PH 011c FP – LOGIC I
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: This first part of Logic (Formal Logic) is aimed at enabling the students to know the rules of Formal or Minor Logic. This should enable them to detect among intellectual operations those which are valid (sound), and those which are invalid. At the end of the course the students are expected to be capable of evaluating any statement in the light of rules of valid reasoning so as to see whether it is valid or fallacious.
Content: Logic 1 covers mainly Aristotelian logic and its development up to 1662. The General Introduction defines Logic as both an art and a normative philosophical discipline. It presents also a short historical background as well as its division. The first unit deepens the notion of concept, its properties (comprehension and extension) and its classification. The second unit deals with categorical logical judgements. Special attention is given to the classical structure, the quantity and the quality of propositions, leading to the study of the square of opposition, to the binary Logic and to the immediate inferences (inversion, conversion, obversion and contraposition). The third unit concerns the study of reasoning, mainly induction, deduction, analogy, reasoning from the absurd, reasoning ad hominem…The fourth unit focuses in a particular way the syllogistics deepening the categorical syllogism, the hypothetical syllogism and the polysyllogism. The fifth unit introduces the students to symbolic logic. A particular attention is given to the unanalysed proposition logic and its methods of decision, mainly Truth Table and Semantic Charts methods. The last unit is dedicated to the study of the Formal Proof of Validity or Natural Deduction, which introduce the students to the axiomatic logic.
Textbook:
Kahane, H., Logic and Philosophy:
A Modern Introduction, New York:
Recommended:
Guttenplan, S., The Language of Logic, Oxford: Blackwell 1996.
Copi,
PH 020c FP – COSMOLOGY / PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organization: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: To inject Students with a clear understanding of the origin and structure of the Cosmos. The history of the philosophy of nature will be discussed in depth so as to come up with a greater knowledge about the making of the universe in order to answer the many questions that concern the object of the philosophy of nature.
Content: The course will start with the Milesian approach vis-à-vis nature. The object of the philosophy of nature and the essence of the material being are part of the discussion. The battle between creationists and evolutionists will be highlighted for the sake of finding a neutral ground on the basis of geocentrism.
Recommended:
Celestine, N.B., From
Aether to Cosmos,
Collingwood, F.J., Philosophy
of Nature,
Foley,
Kore, H.,
Nyasani, J.M., The
Metaphysics of the Cosmos,
Wallace, W.A., The
Modeling of Nature: Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature in Synthesis,
PH 031C FP – METAPHYSICS / ONTOLOGY I
Lecturer: Fr. Charles Lyimo, ALCP/OSS, PhD
Organization: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: to introduce the students to the main topics of metaphysics by giving them a classical presentation of the subject.
Content: The first chapter is an introductory one, entitled the nature of metaphysics. In this section we explain the term “metaphysics” and ontology, we define metaphysics as the science of being as being: the origin and development of metaphysics, the metaphysics and the particular sciences, the starting point of metaphysics, etc.
We continue with the notion of being, the primacy of the notion of being in human knowledge, the analogical notion of being, the analogy of proportionality and attribution, and the principle of non-contradiction and other primary principles.
Then we conclude with a broad part entitled the metaphysical structure of being, here we deal with substance and accidents, the categories, act and potency, essence and the act of being, the principle of individuation, the distinction between suppositum and nature.
Recommended:
Alvira, T. – Clavell, L. – Melendo,
T., Metaphysics, trans. by L. Supan.
Kim, J. – Sosa, E., A Companion
to Metaphysics,
Loux, J.M., Metaphysics: A
Contemporary Introduction, 2nd ed.,
Panthanmackel, G., Coming and
Going. I. An Introduction to Metaphysics from Western
Perspectives,
PH 032C FP – METAPHYSICS / ONTOLOGY II
Lecturer: Fr. Charles Lyimo, ALCP/OSS, PhD
Organization: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: to continue with some of the topics of the classical metaphysics and to present some critiques of classical metaphysics.
Content: We explain in details the transcendental properties of being: unity, truth, goodness and beauty. We deal also with Causality, the four causes: intrinsic causes (material and formal cause) and the extrinsic causes (efficient and final cause), and the principle of causality and participation. Then we try to summarize some of the critiques that we can make of classical metaphysics and to point out some of the contemporary issues in metaphysics.
Recommended:
Alvira, T. – Clavell, L. – Melendo,
T., Metaphysics, trans. by L. Supan.
Bogliolo, L., Metaphysics,
Panthanmackel, G., Coming and
Going. I. An Introduction to Metaphysics from Western Perspectives,
Van Inwagen, P. – Zimmerman, D.W., Metaphysics:
The Big Questions,
PH 040c FP – EPISTEMOLOGY / GNOSEOLOGY
Lecturer: Fr. Charles Lyimo, ALCP/OSS, PhD
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: To enable the students to study and to philosophically investigate the nature of the human knowledge.
Content: This course is divided into three parts: The first part will include among other things the general introduction, the definition and the importance of epistemology. The scope of epistemology and the difference between epistemology and other philosophical disciplines will also be discussed. The second part will include the notion of truth, certitude and evidence, error and the problem of universals. Other critical problems which may arise from the above mentioned issued will be acknowledged. The third party will deal with the analysis of human knowledge.
Textbooks:
Goldman, A.I., Epistemology and
Cognition,
Dancy, J. Introduction to
Contemporary Epistemology,
Sanguineti, J.J., Logic and
Gnoseology,
PH 050c FP – PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organisation: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Purpose: The aim of the course is to show that scientific knowledge is not complete and sciences have no monopoly on the truth. The second aim of the course is to show that philosophy is still present in the foundation of the physical or natural sciences.
Content: Definition of philosophy and definition of science; material and formal object and methods give us the possibility to distinguish philosophy from the sciences, and philosophical truth from scientific truth. Critical examination of scientism, reductionism and mechanicism, as well as operationism, fallibilism and falsificationism present in the sciences, gives us the opportunity to establish the philosophy of science as a philosophical reflection about scientific knowledge. The lecture goes on to present different tendencies in the philosophy of science from Aristotle to P. Feyerabend. Sciences do not give us (in a certain sense) objective cognition of the world but only approximative knowledge, because of induction. In this case, philosophical knowledge seems to be justified.
Textbooks:
Chalmers, A., What
Is This Thing Called Science?,
Gilles, D.,
Philosophy of Science in the Twentieth Century,
Hung, E., The
Nature of Science,
Kosso, P., Reading
the Book of Nature,
Kuhn, T., The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions,
Salmon, M.H., et al., ed., Introduction to the Philosophy of Science: A
Text by Members of the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science at
the
PH 070c
FP – Selective
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organisation: one (1) hour/week, one (1) credit
Purpose: The argument by which Kant sought to fix the limits of human knowledge within the framework of experience and to demonstrate the inability of the human mind to penetrate beyond experience (strictly by knowledge) to the realm of ultimate reality (Dinge an Sich) constitutes the critical feature of his philosophy, giving the key words to the titles of his three leading treatises, Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical Reason, and Critique of Judgment. Our aim is to examine some parts of these three works.
Content: Despite developments since Plato and especially since Aristotle metaphysics itself is still called into question. The most famous critic of metaphysics was Immanuel Kant, especially in his Critique of Pure Reason. For him one of the proofs for the impossibility of metaphysics is that some metaphysicians say that the universe is eternal, non-created (and we haven't any possibility to demonstrate this as truth), but on the other hand, there are the metaphysicians who say: The universe is temporal, created. Both of these two sentences seem to be true. But if it is so, these truths are contradictory; they exclude each other. Several major viewpoints were combined in the work of Kant, who developed a distinctive critical philosophy called transcendentalism. His philosophy is agnostic in that it denies the possibility of a strict knowledge of ultimate reality; it is empirical in that it affirms that all knowledge arises from experience and is true of objects of actual and possible experience; and it is rationalistic in that it maintains the a priori character of the structural principles of this empirical knowledge.
Textbook:
Kim, J. –
Sosa, E., ed., A Companion to Metaphysics,
PH 080c
FP – SELECTIVE
The Question of Truth – “De veritate” in St. Thomas Aquinas
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organisation: one (1) hour/week, one (1) credit
Purpose: To discuss the importance of the epistemological problem of Truth in the light of “De Veritate” in St. Tomas.
Content: All knowledge, Aquinas held, originates in sensation, but sense data can be made intelligible only by the action of the intellect, which elevates the mind toward the apprehension of such immaterial realities as the human soul, the angels, and God. To reach understanding of the highest truths, those with which religion is concerned, the aid of revelation is needed. Aquinas's moderate realism placed the universals firmly in the mind, in opposition to extreme realism, which posited their independence from human thought. He admitted a foundation for universals in existing things, in opposition to nominalism and conceptualism.
Textbook:
Dancy, J. –
Sosa, E., ed., A Companion to Epistemology,
PH 110c FP – PHILOSOPHICAL HERMENEUTICS
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organisation: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Purpose: Since the end of the 19th century, Hermeneutics has revealed its importance in Geisteswissenschaften. In African studies the hermeneutic method is becoming more than important. This course aims at giving students some basic and relevant information concerning different understanding of hermeneutics and some training in philosophical and cultural hermeneutics.
Content: After an introduction wherein we define
synchronically hermeneutic and hermeneutics and present their material objects,
the first unit traces the historical background of hermeneutic as method. The
second unit deals with modern apprehensions of hermeneutics as developed by
Schleiermacher, Diltehy, Heidegger, Gadamer, Habermas and Freud. The third unit
develops the philosophical hermeneutic as exposed in the works of Paul Ricoeur.
The last unit introduces the cultural hermeneutic in
Recommended:
Gadamer. H.G., Philosophical Hermeneutics, Los Angeles:
Palmer, R.E., Hermeneutics. Interpretation Theory in Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, and Gadamer, Evanston: Northwestern University Press 1969.
Stiver, D.R., The Philosophy of Religious Language. Sign, Symbol, and Story, Oxford: Blackwell 1998.
Ricoeur, P., De L’Interprétation. Essai Sur Freud, Paris: Seuil 1965.
———, Le Conflict Des Interprétations. Essai d’ Herméneutique, Paris: Seuil 1969.
Eliade, M., The Sacred and the Profane. The Nature of Religion. The Significance of Religious myth, Symbolism, and Ritual within Life and Culture, London: Harcourt 1954.
Bruns, G.L., Hermeneutics Ancient
and Modern,
Grondin, J., Introduction to
Philosophical Hermeneutics,
PH 200c HP – INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organisation: four (4) hours/week, four (4) credits
Purpose: to introduce new students in Philosophy to the nature, the material and formal objects, the requirements, the terminology, and the methods of classical Philosophy. The new students in Philosophy should have a schematic landscape of the History of Philosophy on completion of the course
Content:
First Part: Generalities
Definitions of Philosophy
Nature of Philosophical problems
Methods in Philosophy
Division of Philosophy and philosophical branches
Philosophy and sciences
Philosophy, faith and theology
Philosophy and symbolic expressions
Philosophy and culture
Second part: Diachronical survey of philosophical problematic
Pre-Socratic systems and Socratic philosophy
Medieval syntheses: Augustinism and Thomism
The renewal of Philosophy and science during 17th and 18th centuries
Philosophy in 20th century
Recommended:
Copleston, F., A History of Philosophy. Book Three, Vol. VII-IX, Garden City: Image Books 1995.
Frost, S.E., Basic
Teachings of the Great Philosophers,
Mattei, L., Introduction
to Philosophy,
PH 211c HP – ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organization: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: To introduce the origins of
Philosophy in
Content: Really the best title of this lecture is ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, this is not a course of ancient philosophy properly, because we are not going to teach anything about oriental philosophy.
The terms
‘Ancient Greek and Roman’ specify the topic both spatially and temporally. Our
discussion will cover a period of c. 800 years, from the 6th century
B. C. to the 4th century A. D., extending over Greece and Italy, but
also including North-Africa and the Near East. Neither the geographical nor the
temporal span chosen want to affirm that philosophy existed only in these
places and alone in this period. The ancient Greek and Roman philosophy we deal
with is generally considered as the formative period of European thought, and it
is with the beginning of rational thought in
This course can be conveniently divided into three periods: Presocratic, Platonic-Aristotelian, and post-Aristotelian or Hellenistic thought. Whereas the philosophy till Socrates concentrates its attention on the world as such, there is a shift towards the society during the classical period. In the Greco-Roman thought after Aristotle the individual occupies the centre of reflection.
Recommended:
Copleston, F., History of Philosophy.
I.
Gaarder, J., Sophie´s World: A
Novel about the history of Philosophy,
Guthrie, W.K.C., The Greek
philosophers: From Thales to Aristotle,
Long, A. Anthony, ed., The
PH 212c HP – MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer Fr. George Joseph Kannamkulath, CM, PhM
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Propose: This course explores the encounter of Pagan Philosophy with Christian thinking which was difficult but nevertheless fruitful and inspiring for the further development of Medieval Christian Philosophy.
Content: At the beginning we are laying the foundation with the three great pillars of medieval thinking, i.e. St. Augustine, Dionysius Areopagita, Boethius. Further the course shows the unfolding of medieval thinking from the early Scholastics to the late Scholastics of the 15th century with its different schools and different challenges (Islamic Philosophy, Jewish Philosophy, Aristotelism, Platonism) which Christian philosophers were facing. Special attention is given to the social, historical, and academic-methodical background, in which medieval Philosophers were living and working. At least the course should make clear that medieval Philosophy is not one monolithic block of one kind of thinking and that the positive or negative value of individual medieval thinkers cannot be measured on a figure like St. Thomas alone.
Recommended:
Copleston, F., A History of Philosophy. II. Mediaeval Philosophy. Augustine to Scotus, New York: Doubleday 1993.
Gilson, E., History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages, New York: Random House 1955.
Haye, C. J. H. & Clark, F. Medieval and Early Modern Times. The Age of Justinian to the Eighteenth Century, New York – London: MacMillan 1983.
Medieval Philosophy. From St. Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa, ed. by J. F. Wippel & A. B. Wolter. New York: The Free Press 1969
Medieval Philosophy. Vol. 3, ed. by J. Marenbon. London: Routledge 1998.
The Middle Ages. II, Readings in Medieval History, ed. by B. Tierney, 2nd ed., New York: Knopf 1974.
PH 213c HP – MODERN PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer Fr. George Joseph Kannamkulath, CM, PhM
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Content: Purpose: The course introduces the development of modern thought. We consider the concluding period of the Medieval epoch in order to see the connection between the medieval and the modern era. We have to feel the enthusiasm that is alive during the whole modern epoch when the individual human being is in the centre of all thinking.
Content: Looking at the background of the Renaissance with its tremendous changes in method, content, and world-view we explore the upcoming of the father of modern thinking René Descartes. From there we explain the further modern development, both, the Continental (rationalism) and British philosophy (empiricism) in its different directions up to Kant (enlightenment, idealism), who was awoken out of the dogmatic slumber by Hume.
Textbook:
Collins, J.A., A History of Modern European Philosophy. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Com. 1954.
Copleston, F., A History of Philosophy, III-VI, New York: Doubleday Company 1994.
Eighteenth Century Philosophy, ed. by L. White Beck, New York: The Free Press 1966.
Gilson, E. – Langan, T., Modern Philosophy. Descartes to Kant, New York: Random House 1964.
Jones, W.T., Hobbes to Hume. A History of Western Philosophy, 2nd ed., New York – Chicago – San Francisco – Atlanta: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1969.
O’Connor, D. J., A Critical History of Western Philosophy, New York: The Free Press 1985.
The Philosophy of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, ed. by R. H. Popkin, New York: The Free Press 1966.
Readings in Modern Philosophy, I-II, ed. by R. Ariews & E. Watkins, Indianapolis – Cambridge: Hackett 2000.
Scrutton, R., A Short History of Modern Philosophy. From Descartes to Wittgenstein, 2nd ed., London – New York: Routledge 1995.
Walsh, M.J., A History of Philosophy, London: Geoffrey Chapman 1985.
PH 214c HP – Contemporary Philosophy I
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Propose: The course introduces the philosophical reaction to Kant. It presents the Classical German Philosophy also called German Idealism with its main representatives Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel.
Content: Being familiar with their basic ideas and developed systems the course studies the reaction to this kind of Philosophy as a system. We will discover several different reactions to the Philosophy of Hegel, namely Schopenhauer, Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche, and Kierkegaard. It should become clear how the Philosophy of Life in its widest sense springs from the critique of Hegel but also especially how existential Philosophy owes much to a thinker like Schelling.
Recommended:
Solomon, R.C. – K.M. Higgins, ed., The Age of German Idealism, VI, London: Routledge 1993.
Copleston, F., A History of Philosophy. VII. Fichte to Nietzsche, London: 1963.
PH 215c HP – Contemporary Philosophy II
Lecturer Fr. George Joseph Kannamkulath, CM, PhM
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: The course presents the different movements in contemporary philosophical thought starting from the end of the 19th century up to recent times.
Content: From each movement the course tries to present at least the major figures of the 20th century. We explore the Philosophy of Life, the Phenomenological Movement, Existentialism, the Dialogical Philosophy, Neo-Idealism, Marxism, Neopositivism, Analytical Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Pragmatism, Postmodernism and 20th century Catholic or Christian philosophy. Obviously the course can study always only some parts of the widely ramified 20th century Philosophy. Thus some elective courses on specified 20th century Philosophy will be offered in addition and can help the student to deepen the knowledge of contemporary Philosophy.
Recommended:
Canfield, J.V., ed., Philosophy of Meaning, Knowledge and Value in the 20th Century, Vol. 10. London: Routledge 1994.
Copleston, F., A History of Philosophy. VIII. From Bentham to Russell, London 1966.
Copleston, F., A History of Philosophy. IX, From Maine de Biran to Sartre, London 1975.
Kearney, R., ed., Continental Philosophy in the 20th Century, VIII, London: Routledge 1994.
Shanker, G., ed., Philosophy of Science, Logic and Mathematics in the 20th Century, IX, London: Routledge 1996.
PH 400c AP – AFRICAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organisation: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Course Description: This course traces the evolution of African political thought historically, emphasizing the socio-economic, intellectual and other circumstances that shaped or have shaped particular strands of political thinking among thinkers or writers of African origin. It is meant to cover the major epochs and events, that helped to shape the most important elements of African political thought. The course should lead to the more detailed study of selected thinkers and themes.
Content: In this course the principal themes of African political thought are studied and analysed in the light of their socio-economic context and intellectual origins. The course seeks to examine the main dimensions and styles of African political processes and how various African leaders, e.g. Nyerere, Nkrumah, Kaunda, Cabral; intellectuals like Cheikh Anta Diop, Ali Mazrui, Henry Odera Oruka, Kwasi Wiredu, and Claude Ake; and social movements, e.g. Mau Mau and Maji Maji; have reacted to the internal social, political and economic realities and to the external variables (such as imperialism and neo-colonialism), to evolve a body of ideas which together could be viewed as African political thought.
Required Texts:
Mukandala, R.S., Approaches to the Study of Political Thought, TAAMULI, Vol. 7, No. 2 Dec. 1977.
Clapman, C., The Continent of African Political Thought, JMAS, Vol. 8, April 1970.
July, R.W., The Origins of Modern African Thought.
Wayper, C.L., Political Thought.
Mutiso, G.-C.M. – Rohio, S.W., Readings in African Political Thought, London: Heinemann 1975.
Nkrumah, K., Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for De-Colonization, London: Panaf Books 1964, 1970.
Nyerere, J.K., Ujamaa: Essays on Socialism, New York: Oxford University Press 1968.
PH 410c AP – AFRICAN THOUGHT & WESTERN PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer: Mr. Adolph Mihanjo, PhD
Organisation: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Purpose: This course will provide information about much that is to be found written concerning African thought that is the legacy of African Tradition.
Content: This course will explore various African authors who have studied Western Philosophy and Western Philosopher’s more traditional religious thought. The course will pay special attention to the idea of Inculturation. Following the requirements as set in the prospectus, subjects covered:
- Do we have an African Philosophy?
- Investigating African Philosophy.
- Pitfalls in comparing African thought with Western thought.
- African and Western Philosophy: a proper comparative study.
- A comparative analysis of Pan-Africanism.
Textbooks:
Wright, R.A., ed., African Philosophy. An Introduction, Washington, D.C.: Langham 1984.
Mbiti, J.S., African Religions and Philosophy, London: Heinemann 1979.
Tempels, P., Bantu Philosophy, Paris 1959.
Cahn, S. M., ed., Classics of Western Philosophy, Indianapolis: Hackett 1985.
PH 420c Ap – PHILOSOPHY AND AFRICAN RELIGION
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organisation: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Purpose: This course provides a philosophical investigation of the origins of the various ancestor religions in Africa and their influence to African thinking and ethical codes. Special attention will be paid to the philosophical and logical structures of the religions and manners with which they judge things. Special attention is drawn to the concepts of vital force and phenomenological concept of time and how they recapture African experience.
Content: The course is dedicated to the study of African Religions and Philosophy. First, we deal with the symbolic expressions of African thinking through myths, stories, and prayers, then we investigate common features embodied in those symbolic expressions so as to explore African thinking. Secondly, we will deal with persons contributed to the genesis of African Philosophy. Then comes the contemporary African philosophy with the corresponding Schools. Considerations will be given to philosophical issues such as morality and the soul, the concept of supreme being, the role played by the ancestors in reshaping peoples morality and value judgement, the mediation role of the ancestors, the relationship between ancestors and the living, and ancestors and God. The relationship between the ancestors and the Christian God and the re-understanding of ancestor religion in terms of Christianity as well as the practical implication of such thought ordering process.
Textbook:
Mbiti, J.S., African Religion and Philosophy, London: Heinemann 1979.
———, The Prayer of African Religion, London: The Camelot Press Ltd. 1975.
Wiredu, K., Philosophy and an African Culture, Cambridge University Press, 1980.
PH 430c AF – History of African Philosophy
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organisation: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Course Description: The course we will explore 20th Century conversations about the nature and development of African philosophy. Presentations will explore African philosophy in its broadest sense, as the multiform variety of philosophy practiced and articulated throughout the African Diaspora. What is philosophy and how does it thrive from an African perspective? These are central questions that will occupy our class discussion.
Content: The starting point is a general introduction in which we present the framework of the discussion related to the possibility of an African philosophy. The course follows the main trends found in African philosophy namely:
1. Conventional Concept of African Philosophy
2. The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality
3. Collective Participatory Thought (Ethnophilosophy)
4. Professional Philosophy
5. Philosophic Sagacity
6. General Conclusion
Required Texts:
Masolo, D.A., African Philosophy in Search of Identity, Bloomington: Indiana UP 1994.
Ochieng’-Odhiambo, F., African Philosophy: An Introduction, Nairobi: Consolata Institute of Philosophy 1997.
Serequeberhan, T., African Philosophy: The Essential Readings, New York: Paragon House 1991.
Appiah, A.K., Necessary Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy, Engelwood Cliffs: Prentice Hall 1989.
Appiah, A.K., In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, London: Methuen; 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982, 1992.
Gbadegesin, S., African Philosophy: Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities, New York: Peter Lang 1991.
Okere, T., African Philosophy: A Historico-Hermeneutical Investigation of the Conditions of its Possibility, New York: University Press of America 1983.
PH 301c PA – PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Lecturer: Mr. Giuseppe Fusco, PhL
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: To introduce the students into the specific philosophical approach towards religion. In a critical way, the student should be capable to see how the topic of religion is present or absent in philosophical reflection.
Content: In a first step, we are trying to explore a satisfactory definition of religion from different approaches. We ask for the origin of religion and of its various expressions. In a second step we explore different forms of religion (natural religion, revealed religion, religion as feeling, religion of reason, universal religion). A great attention is drawn on the variety of the philosophical critics of on religion in history and on the critical exam of the pro and contras of different argumentations. The second part od the course tries to find different philosophical arguments as to how and why human being is related to the Transcendence of why Philosophy cannot exclude the realm of Transcendence. From there, we finally try to understand how faith and reason are related to one another.
Textbook:
A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, ed. by Ph. L. Quinn & Ch. Taliaferro, Massachusetts – Oxford: Blackwell 1999.
Davies, B.D., An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, Oxford – New York: Oxford Univ. Press 1993.
Philosophy of Religion. A Reader and Guide, ed. by W. Lane Craig– Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press 2002.
The Religious, ed. by J.D. Caputo, Massachusetts-Oxford: Blackwell 2002.
Calloley Tremmel, W., Religion. What is it?, 2nd ed., New York: CBS College Publishing 1984.
Bibliographical indications will be given specifically for every chapter of the course during the semester.
PH 302c PA – Theodicy / Natural Theology
Lecturer: Fr. Charles Lyimo, ALC/OSS, PhD
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: To help the students to deepen their knowledge about God. We aim to differentiate between Theology and Natural Philosophy, which is the philosophical study of God.
Content: The Course is divided into three parts. The first part: Will deal with our knowledge of God and the proofs of His existence. The second part: Will concentrate on God’s nature. The third part: Will concentrate on Divine action.
Textbook:
Hick, J., Arguments for the Existence of God, New York: Seabury 1971.
Kung, H., Does God Exist? An Answer for Today. New York: Vintage Books 1980.
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologicae, Vol. 1.
———, Summa Contra Gentiles.
PH 303c PA – SCIENCE AND THE PROBLEM OF GOD
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organisation: three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: To show that on the one hand theological, philosophical and scientific problems and solutions are independent; on the hand that there is a possibility of going beyond some of the conflicting points, and that faith isn’t always and necessarily opposed to reason.
Content: The general introduction explains the raison d’être of the subject. It describes as well the source of conflict between some philosophical, scientific and theological and biblical affirmations. It attempts to justify the connection between the sources of Christian faith, i.e. the Bible, the Tradition and the Magisterium, so as to grasp the answers Christian faith gives on some issues. The first unit explores the question whether the world has a beginning or not and analyses different arguments concerning the organization of the world which has ended up in producing the planet earth worthy of life. The second unit looks into the debate regarding the origin of life and theories of evolution. The third unit focuses the problem of the origin of man and the question of monogenism and polygenism. A general conclusion presents the limitations of human mind to discover and understand at once the mystery of creation.
Textbooks:
Brown, L.M. et al., Process Philosophy and Christian Thought, Indiana: Bobbs - Merril 1971.
Oulson, C.A., Science and Christian Belief. Fontana Books 1980.
Hooykas, R., New Interactions between Theology and Natural Science, Dar es Salaam: Open University Press 1974.
PH 311c PB – GENERAL ETHICS
Lecturer: Fr. Cyrus Karuthi Mwangi, MA (Phil)
Organisation three (3) hours/week, three (3) credits
Purpose: The purpose of this course is to introduce the students into the study of Moral Philosophy. We aim at letting the students understand some moral principles such as “good must be done, bad must be avoided.”
Content: Our studies will include among other things the meaning of Ethics, the relation of Ethics with other branches of Philosophy, Ethics as a science, Happiness, the Human Acts, Natural Law and Conscience, Good and Evil, the end and meaning of human life, the primary and secondary norms of morality.
Textbook:
Gonzalez, M.A., Right & Reason: Ethics in Theory and Practice, 9th ed., Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall 1989.
Solomon, R., Morality & The Good Life: An Introduction to Ethics Through the Classical Sources, New York: McGraw-Hill 1994.
Ward, L.R., Ethics: A College Text, London: Harper & Row 1965.
MaCintyre, A., A Short History of Ethics, London: Macmillan 1998.
McCabe, H., The Good Life: Ethics and the Pursuit of Happiness, London: Continuum 2005.
Norman, R., The Moral Philosophers: An Introduction to Ethics, 2nd ed., London: OUP 1997.
Thiroux, J., Ethical Theory and Practice, 6th ed., Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall 1998.
PH 312c PB – SPECIAL ETHICS
Lecturer: Mr. Giuseppe Fusco, PhL
Organization: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Purpose: To help the student understand the contribution of Ethics in a pluralistic contemporary society facing the risk of relativism.
Content: The course will introduce the meaning of special (applied or social) ethics and its problems. The importance of the human being as an individual-person, and as an integral part of the society will be stressed. Moreover some basic issues such as: 1) the difference and relationship between social ethics, moral theology, social doctrine of the Church; 2) person and society; 3) the relation between man and woman as fundamental and existential structure of the interaction; 4) the family: marriage, procreation, parenthood; 5) economy, work, property; 6) the difference between society and state; 7) natural law and positive law; 8) political authority and personal freedom; the concept of democracy; 9) justice and human rights; 10) war and peace; 11) globalization and neo-colonialism; will be discusses.
Compulsory/Textbooks:
Composta D., Moral Philosophy and Special Ethics, Vatican – Rome: Urbaniana University Press 1987.
Vendemiati A., In the First Person, an Outline of General Ethics, Vatican – Rome: Urbaniana University Press 2005.
Mondin B., Philosophical Anthropology, Man: an Impossible Project?, Rome: Urbaniana University Press 1991. Chapters VI (Culture) and VII (Work).
John XXIII, Encyclical Letter Pacem in Terris, 1963.
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1987.
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Veritatis Splendor, 1993.
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Evangelium Vitae, 1995.
Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Deus Caritas Est, 2005.
Auxiliary:
The Social Agenda, a Collection of Magisterial Texts, by Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, ed. by R.A. Sirico and M. Zieba. Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2000.
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, by Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2006.
A selective bibliography will be given, for every section of the course, at the beginning of the semester.
PH 320c PB – POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Lecturer: Mr. Julius Wambua Mbithi, PhM
Organization: two (2) hours/week, two (2) credits
Course Description: A critical study of the fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, property, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown - if ever. Political philosophy examines the institutions that can regulate societies, ranging from rules of etiquette to nation states and even the possibility of world government. Political philosophy has both an explanatory and a normative dimension. Political philosophers try to explain the origins and continued existence of the institutions that have in fact governed societies. They also argue that certain institutions should be established or reformed in order to realize a more beneficial or a more just society.
Objective: The course has two main objectives. The first is to introduce the students to the major political and legal thinkers of the past. The second objective is to help create a critical understanding of what a good political and legal order entails.
Content: Political Philos