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Philosophy Major

A major in Philosophy consists of at least 10 courses (with a minimum of 30 points), as follows:

1. One course in ancient or early medieval philosophy:
  • PHIL UN2101 History of Philosophy I: Pre-Socratics through Augustine
  • PHIL UN3121 Plato
  • PHIL UN3131 Aristotle
  • PHIL GU4090 Early Greek Philosophy
2. One course in late medieval or early modern philosophy:
  • PHIL UN2201 History of Philosophy II: Aquinas through Kant
  • PHIL UN3237 Late Medieval and Modern Philosophy
  • PHIL UN3251 Kant 
3. One course in logic:
  • PHIL UN3411 Introduction to Symbolic Logic
  • PHIL UN1401 Introduction to Logic
4. One course in ethics:
  • PHIL UN3701 Ethics
  • PHIL UN3716 Topics in Ethics
5. One of the following courses:
  • PHIL UN2685 Philosophy of Language
  • PHIL UN3551 Philosophy of Science
  • PHIL UN3601 Metaphysics
  • PHIL UN3651 Philosophy of Mind
  • PHIL UN3960 Epistemology
6. The Senior Seminar
  •  PHIL BC4050 Senior Seminar (required for all majors)

7. Capstone:

  • Either a Senior Thesis:
    -PHIL BC4051 Senior Essay (Fall)
    and
    -PHIL BC4052 Senior Essay (Spring)
  • Or:
    -One advanced seminar: a second section of PHIL BC4050 Senior Seminar, or a PHIL UN3912 Seminar, or a PHIL seminar above 4000
    and
    -One additional elective beyond the two stipulated in 8 (below).

8. Two electives in addition to the eight courses stipulated above.
('Elective' refers to any PHIL course not used to satisfy a major requirement.)
 

Note:

  • Only one of the two introductory courses offered at Barnard and Columbia (PHIL UN1001 and PHIL UN1010) may be counted towards the ten PHIL courses required by the major.
  • Only one of the two logic courses mentioned above (PHIL UN3411 and PHIL UN1401) may be counted towards the ten PHIL courses required by the major.

It is very important that any Philosophy course you plan to take in the summer be pre-approved by the Chair of the Philosophy Department if you want to receive transfer credit for it at Barnard. The Barnard Philosophy Department does not award full credit for courses taken at other institutions that do not involve, in addition to exams, a substantial paper-writing component. A typical introductory Philosophy course at Barnard might include a midterm, a final, and two or three paper assignments in which students are expected to interpret, analyze, or construct philosophical arguments (and not merely "report" on the views of others). A Philosophy course that receives full Barnard credit must meet similar standards. It is impossible to know in advance whether a course meets these standards unless the course syllabus, including a clear statement of the written requirements of the course, is approved in advance by the Philosophy Department Chair. In accordance with Barnard College requirements, all summer courses must be given at accredited institutions and meet for at least 5 weeks. No course that meets for less than 35 hours will be approved.