Philosophy Minor

View course descriptions and suggested course sequence.

The Philosophy Minor requires a minimum of 147 semester hours and four philosophy courses in addition to Philosophy 310.

Because philosophy courses can often be used to fulfill a major's requirements in other disciplines, the Philosophy Minor can sometimes be earned by taking only one or two additional courses.

"Philosophy" is not another discipline. Rather, it is rational inquiry into any discipline (e.g., philosophy of psychology, philosophy of history, philosophy of law).

Philosophers seek answers to the basic, fundamental questions that underpin any field of study. In addition to the questions addressed in the core course about how we should live our lives, philosophers also study: Principles of Language and Reasoning (logic); Foundations of Empirical Discovery and Other Ways of Knowing (epistemology); and The Ultimate Underpinnings and Structure of the Self and the World (metaphysics).

Philosophy is an ancient and valuable subdistrict within the vast marketplace of ideas. It is concerned with the most interesting questions in life—the questions that are fundamental and the least easy to answer or avoid. All cadets are required to take a course in ethics, which is the discipline concerned with answering the questions: What is a good act? What sort of person is the best person? What is truly valuable? By what principles should life be led? Obviously, philosophy is not for everyone. It is for those who wish to gain a more thorough understanding of themselves as rational, reflective beings inhabiting and working in a world that sometimes allows us to glimpse its deeper meaning.