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Program of Study (CAS Bulletin)MAJOR A major in philosophy requires 10 4-point courses in the department, with numbers higher than V83.0009 (the courses listed as nonmajor introductory courses do not count). These 10 courses must include (1) Logic, V83.0070; (2) History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; (3) History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; (4) Ethics, V83.0040; or Nature of Values, V83.0041; or Political Philosophy, V83.0045; (5) Belief, Truth, and Knowledge, V83.0076; or Metaphysics, V83.0078; (6) Minds and Machines, V83.0015; or Philosophy of Mind, V83.0080; or Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and (7) Topics in the History of Philosophy, V83.0101; or Topics in Ethics and Political Philosophy, V83.0102; or Topics in Metaphysics and Epistemology, V83.0103; or Topics in Language and Mind, V83.0104. Of the three honors courses, only the first two—the Junior Honors Proseminar and the Senior Honors Seminar—may be counted toward the ten courses required. No credit toward the major is awarded for a course with a grade lower than C. Students considering a major in philosophy are advised to skip over the nonmajor introductory courses and to begin with one of the intensive introductory courses or with one of the following: History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020; History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; Ethics, V83.0040; or Belief, Truth, and Knowledge, V83.0076. Logic, V83.0070, should be taken as soon as possible. JOINT MAJOR IN LANGUAGE AND MIND This major, intended as an introduction to cognitive science, is
administered by the Departments of Linguistics, Philosophy, and Psychology.
Eleven courses are required (four in linguistics, one in philosophy, five in
psychology, and one additional course), to be constituted as follows. The
linguistics component consists of Grammatical Analysis, V61.0013; Language and
Mind, V61.0028; and two more courses chosen from Form, Meaning, and the Mind,
V61.0031; Propositional Attitudes, V61.0035; Computational Principles of
Sentence Construction, V61.0024; Phonological Analysis, V61.0012; Introduction
to Semantics, V61.0004; Psycholinguistics, V61.0005; and Linguistics as
Cognitive Science, V61.0048. The philosophy component consists of one course,
chosen from Minds and Machines, V83.0015; Philosophy of Language, V83.0085; and
Logic, V83.0070. The required psychology component consists of four courses:
Introduction to Psychology, V89.0001; Statistical Reasoning for the Behavioral
Sciences, V89.0009; Cognition, V89.0029; and either The Psychology of Language,
V89.0056 or Neural Bases of Language, V89.0300; and in addition, one course,
chosen from Seminar in Thinking, V89.0026; Language Acquisition and Cognitive
Development, V89.0300; Laboratory in Human Cognition, V89.0028; and either The
Psychology of Language, V89.0056 (if V89.0300 was taken as a required course)
or Neural Bases of Language, V89.0300 (if V89.0056 was taken as a required
course). The eleventh course will be one of the above-listed courses that has
not already been chosen to satisfy the departmental components. MINOR A minor in philosophy requires four 4-point courses in the department, at least three with numbers higher than V83.0009. One course must be either History of Ancient Philosophy, V83.0020, or History of Modern Philosophy, V83.0021; one course each must come from Group 2 (Ethics, Value, and Society) and Group 3 (Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic). No credit toward the minor is awarded for a course with a grade lower than C. INDEPENDENT STUDY A student may sign up for an independent study course if he or she obtains the consent of a faculty member who approves the study project and agrees to serve as adviser. The student must also obtain the approval of either the department chair or the director of undergraduate studies. The student may take no more than one such course in any given semester and no more than two such courses in total, unless granted special permission by either the department chair or the director of undergraduate studies. HONORS PROGRAM Honors in philosophy will be awarded to majors who (1) have an overall grade point average of 3.65 and an average in philosophy courses of 3.65, and (2) successfully complete the honors program. This program consists of the following three courses. (Note: Of these courses, only the first two may be counted toward the 10 courses required for the major.) 1. The Junior Honors Proseminar, to be taken in spring semester of junior year. This course will play the dual roles of introducing students to core readings in some of the main areas of current philosophy, and of giving them an intensive training in writing philosophy. Admission to this course usually requires a GPA, both overall and in philosophy courses, of at least 3.65, as well as the permission of the director of undergraduate studies. The department will try to make alternative arrangements for students who wish to participate in the Honors Program but who will be studying abroad in this semester of their junior year. 2. The Senior Honors Seminar, to be taken in fall semester of senior year. Here students begin to develop their thesis projects, meeting weekly as a group under the direction of a faculty member, and presenting and discussing their thesis arguments. Students will also select, and begin to meet separately with, their individual thesis advisers—faculty who work in the areas of their thesis projects. Entry to this seminar depends on satisfactory completion of the Junior Honors Proseminar—or on the special approval of the director of undergraduate studies. It also usually requires a GPA of at least 3.65 3. Senior Honors Research, to be taken in spring semester of senior year. The seminar no longer meets, but each student continues to meet separately with his/her individual thesis adviser, producing and discussing a series of rough drafts of the thesis. The final version must be submitted by a deadline to be determined, in April. It must be approved by the thesis adviser, as well as by a second faculty reader, for honors to be awarded. The student must also finish with a GPA of at least 3.65—and here no exceptions will be made. In addition, the thesis advisers will meet after the decisions by readers have been made, and award some students highest or high honors, based on thesis quality and other factors (including GPA in philosophy courses). COURSE PREREQUISITES The department treats its course prerequisites seriously. Students not satisfying a course’s prerequisites are strongly advised to seek the permission of the instructor beforehand. | |