Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (30 credits total)

Majoring in philosophy for the BA degree requires 30 credits in philosophy distributed as follows:

• Logic Requirement (= 3 credits)

      One of the following three courses:

        PHIL 1200 Logic and Reasoning

        PHIL 1200H Logic and Reasoning (Honors)

        PHIL 2700 Elementary Logic (recommended option)

• History Requirement (= 6 credits)

      Both of the following courses:

        PHIL 3000 Ancient Western Philosophy

        PHIL 3200 Modern Philosophy

• 3000-Level/4000-Level Requirement (= 9 credits)

      Any three semester-based courses at the 3000-level or 4000-level not already taken to meet other major requirements, except for 4998 and 4999.

• Capstone Requirement (= 3 credits)

      Any semester-based course at the 4000-level not already taken to meet other major requirements, except for 4998 and 4999.

• Philosophy Electives (= 9 credits)

      Nine philosophy credits in any classes (excluding 4998 and 4999) not taken to meet other major requirements; but no more than three 1000-level philosophy courses may be used as philosophy electives.

 

Notes and Restrictions:

  • A minor in another field is recommended, but not required. 

  • At least one course in philosophy must be Writing Intensive.

  • You must earn a grade of C- or above in every philosophy course you take, and not just an average of C- or above in all your philosophy courses.
 

Bachelor of Science in Philosophy (42 credits total)

Majoring in philosophy for the BS degree requires 42 credits in philosophy distributed as follows:

• Required Courses (= 9 credits)

      All of the following three courses:

        PHIL 2700 Elementary Logic

        PHIL 3000 Ancient Western Philosophy

        PHIL 3200 Modern Philosophy

• 3000-Level/4000-Level Requirement (= 9 credits)

      Any three semester-based courses at the 3000-level or 4000-level not already taken to meet other major requirements, except for 4998 and 4999.

• Further BS Requirement (= 12 credits)

      Any four semester-based courses from the following list:

        PHIL 2600 Rational Decisions

        PHIL 2820 Introduction to Cognitive Science

        PHIL 4100 Philosophy of Language

        PHIL 4110 Advanced Logic

        PHIL 4120 Selected Topics in Logic

        PHIL 4130 Probability and Induction

        PHIL 4150 Formal Semantics

        PHIL 4200 Metaphysics

        PHIL 4210 Philosophy of Mind

        PHIL 4400 Philosophy of Science

        PHIL 4420 Philosophy of Biology

• Capstone Requirement (= 3 credits)

      Any semester-based course at the 4000-level not already taken to meet other major requirements, except for 4998 and 4999.

• Philosophy Electives (= 9 credits)

      Nine philosophy credits in any classes (excluding 4998 and 4999) not taken to meet other major requirements; but no more than three 1000-level philosophy courses may be used as philosophy electives.

 

Notes and Restrictions:

  • A minor in another field is recommended, but not required. 

  • At least one course in philosophy must be Writing Intensive.

  • You must earn a grade of C- or above in every philosophy course you take, and not just an average of  C- or above in all your philosophy courses.

  • In place of the foreign language requirement, students may take 12 hours of coursework at the 2000-level or higher in Mathematics, Statistics, Physical or Biological Sciences, Psychology, or Economics.
 

Minor in Philosophy (15 credits total)

The minor in philosophy requires 15 credits in philosophy, including at least 3 credits at the 4000-level and a further 3 credits at the 3000- or 4000-level.  Credits may be earned in any philosophy courses, except for PHIL 4998 and PHIL 4999. Note also that 9 of the 15 credits must be taken in MU course work.

Students considering a minor might want to consult the requirements for the philosophy major before selecting their courses, so as to leave open the option of upgrading to a major at some later date.

To declare a minor officially, please fill out the declaration form.  Once you have received confirmation of your minor declaration, you can check on your progress toward the minor by running a degree audit.  If you have questions after you view your degree audit, please contact the Philosophy Department’s Undergraduate Advisor, Ms. Kibby Smith, through MU Connect.  More information about declaring a minor is available here.

To help you plan, you may want to use the Philosophy Minor Worksheet (PDF, upper right).