The Philosophy Department at Cal Poly offers two programs of study in Philosophy:
Philosophy Major and Philosophy Minor.
Our department also offers a Religious Studies Minor 
.
Visit our Course Offerings page for a list of tentative course offerings in Philosophy for the current academic year.
Tentative course offerings in Religious Studies for the current academic year are listed on the Religious Studies Minor Program web site .
Learning Objectives for PHIL Major Program
The learning objectives of our curriculum in philosophy are as follows:
- Significant critical skill
- Sound command of logic
- Competence at philosophical writing
- Good, general knowledge of the history of philosophy
- Grasp of main currents in contemporary philosophy
- Familiarity with methods of contemporary philosophical inquiry
Philosophy Major
The Philosophy Major consist of 180 units divided into three main elements:
- Required courses (72 units including 20 units of PHIL electives or PHIL concentration courses) listed below.
- Elective courses (40 units)
- General Education (GE) requirement (68 units) including completion of the GWR and USCP requirements.
The program also requires that students maintain a 2.0 GPA and that they take at least
60 units of upper-division courses. Students wishing to major in philosophy are encouraged to consult one of the department's Majors Advisors:
Prof. D. Kenneth Brown or Prof. Joe Lynch.
For a description of all philosophy courses, please consult your course catalogue or the current
on-line course catalogue .
For a complete list of GE requirements, please consult your course catalogue or the GE Web Site .
| Course Prefix | Course Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 101 | Introduction to Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 225 | Symbolic Logic | 4 |
| PHIL 230 | Philosophical Classics: Metaphysics and Epistemology | 4 |
| PHIL 231 | Philosophical Classics: Ethics and Political Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 321 | Philosophy of Science | 4 |
| PHIL 331 | Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 411 | Metaphysics | 4 |
| PHIL 412 | Epistemology | 4 |
| PHIL 460 | Senior Project I | 2 |
| PHIL 461 | Senior Project II | 2 | History of philosophy electives: select four from the following seven |
| PHIL 311 | Greek Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 312 | Medieval Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 313 | Early Modern Rationalism | 4 |
| PHIL 314 | Early Modern Empiricism | 4 |
| PHIL 315 | Kant and 19th Century European Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 316 | 20th Century European Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 317 | History of Analytic Philosophy | 4 |
The remaining units of required courses for the Philosophy Major are composed of either 20 units of 300-400 level PHIL electives (at least 12 units must be 400 level) or 20 units selected from the Ethics and Society Concentration table below.
| Course Prefix | Course Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 322 | Philosophy of Technology | 4 |
| PHIL 332 | History of Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 333 | Political Philosophy | 4 |
| PHIL 334 | Philosophy of Law | 4 |
| PHIL 335 | Social Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 336 | Feminist Ethics, Gender, and Society | 4 |
| PHIL 337 | Business Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 338 | Ethics and Education | 4 |
| PHIL 339 | Biomedical Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 340 | Environmental Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 341 | Professional Ethics | 4 |
| PHIL 439 | Selected Problems in Ethics and Political Philosophy | 4 |
Philosophy Minor
The minor program in Philosophy is designed for students who want to add to their education an understanding of the history of philosophy and of philosophical issues relevant to their major field of study. It consists of 24 units (12 specified, 12 chosen from an approved list). Interested students are invited to contact the Philosophy Department for more information and application forms.
Students wishing to minor in Philosophy are strongly encouraged to consult one of the Philosophy Minor Advisors: Prof. D. Kenneth Brown or Prof. Joe Lynch.
| Course Prefix | Course Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 101 | Introduction to Philosophy | 4 |
| Select one of the following: | |
|
| PHIL 230 | Philosophical Classics: Metaphysics and Epistemology (C2) | 4 |
| PHIL 231 | Philosophical Classics: Ethics and Political Philosophy (C2) | 4 |
To complete the electives requirement (8 units), students should select two courses from the following table:
| Course Prefix | Course Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 311 | Greek Philosophy (C4) | 4 |
| PHIL 312 | Medieval Philosophy (C4) | 4 |
| PHIL 313 | Early Modern Rationalism (C4) | 4 |
| PHIL 314 | Early Modern Empiricism (C4) | 4 |
| PHIL 315 | Kant and 19th Century European Philosophy (C4) | 4 |
Finally, additional courses (8 units) may be chosen from PHIL 225 or any upper-division Philosophy course.
