Program Requirements

• Total Units Required: 27 units
  • At least 15 units at the 3000 level or above (including core courses)
  • At least 6 units must be at the 4000 level
    • No more than 3 units of credit in PHIL 5000 Independent Work can be counted toward the 6 units of 4000-level coursework.
• Grade Requirement: C- or above; Pass/No Pass grades do not count toward the major requirements

The Philosophy of Science specialization is only available as a second major in combination with work in one or more of the sciences. It is intended for those students with a scientific background who have an interest in pursuing philosophical issues relating to the natural and physical sciences.

Requirements

Logic Introductory Requirement

Majors much complete both of the two introductory courses listed below. 

Course List

Code	Title	Units
PHIL 1000	Logic and Critical Analysis	3
PHIL 1010	Introduction to Scientific Reasoning	3
Total Units		6

Core Requirements

Majors must complete at least one course in each of the two core areas:

1. Contemporary Language, Epistemology, Mind & Metaphysics
2. Historical Philosophy

A course cannot count toward more than one requirement. The courses that will satisfy each core area are listed below. 

Contemporary Language, Epistemology, Mind & Metaphysics (3 units): 

Course List

Code	Title	Units
PHIL 3000	Philosophy of Medicine	3
PHIL 3020	Philosophy of Language	3
PHIL 3091	Theory of Knowledge	3
PHIL 3100	Philosophy of Mind	3
PHIL 3110	Mind and Morals	3
PHIL 3140	Philosophy of Biology	3
PHIL 3150	Philosophy of Religion	3
PHIL 3250	Introduction to Metaphysics	3
PHIL 3320	Art and the Mind-Brain	3

Historical Philosophy (3 units):

Course List

Code	Title	Units
CLASSICS 3800	Ancient Greek and Roman Medicine	3
PHIL 3240	Ancient Philosophy	3
PHIL 3260	Descartes to Hume	3
PHIL 3290	Kant and 19th-Century Philosophy	3
PHIL 3300	Conceptual Foundations of Modern Science	3
PHIL 3340	Existentialism	3

Philosophy of Science Specialization

Students must take Philosophy of Science to complete the specialization. 

Course List

Code	Title	Units
PHIL 3130	Philosophy of Science	3
Total Units		3

The Writing Intensive Seminar

Majors are encouraged to fulfill their writing intensive requirement by taking PHIL 3390 Philosophical Writing. A philosophy major who does not take a Philosophy Writing Intensive seminar must take a fourth core course from any of the three core areas. Students typically take Philosophical Writing during their junior year. 

The course is offered every fall and is limited to 15 students. However, registration priority is given to philosophy majors and minors who have not yet completed their writing intensive requirements. Significant attention is devoted to conceiving, researching, writing, revising, critiquing and presenting philosophical essays. Prerequisite of the course is having completed one course in philosophy. 

Upper-Level Requirement

Majors are required to have at least 6 units of 4000-level courses. The list of courses that will satisfy the requirement are listed below.

Course List

Code	Title	Units
PHIL 4100	Formal Methods for Philosophy	3
PHIL 4120	Advanced Epistemology	3
PHIL 4130	Advanced Metaphysics	3
PHIL 4180	Topics in Advanced Philosophy of Science	3
PHIL 4230	Topics in Ethics	3
PHIL 4240	Metaethics	3
PHIL 4250	Normative Ethical Theory	3
PHIL 4280	Topics in Philosophy of Feminism	3
PHIL 4311	Aesthetics	3
PHIL 4321	Advanced Social and Political Philosophy	3
PHIL 4340	Plato	3
PHIL 4350	Hellenistic Philosophy	3
PHIL 4370	Continental Rationalism	3
PHIL 4380	17th & 18th Century British Philosophy	3
PHIL 4420	Kant's Critique of Pure Reason	3
PHIL 4460	Topics in the History of Philosophy	3
PHIL 4490	History of Analytic Philosophy	3
PHIL 4500	Topics in Analytic Philosophy	3

Capstone Requirement 

All Philosophy of Science majors are required to complete a capstone experience by taking PHIL 3990 Philosophy Capstone Course. 

Please note that the capstone course is only offered in the spring semester. Students will need to plan their class schedules accordingly. Only philosophy majors with senior standing may take this course, and preference is given to students not pursuing Honors. The course will draw together a variety of different philosophical areas.