Philosophy sharpens your mind, expands your imagination and deepens your understanding of our culture and its history.

Don’t let anyone tell you that studying philosophy is not practical! Philosophy majors outperform most other majors on the standardized tests for Law School, Business School and Graduate Studies. And they succeed in diverse careers, including law, business, government, finance and consulting, the arts, journalism, non-profit work, teaching, medicine and more.

1. Be employable, study philosophy (Salon.com, 2013)
2. Robert Rubin: Philosophy Prepared Me for a Career in Finance and Government (NY Times, 2018)
3. The Unexpected Way Philosophy Majors Are Changing The World Of Business (Huffington Post, 2017)
4. Legendary hedge fund investor attributes his success to studying philosophy (CNBC.com, 2018)

Philosophy also enhances and complements other fields of study. Many of our majors combine Philosophy with a major or minor in another discipline, such as Biology, Engineering, Economics, History, Political Science, Business, Information Studies, Advertising, Art, English and more.

Philosophy majors are welcome and encouraged to participate in our Visiting Speakers events and to join our Undergraduate Philosophy Club.

Students wishing to discuss the Philosophy major should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Michael Rieppel.

The Philosophy major requires 30 credit hours in philosophy, at least 24 credits of which are numbered 300 or above. Only courses in which a student receives a grade of at least C count towards the major. Each student must fulfill the following requirements:

• Logic: PHI 251
• Philosophy Majors' Seminar: PHI 401
• Area requirements in (a) History of Philosophy (2 courses); (b) Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic (1 course); (c) Value Theory (1 course). See below for details.
• (a) History of Philosophy: at least two of the following:
  • PHI 307 - Ancient Philosophy
  • PHI 308 - Classical Islamic Philosophy
  • PHI 311 - The Rationalists
  • PHI 313 - British Philosophy
  • PHI 317 - Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition and its Critics
  • PHI 391 - History of Ethics
  • PHI 418 - Hegel, Marx, and Nietzsche
  • PHI 510 - Topics in Ancient Philosophy
  • Other appropriate course approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies
• (b) Metaphysics, Epistemology, Mind, Language, and Logic: At least one of the following:
  • PHI 321 - Twentieth Century Theories of Knowledge, Reality, and Meaning
  • PHI 373 - Introduction to the Philosophy of Science
  • PHI 375 - Philosophy of Biology:What Can Evolution Explain?
  • PHI 376 - Philosophy of Mind
  • PHI 377 - Philosophy of Psychology
  • PHI 378 - Minds and Machines
  • PHI 381 - Metaphysics
  • PHI 383 - Free Will
  • PHI 385 - Personal Identity
  • PHI 387 - Epistemology
  • PHI 451 - Logic and Language
  • PHI 551 - Mathematical Logic
  • PHI 552 - Modal Logic
  • PHI 555 - Philosophy of Mathematics
  • PHI 565 - Philosophy of Language
  • PHI 573 - Philosophy of Physical Science
  • PHI 575 - Philosophy of Social Science
  • PHI 576 - Philosophy of Mind
  • Other appropriate course approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies
• (c) Value Theory: At least one of the following:
  • PHI 317 - Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition and its Critics
  • PHI 379 - American Slavery and the Holocaust
  • PHI 391 - History of Ethics
  • PHI 393 - Contemporary Ethics
  • PHI 394 - Environmental Ethics
  • PHI 395 - Philosophy of Art
  • PHI 396 - Stem Cells and Society
  • PHI 397 - Philosophy of Law
  • PHI 398 - Medical Ethics
  • PHI 417 - Contemporary Political Philosophy
  • PHI 493 - Contemporary Ethical Issues
  • PHI 593 - Ethics and the Health professions
  • Other appropriate course approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies

Students wishing to discuss the Philosophy major should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Michael Rieppel.

Philosophy majors at Syracuse University will learn how to:

[General skills]

1. Distill the central argument of a text to its essentials, making clear its basic argumentative structure. Interpret charitably in order to understand a view in its most cogent form before subjecting it to criticism.
2. Explain and defend a philosophical thesis in writing that is clear, concise, informed and well-organized. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of rival arguments and theories to reach an overall assessment of the comparative merits of different views.
3. Orally present their own arguments and engage in constructive debate.
4. Conduct independent research on a philosophical topic by finding, assessing, and employing relevant literature, culminating in a written argumentative work.

[Skills relating to specific Major requirements]

1. Represent arguments using a formal logical framework and determine their validity by deductive methods. [Logic requirement]
2. Apply contextualist and analytic methods to interpret historically significant answers to the following kinds of questions: What am I? How should I live? What is justice? What is knowledge? What is real? Does God exist? Am I free? [History requirement]
3. Understand the impact of the history of philosophy on current views of human nature, well-being and morality, justice, knowledge, reality, and freedom. Boldly and effectively question traditional answers to enduring questions. [History requirement]
4. Explain the content of some contemporary philosophical answers to questions in value theory. Relevant questions include, but are not limited to: How should I treat others? What is justice? What is equality? What is it to be morally responsible? What is beauty? [Value theory requirement]
5. Apply the critical tools of philosophical analysis, both orally and in writing, to boldly and effectively question prevailing social norms, hierarchies of power, or other traditional or current assumptions and theories about value. [Value theory requirement]
6. Explain the content of some contemporary philosophical answers to questions in LEMM (Philosophy of Language, Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Philosophy of Mind). Relevant questions include, but are not limited to: How is it that we are able to communicate and coordinate with each other using language? What is it to know or have justified beliefs about the world around us, rather than baseless or false opinions? What exists and what is the fundamental nature of reality? What are conscious minds and how do they relate to the physical bodies that sustain them? [LEMM requirement]
7. Apply the critical tools of philosophical analysis, both orally and in writing, to boldly and effectively criticize prevailing answers to, and common assumptions regarding, the world and our relation to it. [LEMM requirement]