Philosophy Department Undegraduate Papers
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The Dish For instructions about declaring a major, minor or honors, please see the Stanford Registrar's major declaration page.

Below, you can find information about the Undergraduate Major and Minor. For the most current information, please check this year's Stanford Bulletin. (Bulletin info supercedes this info.)

Please contact our Undergraduate Assistant, Sunny Toy, for more information and assistance.

BACHELOR OF ARTS

There are two ways of majoring in philosophy: the General Program and the Special Program in the History and Philosophy of Science. A student completing either of these receives a B.A. degree in Philosophy. There is also a major program offered jointly with the Department of Religious Studies. To declare a major, a student should consult with the Director of Undergraduate Study and see the undergraduate student services administrator to be assigned an adviser and work out a coherent plan. The department strongly urges proficiency in at least one foreign language.

GENERAL PROGRAM

  1. 1. Course requirements, minimum 55 units:
    1. a) preparation for the major: an introductory course (under 100) and 80. (PHIL 80 should normally be taken no later than the first quarter after declaring the major.) Students taking both quarters of the Winter/Spring Philosophy Introduction to the Humanities (IHUM) track can count 5 units toward the introductory Philosophy requirement.
    2. b) the core, 24 additional Philosophy units, as follows:
      1. 1) Logic: one from 50 (formerly 57), 150 (formerly 159), 151 (formerly 160A), 154 (formerly 169)
      2. 2) Philosophy of science: any course from 60, 61, 156, 163-168-168
      3. 3) Moral and political philosophy: one from 170-173
      4. 4) Metaphysics and epistemology: one from 180-189
      5. 5) History of philosophy: 100 and 102 are required of each major
    3. c) one undergraduate philosophy seminar from the 194 series.
    4. d) electives: courses numbered 10 or above, at least 13 units of which must be in courses numbered above 99.
  2. 2. Units for Tutorial, Directed Reading (PHIL 196, 197, 198), The Dualist (PHIL 198), Honors Seminar (PHIL 199), or affiliated courses may not be counted in the 55-unit requirement. No more than 10 units completed with grades of "satisfactory" and/or "credit" may be counted in the 55-unit requirement.
  3. 3. A maximum of 10 transfer units or two courses can be used for the departmental major. In general, transfer courses cannot be used to satisfy the five area requirements or the undergraduate seminar requirement. Students may not substitute transfer units for the PHIL 80 requirement.

SPECIAL PROGRAM IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

Undergraduates may major in Philosophy with a degree field in History and Philosophy of Science under the Department of Philosophy. Each Âparticipating student is assigned an adviser who approves the course of study. A total of 61 units are required for the sub-major, to be taken according to requirements 1 through 5 below. Substitutions for the listed courses are allowed only by written consent of the under-graduate adviser for History and Philosophy of Science. Students are encouraged to consider doing honors work with an emphasis on the history and philosophy of science. Interested students should see the description of the honors thesis in Philosophy and consult their advisers for further information.
  1. Three science courses (for example, biology, chemistry, physics) for 12 units.
  2. The following Philosophy (PHIL) core courses must be completed with a letter grade by the end of the junior year:
    1. one from 50 (formerly 57), 150 (formerly 159), 151 (formerly 160A), 154 (formerly 169)
    2. 60 or 61
    3. 80
  3. Three history of science courses.
  4. Three philosophy of science courses, of which one must be PHIL 164.
  5. Three additional courses related to the major, in philosophy or history, to be agreed on by the adviser.
  6. At least six courses in the major must be completed at Stanford with a letter grade. Units for Tutorial, Directed Reading, or The Dualist (196, 197, 198) may not be counted in the requirement. No more than 10 units completed with grades of "satisfactory" and/or "credit" may be counted in the requirement.
  7. Transfer units must be approved in writing by the Director of Undergraduate Study at the time of declaring a major. Transfer courses are strictly limited when used to satisfy major requirements.

SPECIAL TRACK IN PHILOSOPHICAL AND LITERARY THOUGHT

Undergraduates may major in Philosophy with a special degree field in philosophy and literature. Students in this track take courses alongside students from other major departments which also have specialized tracks associated with the program for the study of philosophical and literary thought, with administrative staff in the DLCL. Each student in this track is assigned an adviser in Philosophy, and studentsÕ schedules and overall course of study must be approved in writing by the adviser, and the Directors of Undergraduate Studies of Philosophy and of the program. Please see the Philosophy and Literature site for details.

MINORS

A minor in Philosophy consists of at least 30 units of Philosophy courses satisfying the following conditions:
  1. IHUM 23A and B (The Fate of Reason) may be counted for a maximum of 5 units.
  2. At least 10 units must be from courses numbered 100 or above.
  3. The 30 units must include one of:
    1. a history of philosophy course numbered 100 or above
    2. two quarters of Area 1 (only 5 of the 10 units can count towards 30-unit requirement)
  4. One course from any two of the following three areas (PHIL):
    1. Philosophy of science and logic: 60, 61, 156, 163-168; 50 (formerly 57), 150 (formerly 159), 151 (formerly 160A), 154 (formerly 169)
    2. Moral and political philosophy: 20, 30, 170-172
    3. Metaphysics and epistemology: 10, 80, 180-189
  5. Units for tutorials, directed reading, and affiliated courses may not be counted.
  6. Transfer units must be approved in writing by the Director of Undergraduate Study at the time of declaring. The number of transfer units is generally limited to a maximum of 10.
  7. No more than 6 units completed with grades of "satisfactory" and/or "credit" count towards the 30-unit requirement. Students must declare their intention to minor in Philosophy in a meeting with the Director of Undergraduate Study. This formal declaration must be made no later than the last day of the quarter two quarters before degree conferral. The Permission to Declare a Philosophy Minor (signed by the Director of Undergraduate Study) lists courses taken and to be taken to fulfill minor requirements. This permission is on file in the department office. Before graduation, a studentÕs record is checked to see that requirements have been fulfilled, and the results are reported to the University Registrar.

HONORS PROGRAM

Students who wish to undertake a more intensive and extensive program of study, including seminars and independent work, are invited to apply for the honors program during Winter Quarter of the junior year. Admission is selective on the basis of demonstrated ability in philosophy, including an average grade of at least ÔA-Õ in a substantial number of philosophy courses and progress towards satisfying the requirements of the major.

With their application, candidates should submit an intended plan of study for the remainder of the junior and the senior years. It should include at least 5 units of Senior Tutorial (196) during Autumn and/or Winter Quarter(s) of the senior year. Students who are applying to Honors College may use the same application for philosophy honors. In the quarter preceding the tutorial, students should submit an essay proposal to the Philosophy undergraduate director and determine an adviser.

Students applying for honors should enroll in Junior Honors Seminar (199) during the Spring Quarter of the junior year.

The length of this essay may vary considerably depending on the problem and the approach; usually it falls somewhere between 7,500 and 12,500 words. The honors essay may use work in previous seminars and courses as a starting point, but it cannot be the same essay that has been used, or is being used, in some other class or seminar. It must be a substantially new and different piece of work reflecting work in the tutorials.

A completed draft of the essay is submitted to the adviser at the end of the Winter Quarter of the senior year. Any further revisions must be finished by the fifth full week of the Spring Quarter, when three copies of the essay are to be given to the undergraduate secretary. The honors essay is graded by the adviser together with a second reader, chosen by the adviser in consultation with the student. The student also provides an oral defense of the thesis at a meeting with the adviser and second reader. The essay must receive a grade of ÔA-Õ or better for the student to receive honors.

The honors tutorials represent units in addition to the 55-unit requirement.

The Department of Philosophy cooperates with the honors component of the ÒInterdisciplinary Studies in HumanitiesÓ as described in that section of this bulletin.

JOINT MAJOR IN PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES

The joint major in Philosophy and Religious Studies consists of 60 units of course work with approximately one third each in the phi-losophy core, the religious studies core, and either the general major or the special concentration. Affiliated courses cannot be used to sat-isfy this requirement.

No courses in either the philosophy or religious studies core may be taken satisfactory/no credit or credit/no credit. In general, transfer units cannot be used to satisfy the core requirements. Transfer units and substitutions must be approved by the direc-tor of undergraduate studies in the appropriate department.

CORE REQUIREMENTS

  1. Philosophy (PHIL) courses:
    1. 80
    2. 16 units, including at least one Philosophy course from each of the following areas:
      1. Logic and philosophy of science: 50 (formerly 57), 60, 61, 150 (formerly 159), 151 (formerly 160A), 154 (formerly 169), 156, 162--168
      2. Ethics and value theory: 170-173
      3. Epistemology, metaphysics, and philosophy of language: 180-189
      4. History of philosophy: 100-103
  2. Religious Studies courses: 20 units, including at least two courses in diverse religious traditions (for example, an Eastern and a Western or a literate and a preliterate tradition) and including at least one seminar. General Major RequirementsÑFive additional courses (approximately 20 units) divided between the two departments. No more than 5 of these units may come from courses numbered under 99 in either department. Each student must also take at least one undergraduate semi-nar in religious studies and one undergraduate seminar in philosophy. Special ConcentrationÑWith the aid of an adviser, students pursue a specialized form of inquiry in which the combined departments have strength; for example, American philosophy and religious thought, philosophical and religious theories of human nature and action, philosophy of religion. Courses for this concentration must be approved in writing by the adviser. Directed Reading and Satisfactory/No Credit UnitsÑUnits of directed reading for fulfilling requirements of the joint major are allowed only with special permission. No more than 10 units of work with a grade of ÔsatisfactoryÕ count toward the joint major.



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