Undergraduate
Requirements
Standard Major
1. The following four courses (acceptable substitutes shown):
- Phil 0500, Logic (or 1500 );
- 0200 Ancient Philosophy (or 1020 or 1040 );
- 0210 Modern Philosophy (or 1110 or 1140 );
- 0300 Ethics (or 0350 or any other course in value theory).
2. Any four 1000-level courses beyond those counted under 1 above.
3. A total of at least 24 credit hours in philosophy; each course must be completed with a grade of at least C (the grade requirements applies to all courses taken beginning in fall 1988).
Intensive Major (The Intensive Major has no official standing. The course schedule below should be taken as a set of recommendations only.)
1. The following three courses (acceptable substitutes shown): phil 0500 (or 1500); 0200 (or 1020 or 1040); 0210 (or 1110 or 1140).
2. At least five 1000-level courses beyond those counted under 1 above; these five courses must include at least one course from each of the following four groups:
- a. History of Philosophy (Phil 1020-1190);
- b. Value Theory (Phil 1300-1390);
- c. Metaphysics and Epistemology (Phil 1420-1490)
- d. Logic and Philosophy of Science (Phil 1500-1690)
3. An acceptable senior paper. The student must sign up either for Phil 1940 (3 crs.) or Phil 1940 and 1941 (6 crs.) with the prior permission of a faculty member who has agreed to supervise the student's work. Neither Phil 1940 nor 1941 counts toward the five 1000-level courses mentioned in 2 above.
4. A total of at least 36 credit hours in philosophy.
Double Majors
Students wishing to major both in philosophy and in another department are encouraged to do so.
Joint Majors in Philosophy
Joint majors are not double majors but multidisciplinary majors offered by two or more departments. Presently, the Department of Philosophy offers a joint major in Politics and Philosophy with the Department of Political Science as well as a joint major in Mathematics and Philosophy with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Students may also design their own joint major if they can secure the advice and consent of two faculty advisors, one from each of the participating departments.
Honors in Philosophy
Students who complete either the Standard Major or the Intensive Major in philosophy will be graduated with honors in philosophy if they earn a grade of A- or higher in six 1000-level courses exclusive of Phil 1902.
Philosophy Minor
The philosophy minor requires six three-credit courses (18 credits total) to be distributed as follows:
- One (1) course in logic, selected from
- PHIL 0500 (Introduction to Logic)
- PHIL 1500 (Symbolic Logic)
- One (1) course in the history of ancient philosophy, selected from
- PHIL 0200 (History of Ancient Philosophy)
- PHIL 1020 (Plato)
- One (1) course in the history of modern philosophy, selected from
- PHIL 0210 (History of Modern Philosophy)
- PHIL 1110 (Rationalism)
- PHIL 1140 (Empiricism)
- One (1) course in moral, social, or political philosophy, selected from
- PHIL 0300 (Introduction to Ethics) is preferred,
- PHIL 0320 (Social Philosophy)
- PHIL 0330 (Political Philosophy)
- PHIL 0350 (Philosophy and Public Issues)
- PHIL 0360 (Morality and Medicine)
- Any course in the 1300s (Value Theory, Social and Political Philosophy).
- Elective Courses : Two additional 1000-level courses must be completed.
Note: At least one of the above four courses (numbers 1-4) must be taken at the 1000 level.
Foreign Language
No requirement beyond the general CAS ones. However, students who plan to pursue philosophy in graduate school are strongly encouraged to develop at least a good reading competence in one or more foreign languages of especial relevance to philosophy (e.g., Greek. Latin, French, and German).
Satisfactory/Audit
No restrictions.
Credit by Examination
In appropriate cases arrangements can be made through departmental advisors.
