Ten courses (40 units) in philosophy are required for the major.
Major
Students are required to complete the courses listed below and seven additional electives.
Courses
Electives
Three of these courses must be at the 300-level, and students must meet the following distribution requirements: one course in the history of philosophy, one course in diversity in philosophy, one course on philosophical questions of self and community, and one course on philosophical questions of mind and world. Students must also take at least one philosophy course designated as experiential learning.
History of Philosophy
Courses in the History of Philosophy directly study the views and arguments that have shaped the discipline over thousands of years, through engagement with primary philosophical texts.
Diversity in Philosophy
Although diverse perspectives are represented across our courses, Diversity in Philosophy courses focus on philosophical topics, authors and texts that have traditionally been marginalized within the Western philosophical tradition due to a lack of socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, gender, and intersectional diversity in academic philosophy.
| PHIL 220 | Philosophy of Race | 4 units |
| PHIL 221 | Feminist Theories | 4 units |
| PHIL 222 | Knowledge and Power | 4 units |
| PHIL 223 | Mexican Philosophy, Culture, and Society | 4 units |
| PHIL 320 | Health and Social Justice | 4 units |
| PHIL 321 | Philosophy of James Baldwin | 4 units |
| PHIL 322 | Latinx Philosophy | 4 units |
| PHIL 323 | Logic, Language, and Knowledge in Medieval Arabic-Islamic Philosophy | 4 units |
Self and Community
Self and Community courses examine questions that arise when we consider how to live a good life and how to relate to human beings, non-human animals, and other aspects of the world around us.
| PHIL 230 | Happiness, Meaning, and the Good Life | 4 units |
| PHIL 231 | Environmental and Animal Ethics | 4 units |
| PHIL 232 | Philosophy of Religion | 4 units |
| PHIL 233 | Bioethics | 4 units |
| PHIL 299 | Ethics Bowl: Contemporary Debates on Ethical Issues | 4 units |
| PHIL 330 | Law and Morality | 4 units |
| PHIL 331 | Contemporary Moral Philosophy | 4 units |
Mind and World
Mind and World courses apply the methods of philosophy to examine questions that arise when considering the fundamental nature of the world and our place in it. Courses that meet this requirement explore the conceptual foundations of our theories of the world or explore the nature of our knowledge of or representations of the world.
Experiential Learning
Experiential Learning can be understood as learning through reflection on doing. Within philosophy, experiential learning may take many forms, but primarily:
(a) Work with community partners or meaningful engagement with a real-world context, where student experiences in these spaces are central to, and necessary for, course objectives.
(b) Courses which centrally revolve around a pedagogical approach other than classroom lecture and/or discussion, specifically courses in which students are provided with structured, active experiences and/or creative opportunities, and students learn philosophical sensitivity and analytic abilities through the engagement, itself, and by reflecting on these experiences.
| PHIL 230 | Happiness, Meaning, and the Good Life | 4 units |
| PHIL 299 | Ethics Bowl: Contemporary Debates on Ethical Issues | 4 units |
| PHIL 320 | Health and Social Justice | 4 units |
| PHIL 360 | Beauty | 4 units |
| PHIL 361 | Philosophy and Children | 4 units |
Honors in the Major
There is no special class associated with honors. Honors in philosophy is awarded in recognition of excellence in work done for the senior essay and seminar, and will be determined by the philosophy faculty as a whole once final versions of the senior essays have been submitted.
To be eligible for honors, a student must have at least a 3.25 GPA overall and a 3.5 GPA in the major. Additionally, the student will be required to enroll in the senior seminar in their senior year and completea comprehensives paper. The paper must earn Distinction, which is to be determined by the instructor of the senior seminar in consultation with members of the philosophy department. Consult the department chair for further details.
Minor
Five courses (20 units) in Philosophy, including PHIL 101 and PHIL 150. At least one course must be an upper division course (in the 300 series).