Academics

Bachelor of Arts Degree

At URI, Philosophy is a major where you’ll have the latitude to choose courses that appeal to you, and take most of them in a flexible order, yet it still covers all of the traditional areas that a strong major should include.

Philosophy majors can choose either a general option (below) or a religious studies emphasis.

curriculum sheets course descriptions learning outcomes

Curriculum

The major requires at least 33 credits (maximum 48 credits) in philosophy. A total of 120 credits is required for graduation; at least 30 must be in courses numbered 300 or above.

Required Courses

  • PHL 205: Philosophical Topics
  • Logic courses: at least one of
    PHL 101: Critical Thinking
    PHL/CSC 451: Symbolic Logic *
  • Ethics courses: at least one of
    PHL 212: Ethics 
    PHL 314: Ethical Problems in Society and Medicine
  • Analytic courses: at least one of
    PHL 341: Introduction to Metaphysics
    PHL 342: Knowledge, Belief, and Truth
    PHL/CSC 451: Symbolic Logic *
    PHL 452: Philosophy of Science
  • History courses: both
    PHL 321: Ancient Philosophy
    PHL 323: Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant
  • European philosophy courses: at least one of
    PHL 318: Power/Justice: Contemporary Critical Philosophies
    PHL 324: Recent European Philosophy
    PHL 346: Existential Problems in Human Life
    PHL 366: Love and Nihilism: European Philosophy Now
  • PHL 490 (senior seminar).

* PHL/CSC 451 can only be used once toward the major.

The remaining nine credits may be chosen freely from the list of PHL courses offered by the department. At least 18 credits of course work used to satisfy major requirements must be at the 300 level or above.