Catalogue 2007-08

• USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
• Philosophy
  • Undergraduate Degrees
  • Graduate Degrees
  • Courses of Instruction

Undergraduate Degrees

Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

The School of Philosophy offers two major options: the major in philosophy and the major in philosophy with an emphasis on ethics, law and value theory.

The major in philosophy requires eight courses in philosophy; six of these must be at the upper-division level. One of the eight courses must be selected from the following list: PHIL 300, PHIL 315, PHIL 320, PHIL 350 or PHIL 360. Students are strongly encouraged to take one of these courses before taking any 400-level courses. Three of the eight courses must satisfy the distribution requirement: at least one course from each of the three categories listed.

History of Philosophy: PHIL 315, PHIL 320, PHIL 345, PHIL 410, PHIL 411, PHIL 415, PHIL 421, PHIL 422, PHIL 423, PHIL 424, PHIL 427, PHIL 434.

Ethics, Law and Value Theory: PHIL 330, PHIL 335, PHIL 337, PHIL 340, PHIL 345, PHIL 430, PHIL 437, PHIL 440, PHIL 442, PHIL 443.

Systematic Philosophy: PHIL 350, PHIL 360, PHIL 385, PHIL 427, PHIL 428, PHIL 460, PHIL 462, PHIL 463, PHIL 465, PHIL 470, PHIL 480, PHIL 485, PHIL 486.

The major with an emphasis on ethics, law and value theory requires the student to complete all of the requirements for the major in philosophy, with the further requirement that three of the eight courses completed are from the distribution category of ethics, law and value theory. The major with emphasis on ethics, law and value theory requires eight courses in philosophy, of which six must be upper-division courses; one course from the list of 300-level courses above; one course from the list of history of philosophy courses; one course from the list of systematic philosophy courses; and three courses from the list of ethics, law and value theory courses.

Philosophy Major with Honors

The philosophy major with honors requires the student to complete one of the major options with a GPA in the major of at least 3.5 and also complete a ninth course, PHIL 494 Senior Thesis, with a grade of B or better. Intent to complete the philosophy major with honors normally should be registered with the philosophy advisor no later than the second semester of the junior year. Students who intend to graduate with honors are encouraged to complete PHIL 350.

Undergraduates who are considering graduate school in philosophy should, in addition to consulting with the undergraduate advisor, consult with the graduate advisor on a regular basis until graduation. The School of Philosophy strongly urges that future philosophy graduate students major with honors, enroll in PHIL 350 for credit, and consider (in consultation with the philosophy advisors) taking at least one graduate course for undergraduate credit.

Double Major

Double majors are encouraged but a student must work in close consultation with the undergraduate advisor.

Bachelor of Arts with a Combined Major in Linguistics and Philosophy

See Linguistics.

Minor in Philosophy

The minor in philosophy requires the completion of five philosophy courses, at least four of which are upper-division courses. All minors must complete one of PHIL 300, PHIL 315, PHIL 320, PHIL 340, PHIL 350 or PHIL 360. and must complete one course from each of the subject area lists.

Subject Area Lists

History of Philosophy: PHIL 101, PHIL 115, PHIL 220, PHIL 315, PHIL 320, PHIL 410, PHIL 411, PHIL 415, PHIL 421, PHIL 422, PHIL 423, PHIL 424, PHIL 425, PHIL 426, PHIL 427, PHIL 473.

Ethics, Law and Value Theory: PHIL 140, PHIL 141, PHIL 155, PHIL 330, PHIL 335, PHIL 337, PHIL 338, PHIL 340, PHIL 345, PHIL 347, PHIL 430, PHIL 434, PHIL 437, PHIL 440, PHIL 442, PHIL 443, PHIL 445, PHIL 446.

Systematic Topics: PHIL 262, PHIL 360, PHIL 361, PHIL 385, PHIL 428, PHIL 432, PHIL 450, PHIL 460, PHIL 462, PHIL 463, PHIL 465, PHIL 470, PHIL 480, PHIL 485, PHIL 486.

Minor in Theories of Art

Theorizing about the arts takes place in the discipline of philosophy (aesthetics) as well as in all the individual disciplines concerned with the individual arts. Some of the issues involved (is perspective a matter of convention?; how does acting differ in cinema and in theatre?) are specific to a particular discipline or disciplines, but their discussion typically involves very general issues (in the cases mentioned, issues about the nature of convention or of artistic media) and many of the issues manifest themselves in all these disciplines (the relation of intention to interpretation; the epistemological and moral status of the arts; the nature of evaluative judgments). The understanding of these issues can be greatly enhanced by studying them as they arise in different arts and in different theoretical traditions. The minor should be of interest to students with an interest in philosophy, or students in any of the arts who are interested in their theoretical dimensions.

There are no entrance requirements for the minor, which requires six courses (23 or 24 units, depending on course selection). All students must take PHIL 242 Theories of Art (4 units) and select five courses from the following:

AHIS 250	Modernity and Difference: Critical Approaches to Modern Art	4
ARCH 314	Theory and Criticism: Recent Trends and Developments	3

COLT 391	Seminar in Literary Criticism	4
COLT 454	Aesthetic Philosophy and Theory	4
ENGL 479	History of Literary Criticism	4
ENGL 480	Modern Literary Criticism: Theory and Practice	4
PHIL 347	Philosophy in Literature	4
PHIL 445	Philosophy of the Arts	4
PHIL 446	Aesthetics and the Film	4
THTR 404	Acting Theory	4

Minor in Critical Approaches to Leadership

See Interdisciplinary Studies.

Send feedback to univpub@usc.edu