Semester Requirements

http://www.rit.edu/philosophy

Program overview

Most of the skills required for student and career success—how to learn, how to apply that learning in professional and personal environments, and how to communicate that knowledge—are central to philosophical training. Philosophy students are taught to evaluate complex problems, identify and examine underlying principles, investigate issues from diverse perspectives, and communicate clearly in both written and oral forms.

The philosophy major provides a thorough grounding in the three main areas of philosophy (history, value theory, and reasoning/epistemology), as well as a four-course specialization within philosophy. Students combine philosophy with a core competence (or even a double major) in another discipline, encouraging them to creatively pursue cross-disciplinary relationships. The major concludes with a senior thesis integrating philosophy with a field of application.

Curriculum

Students develop skills through a core of philosophy courses, which cover the history of philosophy, value theory, and reasoning/epistemology. Students choose four courses in area of philosophical specialization. Examples of approved areas include: philosophy of mind and cognitive science, philosophy of science and technology, applied ethics, philosophy of the social sciences and political philosophy, philosophy of art and aesthetics, history of philosophy, or philosophy of law. Students also complete a professional core of courses designed to provide foundational knowledge in a professional/technical discipline outside of philosophy, which complements their studies. Philosophy electives, general electives, and liberal arts courses complete the curriculum.

Senior thesis

Building on their philosophy specialization and their professional core, students investigate a particular question in depth through research. Students choose a faculty member to serve as a primary adviser and to help identify a subject topic. The finished thesis is discussed and examined by a committee including two other faculty members.

Philosophy, BS degree, typical course sequence (semesters), effective fall 2013

Please see New General Education Curriculum–Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) for more information.

(WI) Refers to a writing intensive course within the major.

* Please see Wellness Education Requirement for more information. Students completing bachelor's degrees are required to complete two Wellness courses.
† The First Year Seminar requirement is replaced by an LAS Elective for the 2013-14 academic year.

‡ Students will satisfy this requirement by taking either a 3- or 4-credit hour lab science course. If a science course consists of separate lecture and laboratory sections, student must take both the lecture and lab portions to satisfy the requirement.

Specializations

Philosophy of mind and cognitive science
This specialization covers the philosophical issues involved in studying intelligence, cognition, identity, consciousness, rationality, creativity and emotion, especially as such concepts and categories are invoked by computer and cognitive scientists, and as they are applied in relation to natural and artificial systems.

Philosophy of science and technology
This specialization examines the concepts, methodologies, and philosophical implications of science and technology, and explores the underlying theories, practices, and consequences of science and technology and their role in shaping societies and their values.

Applied ethics
This specialization examines the ethical underpinnings of different professions as well as the ethical presuppositions and implications of technology, engineering, science, management and other disciplines. Attention is also given to ethics education within the professions and to the role which professional ethicists can play in different professional and organizational settings.

Philosophy of social sciences and political philosophy
This specialization examines philosophical issues arising from social and political life as well as the disciplines that study them.

Philosophy of art and aesthetics
This specialization examines how different philosophical frameworks conceive of the various arts and crafts and the forms of creative experience and production with which they are engaged; explores the relationship between aesthetic perception and other forms of experience and judgment, between art and society, between art and ethics, and between art and technology.

History of philosophy
This specialization explores the development and connection of philosophical ideas, concepts, and movements throughout time through an in-depth analysis of major transformative moments and figures, and examines how philosophical positions result from an ongoing conversation with previous thinkers.

Philosophy and law
This specialization prepares students for law school and other advanced studies by focusing on the skills and topics important to the study of the law. The courses provide an examination of the theoretical and ethical foundations of the law and an understanding of the logical and epistemological skills useful in evaluating and constructing legal arguments. In addition, a grounding in these topics and skills is valuable in a range of professions outside the legal field.

Additional information

Advising

Each student is assigned a faculty adviser who will assist in planning course schedules, professional/technical core requirements, and a philosophy specialization area.

Faculty

The philosophy department’s faculty are outstanding teachers. They are active scholars, publishing regularly in journals, editing and authoring books, and organizing and delivering papers at conferences at RIT and elsewhere in the United States and abroad.