Philosophy, BA

Philosophy is a basic field of inquiry. Its range encompasses ideas and issues in every domain of human experience, and its methods apply to problems of an unlimited variety. The major in philosophy can develop not only philosophical skill and sophistication but also critical thinking and writing abilities that are readily applicable to pursuits in other academic areas, useful in careers far removed from philosophy, and valuable in everyday social and personal life. The study of philosophy can profoundly affect both the thinking one does and the kind of person one is. 

There are varieties of concentrations of the philosophy major that students may choose from in accordance with their own backgrounds and interests. These include:

• Philosophy major (no concentration)

​Offers students a maximum number of electives so they may choose in accordance with their own backgrounds and interests

• Philosophy major with a concentration in law and ethics 

Focuses elective coursework in the areas of law, social and political philosophy, and applied ethics

• Philosophy major with a concentration in ethics​

Focuses elective coursework in the areas of ethical theory, applied ethics, and social and political philosophy

• Philosophy major with a concentration in religious studies

Uses electives to explore a variety of both religious expressions and methods of inquiry

• Philosophy major with a concentration in formal methods

Focuses elective coursework in areas of logic and formal methods

• Combined majors in media and screen studies and philosophy, economics and philosophy, environmental studies and philosophy, political science and philosophy, English and philosophy, history and philosophy, computer science and philosophy, criminal justice and philosophy, and physics and philosophy

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• Concentrations and course offerings may vary by campus and/or by program modality.  Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for the course availability each term at your campus or within your program modality. 
• Certain options within the program may be required at certain campuses or for certain program modalities.  Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for requirements at your campus or for your program modality. 

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Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

BA Language Requirements

All BA students are required to complete the BA degree language requirements, for a total of 12 semester hours of language study or demonstrated equivalent proficiency, as described in Additional Requirements for BA students. Successful demonstration of proficiency does not reduce total minimum semester hours of study required to earn the BA degree.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Program Options

Complete one of the following options:

• Philosophy Major (No Concentration)
• Philosophy  Major with a Concentration in Law and Ethics
• Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Ethics
• Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Religious Studies
• Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Formal Methods

Philosophy Major Credit Requirement

Complete 36 semester hours in the major.

Upper-Division Electives

Complete three general electives at the 3000 level or above that do not double count with the major or NUpath.

General Electives

Additional courses taken beyond college and major course requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements

Experiential Liberal Arts

All students in this College of Social Sciences and Humanities program are required to complete the Experiential Liberal Arts Requirement.

Program Requirements

128 total semester hours required

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Philosophy Major (No Concentration)

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Philosophy Required Courses
PHIL 1115	Introduction to Logic	4
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought	4
or POLS 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2330	Modern Philosophy	4
Philosophy Advanced Electives/Seminar
Complete three PHIL courses with a designation of 3000 or above and at least one at 4000 or 5000 level.		12
Critical Philosophy Elective
Complete one of the following not used to fulfill another requirement:		4
AFCS 1101	Introduction to African American and Africana Studies
PHIL 1104	Goddesses, Witches, Saints, and Sinners: Women and Religion
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2492	Indigenous Philosophy
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 3500	Sexuality, Gender, and the Law
PHIL 3822	Philosophy of Race and Racism
Philosophy Additional Electives
Complete two additional PHIL courses.		8

 Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Law and Ethics

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Philosophy Required Courses
PHIL 1115	Introduction to Logic	4
PHIL 2301	Philosophical Problems of Law and Justice	4
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought	4
or POLS 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2330	Modern Philosophy	4
PHIL 3435	Moral Philosophy	4
Philosophy Advanced Electives/Seminar
Complete two PHIL courses with a designation of 3000 or above, and at least one at 4000 or 5000 level, not used to satisfy another requirement.		8
Ethics-Related Electives
Complete two of the following (not used to fulfill another requirement):		8
PHIL 1102	Introduction to Contemporary Moral Issues
PHIL 1111	Introduction to World Religions
PHIL 1112	Debating Ethical Controversies
PHIL 1130	Comparative Ethics
PHIL 1133	Selling Spirituality
PHIL 1145	Technology and Human Values
PHIL 1160	Introduction to Economic Justice
PHIL 1162	Ethics and Philosophy through Sport
PHIL 1165	Moral and Social Problems in Healthcare
PHIL 1170	Business, Ethics, and Human Rights
PHIL 1180	Environmental Ethics
PHIL 1185	The Ethics of Food
PHIL 1195	Research Ethics
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 1275	Hinduism, Buddhism, and Beyond
PHIL 1280	Islam: Rituals, Traditions, and Debates
PHIL 1290	Chinese Philosophy and Religion
PHIL 1300	Knowledge in a Digital World
PHIL 1666	The Problem of Evil in Film
PHIL 1667	Science Fiction and Film: Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Analysis
PHIL 2001	Ethics and Evolutionary Games
PHIL 2016	The Philosophy and Ethics of Lying and Deception
PHIL 2143	Philosophy for Children
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2303	Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2395	Japanese Buddhism
PHIL 3305	Philosophy of Emotions
PHIL 4050	Artificial Intelligence and Society
PHIL 4550	Philosophy of Economics
PHIL 5001	Global Justice
PHIL 5002	Ethics and Public Policy
PHIL 5005	Information Ethics
PHIL 5010	AI Ethics
Law-Related Electives
Complete one of the following:		4
ANTH 3442	Anthropology of Law
CRIM 1110	Criminal Due Process
CRIM 1120	Criminology
CRIM 2320	Youth Crime and Justice
CRIM 3060	Political Crime and Terrorism
CRIM 3110	Gender, Crime, and Justice
CRIM 3120	Race, Crime, and Justice
ENGL 3325	Rhetoric of Law
JRNL 3550	The First Amendment and the Media
LPSC 1101	Introduction to Law
POLS 3302	Judicial Process and Behavior
POLS 3324	Law and Society
POLS 4500	U.S. Constitutional Law
POLS 4505	U.S. Civil Liberties
SOCL 1245	Sociology of Poverty
SOCL 3241	Violence and Society
Critical Philosophy Electives
Complete one of the following not used to fulfill another requirement:		4
AFCS 1101	Introduction to African American and Africana Studies
PHIL 1104	Goddesses, Witches, Saints, and Sinners: Women and Religion
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2492	Indigenous Philosophy
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 3500	Sexuality, Gender, and the Law
PHIL 3822	Philosophy of Race and Racism

Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Ethics

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Philosophy Required Courses
PHIL 1115	Introduction to Logic	4
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought	4
or POLS 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2330	Modern Philosophy	4
PHIL 3435	Moral Philosophy	4
Philosophy Advanced Electives/Seminar
Complete two of the following with one at the 4000 or 5000 level:		8
PHIL 3100	The Religious Worlds of Boston: Faith and Devotion in Urban Life
PHIL 3343	Existentialism
PHIL 3360	Scientific Approaches to Philosophy
PHIL 3435	Moral Philosophy
PHIL 3460	Philosophy and Literature
PHIL 3822	Philosophy of Race and Racism
PHIL 4050	Artificial Intelligence and Society
PHIL 4500	Theory of Knowledge
PHIL 4510	Philosophy of Science
PHIL 4515	Advanced Deductive Logic
PHIL 4535	Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 4550	Philosophy of Economics
PHIL 4555	Philosophy of Biology
PHIL 4903	Seminar in Religion
PHIL 5001	Global Justice
PHIL 5002	Ethics and Public Policy
PHIL 5005	Information Ethics
PHIL 5010	AI Ethics
Ethics Courses
Complete three of the following:		12
PHIL 1102	Introduction to Contemporary Moral Issues
PHIL 1111	Introduction to World Religions
PHIL 1112	Debating Ethical Controversies
PHIL 1130	Comparative Ethics
PHIL 1133	Selling Spirituality
PHIL 1145	Technology and Human Values
PHIL 1160	Introduction to Economic Justice
PHIL 1162	Ethics and Philosophy through Sport
PHIL 1165	Moral and Social Problems in Healthcare
PHIL 1170	Business, Ethics, and Human Rights
PHIL 1180	Environmental Ethics
PHIL 1185	The Ethics of Food
PHIL 1195	Research Ethics
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 1275	Hinduism, Buddhism, and Beyond
PHIL 1280	Islam: Rituals, Traditions, and Debates
PHIL 1290	Chinese Philosophy and Religion
PHIL 1300	Knowledge in a Digital World
PHIL 1666	The Problem of Evil in Film
PHIL 1667	Science Fiction and Film: Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Analysis
PHIL 2001	Ethics and Evolutionary Games
PHIL 2016	The Philosophy and Ethics of Lying and Deception
PHIL 2143	Philosophy for Children
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2301	Philosophical Problems of Law and Justice
PHIL 2303	Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2390	Cults and Sects
PHIL 2395	Japanese Buddhism
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 3305	Philosophy of Emotions
PHIL 4050	Artificial Intelligence and Society
PHIL 4550	Philosophy of Economics
PHIL 5001	Global Justice
PHIL 5002	Ethics and Public Policy
PHIL 5005	Information Ethics
PHIL 5010	AI Ethics
Critical Philosophy Elective
Complete one of the following not used to fulfill another requirement:		4
AFCS 1101	Introduction to African American and Africana Studies
PHIL 1104	Goddesses, Witches, Saints, and Sinners: Women and Religion
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2492	Indigenous Philosophy
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 3500	Sexuality, Gender, and the Law
PHIL 3822	Philosophy of Race and Racism

Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Religious Studies

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Philosophy Required Courses
PHIL 1110	Introduction to Religious Studies	4
PHIL 1115	Introduction to Logic	4
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought	4
or POLS 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2330	Modern Philosophy	4
Philosophy Advanced Electives/Seminar
Complete two PHIL courses at level 3000 or above not used to satisfy another requirement. At least one course must be at the 4000/5000 level.		8
Religious Studies Courses
Complete three of the following (not used to fulfill another requirement):		12
PHIL 1104	Goddesses, Witches, Saints, and Sinners: Women and Religion
PHIL 1111	Introduction to World Religions
PHIL 1130	Comparative Ethics
PHIL 1133	Selling Spirituality
PHIL 1220	The Meaning of Death
PHIL 1260	Apocalypticism in Film
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 1275	Hinduism, Buddhism, and Beyond
PHIL 1280	Islam: Rituals, Traditions, and Debates
PHIL 1285	Jewish Religion and Culture
PHIL 1290	Chinese Philosophy and Religion
PHIL 1666	The Problem of Evil in Film
PHIL 2230	Music and Religion
PHIL 2395	Japanese Buddhism
PHIL 2492	Indigenous Philosophy
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 4903	Seminar in Religion

Philosophy Major with a Concentration in Formal Methods

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Philosophy Required Courses
PHIL 1115	Introduction to Logic	4
PHIL 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought	4
or POLS 2325	Ancient Philosophy and Political Thought
PHIL 2330	Modern Philosophy	4
PHIL 4515	Advanced Deductive Logic	4
Formal Methods Courses
Complete three of the following, at least two of which must be PHIL and one must be at the 3000 level or above, not used to satisfy other requirements:		12
CS 2800	Logic and Computation
ECON 4681	Information Economics and Game Theory
INSH 1500	Digital Methods for Social Sciences and Humanities
INSH 2102	Bostonography: The City through Data, Texts, Maps, and Networks
MATH 2280	Statistics and Software
MATH 3081	Probability and Statistics
PHIL 1105	Science and Pseudoscience
PHIL 1162	Ethics and Philosophy through Sport
PHIL 1300	Knowledge in a Digital World
PHIL 2001	Ethics and Evolutionary Games
PHIL 2016	The Philosophy and Ethics of Lying and Deception
PHIL 3050	Information and Uncertainty
PHIL 3360	Scientific Approaches to Philosophy
PHIL 4500	Theory of Knowledge
PHIL 4510	Philosophy of Science
PHIL 4515	Advanced Deductive Logic
PHIL 4550	Philosophy of Economics
PHIL 4555	Philosophy of Biology
POLS 3310	Public Opinion, Voting, and Elections
Critical Philosophy Electives
Complete one of the following not used to fulfill another requirement:		4
AFCS 1101	Introduction to African American and Africana Studies
PHIL 1104	Goddesses, Witches, Saints, and Sinners: Women and Religion
PHIL 1271	Sex in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
PHIL 2155	Human Rights
PHIL 2492	Indigenous Philosophy
PHIL 2619	Race and Religion in Film
PHIL 3500	Sexuality, Gender, and the Law
PHIL 3822	Philosophy of Race and Racism
Philosophy Electives
Complete two other PHIL courses (not used to fulfill another requirement), at least one of which must be at the 4000/5000 level.		8

Sample Plans of Study

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	PHIL 2325	4	PHIL undergraduate elective	4	Vacation
MATH 1215	4	PHIL 2330	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1000	1	Language core course	4
PHIL 1115	4	Elective	4
PHIL elective 1	4
	17		16		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
PHIL 2325	4	EESH 2000	1	Elective	4	Co-op	0
Critical philosophy elective	4	PHIL 2330	4	Elective	4
Language core course	4	PHIL undergraduate elective	4
PHIL elective 2	4	Upper-division elective
		Elective	4
		Elective	4
	16		17		8		0
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
Co-op	0	ENGW 3315	4	Advanced PHIL elective 2	4	Co-op	0
		PHIL 1115	4	Elective	4
		Advanced PHIL elective 1	4
		Elective	4
	0		16		8		0
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours
Co-op	0	PHIL seminar	4	Upper-division elective	4
		PHIL undergraduate elective	4	Elective	4
		Upper-division elective	4
		Elective	4
	0		16		8
Total Hours: 130

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	Foreign language core course	4	Elective	4	Vacation
MATH 1215	4	PHIL undergraduate elective	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1101	4	Elective	4
Language core course	4	Elective	4
	16		16		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
EESH 2000	1	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
PHIL 2325	4					Elective	4
Language core course	4
Elective	4
Elective	4
	17		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
PHIL 2330	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	PHIL undergraduate elective	4
Upper-division elective	4					Elective	4
Elective	4
Elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours
ENGW 3315	4	PHIL 6962	4	PHIL undergraduate elective	4
PHIL 1115	4	PHIL seminar	4	Elective	4
Advanced PHIL elective	4	PHIL undergraduate elective	4
Elective	4	Upper-division elective	4
	16		16		8
Total Hours: 129

Philosophy with Concentration in Law and Ethics:  Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	PHIL 2325	4	Elective	4	Vacation
MATH 1215	4	PHIL 2330	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1000	1	Foreign language core course	4
PHIL 1115	4	Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4	Elective	4
	17		20		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
PHIL 2325	4	EESH 2000	1	Elective	4	Co-op	0
Critical philosophy elective	4	PHIL 2330	4	Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4	Law-related elective	4
Law elective	4	Elective	4
		Elective	4
	16		17		8		0
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
Co-op	0	ENGW 3315	4	Ethics elective 1	4	Co-op	0
		PHIL 1115	4	Elective	4
		PHIL 3435	4
		PHIL seminar	4
	0		16		8		0
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours
Co-op	0	Law-related elective	4	Upper-division elective	4
		Moral and political elective	4
		PHIL seminar	4
		Upper-division elective	4
	0		16		4
Total Hours: 130

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	Foreign language core course	4	Elective	4	Vacation
MATH 1215	4	Moral and political elective	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1101	4	Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4	Elective	4
	16		16		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
EESH 2000	1	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
PHIL 2325	4					Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4
Elective	4
Elective	4
	17		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
PHIL 2330	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
Law-related elective	4					Elective	4
Upper-division elective	4
Elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours
ENGW 3315	4	Law-related elective	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1115	4	Moral and political elective	4	Elective	4
PHIL 3435	4	Upper-division elective	4
PHIL seminar	4	Upper-division elective	4
	16		16		8
Total Hours: 129

Philosophy with Concentration in Religious Studies: Four Years, Two Co-ops in Summer 2/Fall

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	PHIL 2325	4	PHIL 1115	4	Vacation
MATH 1215	4	PHIL 2330	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1000	1	Foreign language core course	4
PHIL 1110	4	Religious studies elective	4
Foreign Language course	4
	17		16		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
PHIL 2325	4	EESH 2000	1	Religious studies elective 2	4	Co-op	0
Foreign language core course	4	PHIL 2330	4	Elective	4
Elective	4	Religious studies elective 1	4
Elective	4	Elective	4
		Elective	4
	16		17		8		0
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
Co-op	0	ENGW 3315	4	Advanced PHIL elective	4	Co-op	0
		PHIL 1115	4	Religious studies elective	4
		PHIL 3435	4
		Religious studies seminar	4
	0		16		8		0
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours
Co-op	0	PHIL seminar	4	Upper-division elective	4
		Upper-division elective	4	Elective	4
		Upper-division elective	4
		Elective	4
	0		16		8
Total Hours: 130

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer 1

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
ENGW 1111	4	Foreign language core course	4	Elective	4	Vacation
MATH 1215	4	Religious studies elective	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1101	4	Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4	Elective	4
	16		16		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
EESH 2000	1	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
PHIL 2325	4					Elective	4
Foreign language core course	4
Elective	4
Elective	4
	17		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
PHIL 2330	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
Religious studies elective	4					Elective	4
Upper-division elective	4
Elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours
ENGW 3315	4	Religious studies seminar	4	Elective	4
PHIL 1115	4	Upper-division elective	4	Elective	4
PHIL 3435	4	Upper-division elective	4
PHIL seminar	4	Elective	4
	16		16		8
Total Hours: 129