Philosophy Minor

Minor - Philosophy (Minor)

College Humanities & Sciences

Catalog Year: 2015-2016

Degree Specific Credits: 18

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Note: Students must complete a minimum of 18 credits in philosophy; at least 6 credits must be in courses numbered 300 and higher.

Lower Division Core

Rule: Must complete all of the following courses:

Note: General Education fulfillment through the lower-division core: PHL 210E fulfills the "approved writing course" and "Ethical & Human Values". Both PHL 261Y and PHL 262Y fulfill the "American & European Perspectives".

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description PHL 210E - Moral Philosophy
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq., philosophy major or minor, or consent of instr.  An examination of leading approaches to moral philosophy through a careful reading of classical texts in the Western tradition.  A more thorough treatment of the material offered in PHL 110E.  Intended primarily for philosophy majors and minors.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 233 - Intro to Logic: Deduction
Offered autumn and spring. Understanding general principles of reasoning and the habits of clear and correct thinking. Emphasis on the analysis of the logical structure of claims in natural language and the skills of elementary deductive inference.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 261Y - History of Ancient Philosophy
Offered autumn. Introduction to the central works of Plato and Aristotle, with an overview of Presocratic and Hellenistic philosophy.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 262Y - History of Modern Philosophy
Offered spring. A survey of the history of philosophy from Descartes to Kant, which includes other continental rationalists and the British Empiricists.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 12 Total Credits Required

Core Area Requirement

Rule: Students must complete at least one course in two of the four core areas. Both must be upper division.

Note: Special Topics courses taught at the 400-level (PHL 491 [PHIL 495]) may count as upper-division core courses provided that they have a suitable content (consult the department advisor).

Minimum Required Grade: C-
6 Total Credits Required

History

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description PHL 462 - Early Modern Philosophy
(R-6) Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, and PHL 262Y, or consent of instr. Intensive study of the work of one or more of the major philosophers from the early modern period (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume).
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 464 - Kant
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, and PHL 262Y, or consent of instr. Reading and interpretation of selected works.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 465 - Plato
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, and PHL 261Y, or consent of instr.  Reading and interpretation of selected works.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 466 - Aristotle
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, and PHL 261Y, or consent of instr. Reading and interpretation of selected works.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C-

Value Theory

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Show Description PHL 412 - Ethics and Public Affairs
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. Examination of morally relevant issues in government, journalism, education and other social institutions. Issues considered may include just war theory, deception, confidentiality, conflict of interest, privacy, paternalism responsibilities in conflict with other institutions, and responsibilities across national boundaries, among others.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 422 - Environmental Philosophy
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. Critical exploration of selected philosophical and literary texts pertinent to the ethics of human relationships with the natural environment.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 427 - Topics in Philosophy of Art
(R-9) Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. Examination of philosophical problems related to particular arts and discussion of the nature of the arts. Topics considered may include music, visual arts, literature, and film.
 1 To 4 Credits
Show Description PHL 429 - Philosophy in Literature
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. Philosophical thought in selected works of literature.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 449 - Hist Moral and Political Phil
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. Reading and interpretation of selected writings in the history of moral philosophy and/or political philosophy.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 450 - Contemp Moral/Political Theory
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. Recent theories in ethics and their implications; recent work in political theory, emphasizing contemporary liberalism and its critics.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 455 - Phil of Society and Culture
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. A philosophical examination of cultural forces shaping modern society, forces such as science, technology, or domesticity.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C-

Continental Philosophy

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Show Description PHL 467 - 19th Century Continental Phil
(R-6) Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, and PHL 262Y, or consent of instr. Intensive study of the work of one or more 19th century continental philosophers (such as Hegel, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Marx, Nietzsche).
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 468 - 20th Century Continental Phil
(R-9) Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, and PHL 262Y, or consent of instr. Intensive study of the work of one or more 20th century continental philosophers (such as Heidegger, Husserl, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur, Derrida) or several texts representing a major movement in 20th century continental thought (such as Phenomenology, Existentialism, Hermeneutics, Post-structuralism).
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C-

Analytic Philosophy

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Show Description PHL 405 - 20th Century Analytic Phil
(R-9) Offered intermittently.  Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, PHL 233, and PHL 262Y, or consent of instr.  Intensive study of the work of one or more philosophers (such as Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein) or historical introduction to the major issues and figures of 20th century philosophy in the analytic tradition (with readings from Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Quine and others).
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 406 - Contemp Issues Analytic Phil
(R-6) Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing, PHL 210E, PHL 233, and PHL 262Y, or consent of instr.  Examination of contemporary issues in analytic philosophy focusing on one or more of the following topics:  philosophy of language, epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind.
 3 Credits
Show Description PHL 445 - Central Issues Phil of Science
Offered intermittently. Prereq., upper-division standing and PHL 210E, or consent of instr. A consideration of philosophical issues relating to the nature of modern physical science: method, explanation, theory, progress, space/time, causality, relation of science to philosophy.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C-