Philosophy Major
Philosophy majors must complete a minimum of ten philosophy courses. Courses fulfilling the period and area requirements are listed below.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Common Core Curriculum | ||
| PHIL 1000 | Philosophy of Human Nature 1 | |
| PHIL 3000 | Philosophical Ethics 2 | |
| Historical and Topical Courses 3 | ||
| Option A: | ||
One course in each of three of the four historical periods | ||
One course in each of two of the four topical areas | ||
| Option B: | ||
One course in each of two of the four historical periods | ||
One course in each of three of the four topical areas | ||
| Elective courses | ||
| Three additional courses | ||
- 1
For Fordham College at Rose Hill Honors Program students, HPRH 1103 Foundational Texts: Philosophy fulfills the Philosophy of Human Nature requirement.
- 2
For Fordham College at Rose Hill Honors Program students, HPRH 2202 Focused Study: Philosophy fulfills the Philosophical Ethics requirement.
- 3
Any course with the PHIL subject code or PHIL attribute (including EP4, Interdisciplinary capstone courses, American Pluralism, and Global Studies) may fulfill the elective requirement. Graduate-level courses with the PHIL subject code may also count as electives, though special approval to register for such courses may be required.
All majors are strongly encouraged to acquire a broad background in the history of philosophy and to take at least one course in logic. Majors planning to do graduate work are advised to take Symbolic Logic.
To declare a major in philosophy, students should contact the associate chair on the relevant campus, who will also assign a faculty adviser to the student from within the department to assist with program planning.
Historical period courses
Courses are offered across four historical periods: (1) ancient; (2) medieval; (3) classical modern and 19th-century; and (4) contemporary, which is 20th- and 21st-century.
Ancient Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PHAN attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GREK 3012 | Plato: Socratic Dialogues | 4 |
| PHIL 3501 | Ancient Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3502 | Pre-Socratic Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3504 | Stoics and Skeptics | 4 |
| PHIL 3520 | Philosophy of Aristotle | 4 |
| PHIL 3522 | Aristotle's Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 3525 | Philosophy of Plato | 4 |
| PHIL 3526 | Plato: The Unread Dialogues | 4 |
| PHIL 3530 | Philosophy After Constantine | 4 |
Medieval Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PHMD attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MVST 3552 | Medieval Philosophy | 4 |
| MVST 3590 | Medieval Political Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3552 | Medieval Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3557 | Confessions of Augustine | 4 |
| PHIL 3560 | Philosophy of Aquinas | 4 |
| PHIL 3565 | Four Medieval Thinkers | 4 |
| PHIL 3570 | Beauty in the Middle Ages | 4 |
| PHIL 3591 | Medieval Political Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3910 | Shakespeare and Aquinas | 4 |
Classical Modern and 19th Century Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PHCM attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 3600 | Descartes and the Rationalists | 4 |
| PHIL 3601 | Modern Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3604 | Rationalists and Empiricists Epistemologies | 4 |
| PHIL 3606 | Early Modern Philosophy: Self and World | 4 |
| PHIL 3609 | Modernity and Its Critics | 4 |
| PHIL 3610 | Ethics in the Enlightenment | 4 |
| PHIL 3620 | Immanuel Kant | 4 |
| PHIL 3622 | Kierkegaard | 4 |
| PHIL 3623 | Marx as a Philosopher | 4 |
| PHIL 3630 | Nietzsche | 4 |
| PHIL 3631 | 19th Century Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3714 | Kant and Hegel | 4 |
| PHIL 3715 | Kant on Morality and Religion | 4 |
| PHIL 3716 | Hegel and His Successors | 4 |
Contemporary Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PHCO attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| COLI 3652 | Contemporary French Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3643 | Heidegger: Being and Time | 4 |
| PHIL 3652 | Contemporary French Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3653 | Latin American Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3661 | Husserl and Heidegger | 4 |
| PHIL 3662 | Merleau-Ponty: Philosopher of the Body | 4 |
| PHIL 3664 | Contemporary Thomism | 4 |
| PHIL 3670 | Existentialism | 4 |
| PHIL 3671 | Phenomenology and Existentialism | 4 |
| PHIL 3672 | Continental Philosophy of Religion | 4 |
| PHIL 3673 | Existentialism and Literature | 4 |
| PHIL 3865 | Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School | 4 |
| PHIL 3907 | Existentialist Feminism | 4 |
Topical Area courses
Courses are offered across four topical areas: metaphysics; knowledge and method; human nature; moral political, and social philosophy.
Metaphysics courses
Courses in this group have the PHME attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 3238 | Idealism and Realism | 4 |
| PHIL 3245 | Mind, Language, and World | 4 |
| PHIL 3301 | Problem of God | 4 |
| PHIL 3330 | Philosophy of Religion | 4 |
| PHIL 3348 | Concepts and Reality | 4 |
| PHIL 3350 | Problems in Metaphysics | 4 |
| PHIL 3354 | Problem of Evil | 4 |
| PHIL 3355 | Metaphysics | 4 |
| PHIL 3360 | Contemporary Metaphysics | 4 |
| PHIL 3667 | Philosophy of Space and Time | 4 |
| PHIL 3753 | Philosophy of the Islamic World | 4 |
Knowledge and Method courses
Courses in this group have the PHKM attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 3200 | Introduction to Logic | 4 |
| PHIL 3204 | Symbolic Logic | 4 |
| PHIL 3230 | How to Keep an Open Mind: Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives | 4 |
| PHIL 3235 | Theories of Knowledge | 4 |
| PHIL 3243 | Philosophy of Cognitive Science | 4 |
| PHIL 3250 | Problems in Epistemology | 4 |
| PHIL 3253 | Relativism and Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3254 | Philosophy of Perception | 4 |
| PHIL 3257 | Skepticism | 4 |
| PHIL 3258 | Relativism and Skepticism | 4 |
| PHIL 3266 | Philosophy of Science | 4 |
| PHIL 3267 | Feyerabend’s Philosophy of Science | 4 |
| PHIL 3306 | Faith After the Death of God | 4 |
| PHIL 3307 | Faith and Rationality | 4 |
| PHIL 3655 | Philosophy and Language | 4 |
| PHIL 3663 | Philosophies of Translation | 4 |
| PHIL 3702 | Rights, Justice, and Global Governance | 4 |
| PHIL 3850 | Hermeneutics | 4 |
| PHIL 3947 | Philosophy of Imagination | 4 |
Meaning and Human Experience courses
Courses in this group have the PHHN attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 3181 | Philosophy of Technology | 4 |
| PHIL 3412 | Philosophy of Emotions | 4 |
| PHIL 3422 | Harry Potter and Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3425 | Philosophy and the Jesuit Tradition | 4 |
| PHIL 3559 | Dante and Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3672 | Continental Philosophy of Religion | 4 |
| PHIL 3674 | Philosophy of the Novel | 4 |
| PHIL 3725 | Philosophies of Race | 4 |
| PHIL 3731 | Philosophy of the City | 4 |
| PHIL 3901 | Philosophical Issues of Feminism | 4 |
| PHIL 3903 | Philosophy and Feminist Theory | 4 |
| PHIL 3905 | Philosophy of Disability | 4 |
| PHIL 3906 | Emotions and the Good Life | 4 |
| PHIL 3908 | Philosophy of Happiness | 4 |
| PHIL 3920 | Evil Choices | 4 |
| PHIL 3930 | Philosophy and Literature | 4 |
| PHIL 3943 | Philosophy and Science Fiction | 4 |
| PHIL 3944 | Philosophy and Poetry | 4 |
| PHIL 3945 | Philosophy and Art | 4 |
| PHIL 3975 | Philosophy as a Way of Life | 4 |
| PHIL 3977 | Love, Emotion, and Meaning | 4 |
| PHIL 3978 | Philosophy and Digital Media | 4 |
| PHIL 3979 | Philosophy and Media | 4 |
Moral, Political, and Social Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PHMP attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MAND 3035 | Confucius and the Analects | 4 |
| PHIL 3109 | Environmental Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 3125 | Hume's Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 3130 | Philosophy of Law | 4 |
| PHIL 3131 | Philosophy of Economics | 4 |
| PHIL 3140 | Market Failures, Public Goods, and Justice | 4 |
| PHIL 3145 | Democracy and Constitutional Order: Classical American Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3195 | Political Libertarians and Critics | 4 |
| PHIL 3310 | Issues in Philosophy of Law | 4 |
| PHIL 3701 | Human Rights Theories: Foundations and History | 4 |
| PHIL 3703 | The Notion of Human Dignity: Meaning and Justification | 4 |
| PHIL 3710 | Healthcare Justice | 4 |
| PHIL 3711 | Humanitarianism and Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3712 | Global Environment and Justice | 4 |
| PHIL 3713 | Human Rights and Global Justice | 4 |
| PHIL 3810 | Democratic Theory | 4 |
| PHIL 3815 | Political Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3904 | Feminist Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 3935 | Ethics and Mental Health | 4 |
| PHIL 3940 | Neuroethics | 4 |
| PHIL 3980 | Contemporary Issues in Metaethics | 4 |
| PHIL 3981 | Ethics and the Internet | 4 |
| PHIL 3990 | Environmental Worldviews and Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 4001 | Politics and Biopower | 4 |
| PHIL 4044 | Modern Ethical Theories | 4 |
Availability
The major in philosophy is available at Fordham College at Rose Hill, Fordham College at Lincoln Center, and Fordham's School of Professional and Continuing Studies at Rose Hill and Lincoln Center.
Fordham College at Rose Hill students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the Core Curriculum.
Fordham College at Lincoln Center students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the Core Curriculum.
Professional and Continuing Studies students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the PCS Core Curriculum and any additional electives that may be required to earn a minimum of 124 credits.
CIP Code
38.0101 - Philosophy.
You can use the CIP code to learn more about career paths associated with this field of study and, for international students, possible post-graduation visa extensions. Learn more about CIP codes and other information resources.