Philosophy Major (M)
This program nurtures the ability to engage in systematic thinking and provides you with the critical distance to call culture’s dominant assumptions into question and form your own responses. You’ll be immersed in the great conversation of history’s deepest thinkers, trained in logic and ethics, and able to defend faith and human dignity. Philosophy majors score amongst the highest on the LSAT, and have the independent thinking and transferable skills which employers prize. Philosophy is by nature an interdisciplinary subject, so a Philosophy major combines well with a wide variety of other majors and minors, including Theology, Computer Science, English, History, Psychology, and Art.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Vocation and Personal Application: Students will grow in their relationship with Christ and will put his teachings into practice in their vocations.
- Communication and Culture: Students will observe, assess, and interpret today’s cultures and world views. Students will be familiar with various methods of delivering and defending biblical truth in a relevant and practical way to diverse groups.
- Research Skills: Students will demonstrate an understanding of research skills in the discipline.
- Logic: The student will learn and use logic for argumentation.
- Ethics: The student will learn a variety of ethical theories and use them in practical problem solving.
- Epistemology: The student will learn a variety of theories of knowledge and study their implications for what can be known and how we know it.
- Metaphysics: The student will learn a variety of metaphysical theories and study their implications for what exists and why it exists.
- History of Philosophy: The student will learn the most important contributions of the great ancient, medieval, and modern philosophers.
- Apologetics: The student will become a competent defender of the Christian faith against the objections leveled by rival worldviews
Curriculum
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | 45 | |
| Major Requirements | 34 | |
| Electives | 41 | |
Minor: Optional | ||
| Total Hours | 120 | |
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Recommended Core Courses | ||
| Old Testament (recommended) | ||
or REL 1000 | The Bible | |
| Biblical Theology (recommended) | ||
or REL 1100 | Christian Faith | |
| Required Courses | ||
| PHIL 2010 | Central Texts of Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 2110 | Elementary Logic | 3 |
| PHIL 2500 | Moral Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 3250 | Christian Apologetics | 3 |
| REL 2020 | New Testament | 3 |
| PHIL 4910 | Senior Seminar I | 1 |
| PHIL 4920 | Senior Seminar II | 3 |
| History of Philosophy Courses (select 2 of the following) | 6 | |
| Ancient Philosophy | ||
| Medieval Philosophy | ||
| Modern Philosophy | ||
| Major Electives 1 | ||
| Select 9 credits of the following (6 credits must be PHIL classes, either from the list below or a substitute approved by the Philosophy Department) | 9 | |
| C.S. Lewis: His Life and Christian Philosophy | ||
| Bioethical Dilemmas in Contemporary Society | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Philosophy of Language | ||
Students may also take a third History of Philosophy class as one of their electives | ||
| Up to 3 credits may be taken from the following list of non-PHIL classes | ||
| Classical & Modern Rhetoric | ||
| Literary Criticism | ||
| Faith and Politics | ||
| A Survey of Christian Thought | ||
| Cosmogony | ||
| Total Hours | 34 | |
- 1
Majors may substitute one of the approved 3 credit non-PHIL classes with other approved courses relevant to the student’s special area of interest in philosophy (e.g. a relevant history course if they are interested in philosophy of history, a relevant science course if interested in philosophy of science).
| Semester 1 | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| REL 2010 or REL 1000 |
Old Testament or The Bible |
3 |
| CCE 1010 | Christian Citizen | 3 |
| CCE 1030 | Western Thought & Worldview | 3 |
| ENG 1040 | Introduction to Writing | 3 |
| CORE | 3 | |
| Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 2 | ||
| PHIL 2010 | Central Texts of Philosophy | 3 |
| REL 2020 | New Testament | 3 |
| CCE 1040 | Science & Humanity | 3 |
| CORE | 3 | |
| CORE | 3 | |
| Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 3 | ||
| PHIL 2500 | Moral Philosophy | 3 |
| REL 2030 or REL 1100 |
Biblical Theology or Christian Faith |
3 |
| CCE 1020 | Western Culture & Worldview | 3 |
| MATH 1250 or CSC 1010 |
Contemporary Math or Foundations of Computer Science |
3 |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| HHP 1100 | Stewardship of the Body | 1 |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Semester 4 | ||
| PHIL 2110 | Elementary Logic | 3 |
| CORE | 3 | |
| CORE | 4 | |
| CORE | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Semester 5 | ||
| PHIL 3250 | Christian Apologetics | 3 |
| PHIL 4000 | Ancient Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL ELECTIVE | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| HHP | 1 | |
| Hours | 16 | |
| Semester 6 | ||
| PHIL 4100 or PHIL 4500 |
Medieval Philosophy or Modern Philosophy |
3 |
| PHIL ELECTIVE | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| Hours | 15 | |
| Semester 7 | ||
| PHIL 4910 | Senior Seminar I | 1 |
| PHIL ELECTIVE | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| Hours | 13 | |
| Semester 8 | ||
| PHIL 4920 | Senior Seminar II | 3 |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 3 | |
| ELECTIVE OR MINOR | 2 | |
| Hours | 14 | |
| Total Hours | 120 | |
Course options and schedule are subject to change.