:00-11:15

11232

Restricted to PPP or Philosophy majors

This course explores the theoretical articulation and response to the American and French Revolutions, paying attention to how modern political thought emerges as a dialogue about the meaning of these revolutions.

340-Metaphysics

WOOD

MWF

2:00-2:50

11228

340, METAPHYSICS

Restricted to Philosophy major OR minor

Metaphysics—or, in Aristotle’s terms, “first philosophy”—asks fundamental questions about being: What is the difference between being and nonbeing? Are there many ways of being? Is there a highest being? Why is there something rather than nothing? How do we understand what it means to be? In this course we will focus on questions about being, as well as related questions about nature, causality, generation and destruction, divinity, and the soul, among others. We will consider both ancient and modern approaches to these questions and seek to deepen our understanding and appreciation for the ways different thinkers have approached them. As we discuss some very abstract and challenging texts, we will discover that reflecting on being can be exciting, and may also have some surprising implications for our own lives