Major Requirements - Semester Hours: 48

1. A minimum of 30 s.h. in philosophy as follows: 18 s.h. philosophy core requirements and 12 s.h. in a specialized area of philosophy that complements B (see below).
   
   
2. A minimum of 18 s.h. in a professional, scientific or technical core competence area. This can be a minor in an area outside of philosophy, an individually designed area (in consultation with philosophy advisor), or a second major outside of philosophy, 18 s.h. of which may count toward this competence area for the B.S. in philosophy.
   
   

Multi-disciplinary option: a student who has a major in another field (or majors in other fields) may, under advisement and at discretion of the Department Chair, count one 100-level course in one (and no more than one) other major,  if suitable, toward the philosophy major in the Philosophy Specialization category of the major (see program requirements below).

No one philosophy course may satisfy two or more requirements within the major. Thus, for example, if a student takes PHI 014  to satisfy part of the Philosophy Core Requirements, that course cannot also satisfy a requirement in the Philosophy Applied Ethics specialization. In addition, where appropriate and under departmental advisement and approval by the Department Chair, variable topics PHI courses may be substituted for courses in the specialization portion of this program.

NOTE: Philosophy majors may use no more than three 1-credit courses to satisfy the minimum 30-credit PHI requirement of the philosophy major.

• Students interested in graduate school in philosophy are strongly advised to take the following courses:  PHI 141; 143; 154; 14 or 170; 180, 180a or 180b

• Students interested in law school are strongly advised to take the following courses:

PHI 15, 120, 121; 150 or 154

Departmental Honors

A student does not have to be a member of Honors College to do Departmental Honors. The Philosophy Department encourages any Philosophy major with an overall GPA of at least 3.4 and a department GPA of at least 3.5 in philosophy to consider writing an Honors Thesis and standing for Departmental Honors. A minimum of 15 s.h. in philosophy is required – 18 s.h. in philosophy is strongly recommended – before attempting an honors thesis. Departmental Honors involves developing an independent research project, in consultation with a philosophy department faculty advisor.  The project culminates in a 30- to 50-page essay, which a student defends before a committee of philosophy department faculty. It is recommended that students begin to consult with a faculty advisor in the spring of their junior year. Departmental Honors work should be carried out over a period of two semesters – usually the fall and spring of senior year – with the goal of completing the thesis by mid-April of the senior year, allowing time for presentation, defense, and revision. With the approval of the Department Chairperson, the student registers for PHI 193, Honors Essay in each of those semesters.