Undergraduate Degrees

Graduate Degrees

Courses of Instruction

Mudd Hall of Philosophy
(213) 740-4084
FAX: (213) 740-5174
E-mail: philos@mizar.usc.edu

Director: Edwin McCann, Ph.D.*

Faculty

Professors: Frank Lewis, Ph.D.; Kevin W. Robb, Ph.D.*; Dallas Willard, Ph.D.*

Associate Professors: Zlatan Damnjanovic, Ph.D.; John H. Dreher, Ph.D.; Janet Levin, Ph.D.; Sharon Lloyd, Ph.D.; Kadri Vihvelin, Ph.D., LL.B.

Assistant Professor: Robin Jeshion, Ph.D.

Emeritus Distinguished Professor: Geddes MacGregor, Docteur-es-Lettres, D.Phil., D.D., LL.B.

Emeritus Professor and Emeritus Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences: S. Marshall Cohen, Ph.D.*

Emeritus Professor: John Hospers, Ph.D., D.Litt.

*Recipient of university-wide or college teaching award.

Undergraduate Programs

The School of Philosophy offers courses in most areas of philosophy, including philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, epistemology, metaphysics, logic, philosophy of science, political philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, the history of philosophy, phenomenology and existentialism. The major in philosophy is designed to acquaint students with the fundamental problems of Western thought and introduce them to the concepts and techniques necessary for independent philosophical thinking; it is equally intended to provide a broadening perspective for the various areas of specialization in the natural and social sciences and in literature and the arts. The school also offers a minor in Theories of Art.

Graduate Programs

The School of Philosophy offers a Master of Arts in Philosophy, a joint degree with the Law School and a Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy.

Undergraduate Degrees

Department Major Requirements for the
Bachelor of Arts

The major in philosophy requires eight courses in philosophy; six of these must be at the upper-division level.

All majors must meet a distribution requirement by taking at least one course from each of the four categories listed below:

History of Ancient Philosophy: PHIL 315, 345, 410, 411, 415, 434.

History of Modern Philosophy: PHIL 320, 421, 422, 423, 424.

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

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

Regular Major The student must complete eight philosophy courses, at least six of which are at the upper-division level, and must satisfy the distribution requirement.

Major with an Emphasis on Ethics, Law and Value Theory In addition to meeting the requirements for the regular major, a student must complete a minimum of three upper-division courses in ethics.

The courses in the ethics category are: PHIL 337, 345, 430, 434, 437, 440, 442, 443, 445.

Major with an Emphasis on the History of Philosophy In addition to meeting the requirements for the regular major, the student must complete a minimum of three upper division courses in the history of philosophy.

The courses in the history category are: PHIL 315, 320, 345, 410, 411, 415, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 434.

Major with an Emphasis on the Philosophy of Science In addition to meeting the requirements for the regular major, the student must complete either PHIL 350 or 450 and, in addition, two courses from the following: PHIL 385, 480, 485 and 486.

If a course is used to fulfill the distribution in one category, it may not also be used to fulfill the distribution in a different category.

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 and who are also considering graduate work in philosophy are encouraged to enroll in PHIL 350.

Double Major

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

Minor in Philosophy

The minor in philosophy requires that a student complete five courses in philosophy and meet the distribution requirement.

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 Differences: 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 andTheory	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

Bachelor of Arts with a Combined Major in Linguistics and Philosophy

See Linguistics.

Graduate Degrees

The objective of the graduate program in philosophy is to equip suitably prepared and talented students to function effectively as teachers, thinkers and writers on philosophical topics in the Western tradition. The program provides for a wide range of studies within philosophy, but emphasizes the history of philosophy, both classical and modern, along with the traditional core disciplines: ethics, epistemology, metaphysics and logic.

Because philosophy is as much a special manner of intellectual activity as it is a special subject matter, the graduate student is expected not only to master major works in the historical and contemporary literature of philosophical thought, but also to develop the ability to engage in the ongoing process of philosophical research and dialogue.

Admission Requirements

An applicant for admission normally has an undergraduate major in philosophy, but programs may be arranged for promising students who do not. At least three letters of recommendation from the student's undergraduate teachers should be sent to the chair, graduate admissions, of the school. All applicants are required to take the verbal and quantitative General Tests of the Graduate Record Examinations.

Degree Requirements

These degrees are under the jurisdiction of the Graduate School. Refer to the Requirements for Graduation section and the Graduate School section of this catalogue for general regulations. All courses applied toward the degrees must be courses accepted by the Graduate School.

Master of Arts in Philosophy

A student may obtain an M.A. in philosophy by fulfilling the following requirements: a minimum of 36 units in the USC philosophy school, at least 24 of which must be at the 500 level. Requirements include: PHIL 500 and a 500-level course in each of the following three areas: metaphysics and epistemology, ethics and other value theory, and history of philosophy. Of the remaining five required (4-unit) courses, only four units of PHIL 590 are applicable to the degree. A publishable research paper is also required.

Master of Arts, Philosophy/Juris Doctor

Students must complete 24 units in the School of Philosophy and 66 units in the Law School.

First Year: Required Law School curriculum.

Second and Third Years: The School of Philosophy prefers that students take at least one philosophy course each semester. During the four semesters, students must take at least 16 units at the 500 level, including PHIL 500; PHIL 450; one 400- or 500-level course in ethics or social/political philosophy or aesthetics or philosophy of law; one 400- or 500-level course in metaphysics or epistemology or philosophy of language or philosophy of science or philosophy of mind; one 400- or 500-level course in the history of ancient or early modern philosophy; pass the second year review; and complete a publishable research paper. Students must also complete 36 additional law units.

Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy

Course Requirements

The minimum number of course credits required for the Ph.D. is 60 units (15 courses, four units each). No more than eight of these units may be from 590 courses and no more than eight of these units may be from 400-level courses in the School of Philosophy. PHIL 450 does not count toward this maximum of eight units of 400-level courses in the School of Philosophy. No more than eight of these units may be earned in 794 Doctoral Dissertation. Each student must pass PHIL 450 with a grade of B or better and must pass PHIL 500 with a grade of B+ or better. Both PHIL 450 and 500 must be satisfactorily completed by the end of the second year.

The student may take up to two of the 15 courses in a field of study related to philosophy. The Ph.D. dissertation may be written in any area of philosophy for which adequate supervision is available from within the university. In addition to areas already mentioned, dissertation research is possible in linguistic analysis, phenomenology, existentialism, pragmatism, structuralism, philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, social and political philosophy, logic, philosophy of law and the philosophy of science. Finally, all Ph.D. students are required to show evidence of practical or editorial training, or their equivalent.

Foreign Language/Research Tool Requirement

A foreign language examination, specified by the school, in French, German, Latin or Greek is required. A student's guidance committee may approve a replacement of the language requirement by a research tool requirement, consisting of an approved course or examination in a subject essential to the student's research program. The examination(s) must be passed before the qualifying examination is attempted.

There are three levels of evaluation in the Ph.D. program prior to the dissertation:

Distribution Requirement

There is a distribution requirement of six courses at the 500 level in the Philosophy School, one each from the following six areas: (1) epistemology, (2) metaphysics, (3) ethics, (4) other value theory, (5) history of ancient philosophy, (6) history of modern philosophy. PHIL 500 and 590 courses cannot count toward this requirement. The courses in the systematic area will be taught in the tradition of Anglo-American analytic philosophy. For courses straddling two areas (for example, history of ancient philosophy and metaphysics; history of modern philosophy and ethics), instructors will indicate on the syllabus which requirement the course will satisfy. Courses dealing with subject matter within more than one of the six areas listed may be used to satisfy any of the areas encompassed by the course although no single course may be used to satisfy two requirements at once. All distribution requirements must be completed by the end of the fifth semester.

Screening Procedure

Students in the Ph.D. program must pass a screening procedure before undertaking their 25th unit (seventh course) of graduate credit. This will be based on a review of the student's work to date, and will take into account not only information acquired but also those intellectual qualities and capacities which are essential for good work in philosophy: the capacity to think and write on philosophical issues with clarity, consistency and thoroughness; the ability to understand in detail what is involved in the meaning and justification of philosophical claims or positions; the ability to recognize and to draw out fine conceptual distinctions and to perceive their logical relationships; and strong intellectual curiosity and independence of thought.

Second Year Review

In the spring of the second year, students will submit two essentially unrevised papers from distribution courses (from different fields) to the relevant field committees. However, the papers will not be evaluated in terms of their compliance or otherwise with the distribution requirement but rather in terms of their overall philosophical worth. The review of those papers and general review of the total record will constitute the second year evaluation. It is understood that the standards used in this evaluation will be higher than those typical of seminars. The faculty reserve the right to require revision of one or both papers, with appropriate time limits; they may also require an oral or written examination in case the evidence submitted should prove insufficient for a proper evaluation of the student.

Qualifying Examination

This examination consists of a written prospectus of the proposed dissertation and an in-depth oral examination on the form and subject matter of the proposed dissertation. All faculty members may inspect the prospectus and be present at the oral, but evaluation of the qualifying examination is the responsibility of the student's guidance committee. The examination is not passed if two or more members of the guidance committee find it unsatisfactory.

The qualifying examination is not offered in the summer. Those who intend to take this examination must meet all the conditions specified in the section on general requirements for the Ph.D. The qualifying examination must be satisfactorily completed in the spring of the third year or, in exceptional cases, the fall of the fourth year.

Doctoral Dissertation

When the student passes the qualifying examination, a dissertation committee, replacing the guidance committee, is appointed by the director of the school in consultation with the student and the philosophy faculty. This new committee and the candidate will then agree upon how the dissertation is to be developed and written. The dissertation must be an original contribution to some well-defined area in philosophy, and must give evidence of ability to do respectable, large-scale research, thinking, and writing in the field. The school requires the defense oral when the research and writing of the dissertation is substantially complete. Attendance at this oral examination is open to all members of the university faculty, but the examination is conducted and evaluated by the candidate's dissertation committee. The faculty normally works with the dissertations only in the fall and spring semesters, and the student should plan accordingly.

Graduate Advisement

In addition to the departmental graduate advisor, who has the formal role in graduate advising, each student will be matched with a personal advisor, who will share responsibility with the graduate advisor for monitoring a student's progress semester by semester. The graduate advisor is available to counsel any graduate student on all aspects of the graduate program. A student's personal advisor will consult informally with the student semester by semester on how to interpret his or her grades and especially the written reports provided by the instructor for each course in which the student is enrolled, discuss informally the student's selection of courses each semester, and generally keep track of the student's progress in the program. At the appropriate time, the student will consult his or her advisor concerning the appointment of a faculty committee for guidance and supervision. In the case of those in the Ph.D. program, an official guidance committee will be appointed at the time the student passes the screening examination. The Ph.D. guidance committee will meet with the student soon after its appointment, and at least once each academic year thereafter.

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