Philosophy Major/Minor Requirements

Courses in philosophy develop skills in reading analytically, thinking critically, and arguing cogently. In addition, they provide students with valuable insights into many of the significant issues confronting us in a rapidly changing world.

Philosophy department faculty members will gladly discuss with majors and potential majors the specific ways in which their work can best prepare them for careers in education, academia, business, government, law, medicine, and the non-profit sector, among others.

Non-majors tend to find that taking two or three philosophy courses significantly enhances the quality of their work in their own fields. We urge students to discuss the relationship between philosophy and other disciplines with any member of the philosophy department and with their own major advisors.

Note that, with the consent of the instructor, students may take an intermediate or advanced course in philosophy without having taken an introductory course (numbered 100-199). Intermediate courses are numbered 200 through 440. Courses numbered above 440 are considered advanced.

The philosophy major

Students are introduced to philosophy through a study of logic or through a course in which substantive problems are raised by an examination of selected writings of important philosophers. Students may continue their study through a variety of courses in the history of philosophy, in the systematic study of problem areas within philosophy, and in the philosophical examination of other disciplines.

The historical courses enable students to become familiar with the thinking of the most influential philosophers in our tradition and with the contexts in which they worked. The systematic courses encourage students to confront contemporary statements of central philosophical questions and to investigate some of the more promising answers to them. The courses engaged in the philosophical examination of other areas encourage students to bring methods of philosophical analysis to bear on the methods and presuppositions of other areas of inquiry.

Students who major in philosophy will learn to appreciate the formal features of arguments. They will acquire a clear sense of the development of philosophy and critically engage issues in metaphysics and epistemology and in ethics and value theory, and they will learn to relate philosophy to other areas of study.

The major in philosophy requires the following:

1. PHIL 150 Symbolic Logic or 420 Topics in Logic; majors are strongly encouraged to satisfy this requirement early
2. At least two core courses in the history of philosophy:
   1. PHIL 200: History of Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle
   2. PHIL 210: History of Philosophy: Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz
   3. PHIL 220: History of Philosophy: Berkeley, Hume, Kant, and Mill
   4. PHIL 227: History of Philosophy: New Narratives from 17th and 18th Century Women Philosophers
   5. PHIL 230: History of Philosophy: Early Analytic Philosophy
   6. PHIL 240: History of Philosophy: The American Pragmatists
   7. PHIL 275: Existentialism
   8. PHIL 283: Chinese Philosophy
3. One course in epistemology:
   1. PHIL 300: Epistemology
   2. PHIL 305: Experimental Philosophy 
   3. PHIL 330: Philosophy of Science
   4. PHIL 405: How to Do Things With Words
4. One course in metaphysics:
   1. PHIL 310: Metaphysics
   2. PHIL 333: God and the Afterlife
   3. PHIL 340: Philosophy of Art
   4. PHIL 400: Philosophy of Language
   5. PHIL 410: Philosophy of Mind
5. One course in ethics:
   1. PHIL 280: Women and Friendship
   2. PHIL 320: Ethics
   3. PHIL 325: Metaethics 
   4. PHIL 347: Valuing Art: The Philosophy and Psychology of Aesthetic Appreciation
   5. PHIL 350: Political Philosophy
   6. PHIL 360: Environmental Ethics
   7. PHIL 370: Advanced Studies in Bioethics
   8. PHIL 375: Philosophy of Sex and Love
   9. PHIL 380: Ethics of Technology
   10. PHIL 385: Value Theory
   11. PHIL 430: Philosophy of Law
   12. PHIL 440: Morality, Rationality, and Self-Interest
6. Four additional six-unit courses in philosophy or a second major and two additional six-unit courses in philosophy:
   1. Two of these additional courses may be numbered 149 or below.
   2.  Philosophy majors who do not prefer a second major may, in consultation with their advisor and subject to the approval of the department of philosophy, substitute selected courses not offered by the department for no more than two of the four additional courses.
7. One dimensions of diversity (D) course offered in the philosophy department, which may also satisfy one of the above requirements.
8. PHIL 600: Studies in Philosophy as a Senior Experience

(PHIL 345: Topics courses may be substituted for courses required by 2-5 above, if the topic fits the relevant distribution area, subject to the approval of the department.)

The department of philosophy's Senior Experience is PHIL 600: Studies in Philosophy. This is an advanced seminar in which students revisit previous work and critically analyze each other's original research. It occurs during the Winter Term.

1. Six 6-unit courses in philosophy, including:
   1. At least two courses in the history of philosophy, from among:
      1. PHIL 200: History of Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle
      2. PHIL 210: History of Philosophy: Descartes, Locke, and Leibniz
      3. PHIL 220: History of Philosophy: Berkeley, Hume, Kant, and Mill 
      4. PHIL 227: History of Philosophy: New Narratives from 17th and 18th Century Women Philosophers
      5. PHIL 230: History of Philosophy: Early Analytic Philosophy
      6. PHIL 240: History of Philosophy: The American Pragmatists
      7. PHIL 275: Existentialism
      8. PHIL 283: Chinese Philosophy
   2. Four additional Philosophy courses (three of them outside the history of philosophy and numbered 250 or above)
2. C average in the minor

Students pursuing a minor in philosophy are encouraged to choose a member of the philosophy department as an informal advisor.