About the Program

The Philosophy Major at Buffalo State is built around four guiding principles designed to make you a more versatile professional, a more valuable employee, and a more successful person throughout your life. Each of them can be found in every course we offer, but some of them are especially prominent in particular courses. As a philosophy major, you’ll learn to:

*Comprehend texts, particularly philosophical texts.
*Understand and clearly articulate concepts, particularly “fundamental and powerful concepts” (e.g., truth, knowledge, justification, evidence, respect, justice, good, right, value, argument, reason, validity, soundness).
*Form, evaluate, justify, defend, and apply positions on complicated, everyday issues in written and oral form.
*Prioritize wisdom over trivialities
-Appreciate the importance of truth to rational inquiry.
-Recognize the conceptions and perspectives of others and their foundations.
-Accept and apply critical feedback on philosophical work.

Major Requirements
The major is 30 credits in total. For each of the principles above, you must successfully complete a course that puts special emphasis on that principle. Since logical reasoning is at the core of everything we do, you are also required to successfully complete one of the logic courses. Finally, a seminar course will help to polish the skills you’ve learned throughout your study and bring it all together before you graduate.

About the Philosophy Department

B221 Buckham Hall
1300 Elmwood Ave
Buffalo, NY 14222
Phone: (716) 878-5136
Fax: (716) 878-4697
https://philosophy.buffalostate.edu/

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

1. comprehend texts, particularly philosophical texts.
2. understand and clearly articulate “fundamental and powerful concepts” (e.g., truth, knowledge, justification, evidence, respect, justice, good, right, value, argument, reason, validity, soundness).
3. evaluate, justify, defend, and apply positions on complicated, everyday issues in written and oral form.
4. recognize the conceptions and perspectives of others and their foundations.
5. accept and apply critical feedback on philosophical work.

Program Requirements

General Education 23 Requirements
33 credit hours 33

Philosophy Major Requirements (30 credit hours)

Required Courses (18 credit hours)
PHI 103 INTRODUCTION TO LOGIC 3
or PHI 107 INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
PHI 304 PHILOSOPHY OF LAW 3
PHI 309 KNOWLEDGE AND JUSTIFICATION 3
PHI 324 ZEN BUDDHISM 3
or PHI 360 AFRICANA PHILOSOPHY
PHI 335 GOD AND RELIGION 3
or PHI 351 ETHICS BOWL
PHI 401 PROBLEMS IN PHILOSOPHY SEMINAR 3
or PHI 402 SEMINAR IN HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

Electives (12 credit hours)
Select four from the following: 12
PHI 101 INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY
PHI 102 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
PHI 110 THE MEANING OF LIFE
PHI 111 ETHICS FOR SCIENTISTS
PHI 112 ETHICS FOR BUSINESS
PHI 113 ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
PHI 115 MINDS AND MACHINES
PHI 189 TOPIC COURSE (1-3)
PHI 221 PHILOSOPHY AND YOGA
PHI 295 SPECIAL PROJECT (1-3)
PHI 300 PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY
PHI 301 JUSTICE: LIBERTY VS. EQUALITY
PHI 307 SYMBOLIC LOGIC
PHI 308 PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE AND SEX
PHI 310 HISTORY OF ETHICS
PHI 312 PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
PHI 314 RIGHTS AND RESPECT
PHI 333 PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
PHI 361 RACE AND PROGRESS
PHI 389 TOPIC COURSE
PHI 495 SPECIAL PROJECT (1-3)
PHI 499 INDEPENDENT STUDY (3-12)

All College Electives
57 credit hours 57
Total Credit Hours 120