Philosophy
at MSCDWelcome!
This website contains all the relevant information about the Department, as found in the official college catalog and the publication, Philosophy at MSCD.
Be sure to check the "News & Events" link.
The Program
The Philosophy Department offers course work in the major culminating in a Bachelor of Arts degree. Undergraduates preparing for graduate study in philosophy should plan their academic program in close consultation with a department advisor. For all students, the major emphasizes and reinforces general skills, both critical and creative, that will serve as a basis for further studies, in a field such as law or public policy, or professional careers, including management and government.
A minor in philosophy is also offered.
Philosophy Major for Bachelor of Arts
Required Courses (Areas One: Form & Two: Event and the Capstone
Course):
PHI 2440 Symbolic Logic 3
PHI 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy 3
PHI 3020 History of Modern Philosophy 3
PHI 4100 Senior Seminar 3
Subtotal 12
Area Three: Problem (choose one of the following courses):
PHI 3320 Metaphysics 3
PHI 3330 Epistemology 3
PHI 3530 Philosophy of Mind 3
Subtotal 3
Area Four: Method (choose one of the following courses):
PHI 3390 Aesthetics 3
PHI 3400 Philosophy of Science 3
PHI 3430 Philosophy of Law 3
Subtotal 3
Area Five: System (choose one of the following courses):
PHI 3510 Phenomenology 3
PHI 3550 Existentialism 3
PHI 3810 Major Philosophers (VT) 3
Subtotal 3
Area Six: Value (choose one of the following courses):
PHI 3150 Social and Political Philosophy 3
PHI 3180 Feminist Philosophy 3
PHI 3350 Ethical Theories 3
Subtotal 3
Additional lower-level electives 3
Additional upper-level electives 9
(chosen in consultation with the Department)
Total 36
Minor in Philosophy
Regular Philosophy Concentration
Required Courses:
PHI 1010 Introduction to Philosophy 3
PHI 1030 Ethics 3
PHI 1110 Language, Logic and Persuasion 3
Subtotal 9
Plus one of the following:
PHI 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy 3
PHI 3020 History of Modern Philosophy 3
Subtotal 3
Additional philosophy upper-level electives 9
(chosen in consultation with the Department)
Total 21
Minor in Religious Studies
Required Courses:
PHI 1040 Introduction to Eastern Religions 3
PHI 1050 Introduction to Western Religions 3
PHI 2040 Philosophy of Religion 3
Subtotal 9
Plus one of the following:
PHI 3000 History of Ancient Philosophy 3
PHI 3020 History of Modern Philosophy 3
Subtotal 3
Additional interdisciplinary upper-level electives:
One of the following:
ENG 3420 The English Bible as Literature 3
ENG 3430 Classical Mythology 3
ENG 3440 Myth, Symbol, and Allusion in Literature* 3
One of the following:
HIS 3770 World of Islam 3
SOC 3910 Religious Movements in America* 3
WMS 3910 Womens Spirituality* 3
Subtotal 6
Additional philosophy upper-level electives:
One of the following:
PHI 3410 Eastern Philosophy: Variable Topics 3
PHI 3610 Religious Studies: Variable Topics 3
PHI 4050 Comparative Thought: Variable Topics
3
Subtotal 3
Total 21
* Course has additional prerequisites.
[ Back to top ]
The Program Matrix
[ Back to top ]
The Required Curriculum & Our Learning Objectives
N.B. Student learning objectives I through VI apply to the major, while objectives I and II only apply to the minors.
I. Area One: Form [GS 3, 4, & 9]
This requirement gives students the opportunity to study and to master the basic concepts and principles of logical syntax and, also, the various techniques of reasoning, inference, and proof and their use in the formal analysis of linguistic meaning.
Our objective is for students to learn to grasp sophisticated meanings and inferences and to engage in the task of clarifying, translating, and interpreting language in philosophical arguments; also, to illustrate and apply principles of analysis to logical structure and logical inference, including the general skills of critical thinking and the ability to identify errors in reasoning.
II. Area Two: Event [GS 1, 2, 7, 8, & 9]
This requirement gives students the opportunity to become acquainted with, primarily, two major epochs in the history of philosophy: first, the primal strivings of philosophy in the thought of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and, second, its subsequent reorientation effected in the revolution in modern philosophy, primarily centering on Descartes, Hume and Kant.
Our objective is for students to acquire and recall basic information through naming and relating major positions, issues and figures; to inscribe them within the historical continuity of disciplinary conversation; and to consider recurring themes, ideas, and issues from multiple points of view.
III. Area Three: Problem [GS 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9]
This requirement gives students the opportunity to pursue an in-depth study of the core problems associated with the (traditional) areas of knowledge, mind and reality.
Our objective is for students to use technical concepts and methods to delineate and solve problems; to discuss and describe central fields, approaches and problems that are definitive and/or recurring; and to master both traditional and new approaches towards analyzing and resolving them.
IV. Area Four: Method [GS 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9]
This requirement gives students the opportunity to discover how philosophy is relevant to (and importantly different from) other fields of human endeavor, including science, law and art and to see how philosophy challenges and probes the fundamental assumptions of those same endeavors.
Our objective is for students to learn to recognize important similarities and differences in distinctly different types of discourse; to analyze and contrast differing forms and differing types of arguments and methodologies; and to free themselves from unwarranted assumptions that may hinder independent and creative thinking.
V. Area Five: System [GS 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9]
This requirement gives students the opportunity to conceptualize, apply, contrast, and criticize the systematic development of a single idea (or approach) or small, related set of ideas (or approaches).
Our objective is for students to generalize, relate and predict ‘the given’ in new ways; to comprehend, construct and propose sustainable philosophical theses; to identify and synthesize key points and details; and to understand their relation to larger movements and systems of thought.
VI. Area Six: Value [GS 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9]
This requirement gives students the opportunity to pursue the moral dimensions of human existence and to grapple with the theoretical study of ethics (conceived of, alternately, as character, flourishing, good or value), including related matters in social and political philosophy or other salient aspects of value theory generally.
Our objective is for students to compare, discriminate and assess the value of various theories and approaches; and to evaluate and appraise opposing systems and research programs, with a full understanding of both the bases of evaluation and of the relevant costs and benefits of a given idea or policy.
[ Back to top ]