The Major in Philosophy

There are three different forms that a major in philosophy can take. The detailed requirements for each of these options can be found in the College catalogue. Here we offer a general characterization.

1) The Standard Major.
In this program, students take a minimum of 10 courses in Philosophy. Two of these courses must be taken from the History of Philosophy sequence (25000, 26000, 27000), and Elementary Logic (20100) is also required. In addition, Standard Majors must take three courses in the two fields of philosophy either two courses in Practical Philosophy and one in Theoretical Philosophy, or two courses in Theoretical Philosophy and one in Practical Philosophy (see above). Otherwise, students are free to take courses from the Department's offerings according to their interests, although the Director of Undergraduate Studies stands ready to advise them in their decisions. The Standard Major allows therefore for a great deal of flexibility in the devising of a program of study.

2) The Intensive Major.
This option is designed to acquaint students with the problems and methods of philosophy in more depth than is generally possible in the standard major. It has two distinctive features. First, students will do some of their course work in very small discussion groups, which are open only to them. These discussion groups are the Faculty Seminar (29600), the Junior Tutorial (29200), and the Senior Tutorial (29300). Second, intensive majors are required to write a Senior Essay, working under the close supervision of a member of the Department's faculty (see below). As they write this essay in their fourth year, majors on the intensive track take two courses especially designed to help with this task, 29901 (Senior Seminar I) and 29902 (Senior Seminar II).

In total, intensive majors must take 13 courses within the Department. First, they must meet the same specific requirements as standard majors. In other words, they too must take two courses from the History of Philosophy sequence as well as the course in Elementary Logic, and they must satisfy the field distribution requirement. But in addition, they must take the five special courses just mentioned. The Intensive Major is therefore more structured than the standard program. But what intensive majors lose perhaps in flexibility, they make up for in the depth in which they are able to pursue their studies in philosophy.

Students interested in the Intensive Major must apply in the middle of the spring quarter of their sophomore year. They should consult with the Director of Undergraduate Studies before applying.

3) The Major in Philosophy and Allied Fields.
This option allows students to create an interdisciplinary program involving philosophy and some other field of study. In recent years, students electing this track have devised programs for example in Philosophy and Mathematics, Philosophy and Biology, and Philosophy and Economics. Detailed information about the requirements for this form of major can be found in the course catalogue.