Department of Philosophy of the University of Florida
http://www.phil.ufl.edu

The Philosophy Handbook for Majors and Minors

1. The Nature and Uses of Philosophy.

1.1. Philosophy as a subject.

Philosophy is an ancient subject. Important philosophical traditions arose in all of the major civilizations of the ancient world, from China, to India, the Near and Middle East, and the early civilizations of the Mediterranean basin. The philosophical tradition specifically in the West is traced by most scholars back to the first attempts by the ancient Greeks around 600 B.C. to provide a comprehensive account of the origin and nature of the world based on observation and reasoning. From a consideration of the nature and origin of the world, attention soon turned to human beings and their place in nature, and to the relation of people to each other. These two broad concerns, central to all philosophical traditions, still characterize philosophy today.

The word ‘philosophy’ is derived from the combination of the ancient Greek ‘philos’, which means ‘love’, and ‘sophia’, which means ‘wisdom’. In its broadest and original use, ‘philosophy’ means the systematic study of the world and our place in it. This may today sound like the project that many people associate with science, and, indeed, in some places the dividing line between philosophy as a contemporary discipline and science becomes unclear. But they are still quite distinct disciplines, as anyone who has done a bit of both will readily recognize. However, originally there was literally no line at all between the two: science and philosophy began at the same time and sprang from the same source, the desire for a unified account of the whole of the world based on reason. This is reflected in the history of the term ‘philosophy’. Even up to the end of the 19th century, what we now call ‘natural science’ was known as ‘natural philosophy’; the rest of philosophy, traditionally conceived, was divided into ‘moral philosophy’, dealing with human beings and human action, and ‘metaphysical philosophy’, dealing with the ultimate origins and principles of explanation of things. This is also reflected in the title of the highest academic degrees offered at universities, the Ph.D., or Doctor of Philosophy. (The term ‘science’, too, until recently, was used more commonly in a broader sense than today; from the Latin ‘scientia’, the state of having knowledge, it was widely used to mean simply ‘knowledge’ or, more specifically, ‘a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study’.)

The terminological division between science and philosophy, then, has been recent. However, there have always been at least two different kinds of activities pursued in attempts to provide a unified account of the world and our place in it. Both of these activities have been present from the very beginning, though they have not always been clearly identified and distinguished. On the one hand, some things, very general things, usually, which we can say about the nature of the world, are (relatively) a priori in character (before experience). What this means is that, by and large, we don’t have to investigate the world very much, if at all, to discover that these things are true. For example, no investigation of the world is required to know the truth of fundamental principles of logic, such as the law of the excluded middle, that for any proposition p, either p is the case or it is not the case. Similarly, many people would accept a priori that it is wrong to cause harm needlessly, and that for every right someone has, there is a correlative duty. On the other hand, there are many other things we can know about the world only by observing it and perhaps formulating theories about what we observe to explain it. Such knowledge is called ‘a posteriori’ (after experience). For example, we can know the number of the planets only a posteriori. Likewise, we can know the number and natures of elementary particles, if at all, only a posteriori. This distinction allows us to give a rough characterization of the distinction between philosophy and science, as that is understood today: philosophy, by and large, is concerned with what can be known relatively a priori; science with what can be known only at least in part a posteriori. Science, even in its most abstract theoretical reaches in physics, rests ultimately on observation and experiment. Philosophy, even in its least theoretical aspects, is concerned with what can be known largely through a consideration of how our concepts structure our thinking about the world, and, if the world is a way that we can think about, with the correlative structure of the world itself.

It should be noted that this distinction between a priori and a posteriori knowledge is itself the subject of philosophical investigation. (It belongs to a field of philosophy known as ‘epistemology’ or ‘the theory of knowledge’.) It should be thought of here only as a rough way of characterizing the distinction between philosophy and other disciplines. There are (at least) two reasons for this. First, there are a variety of theoretical characterizations of the distinction, and many philosophers regard the distinction as better thought of as a matter of degree than a strict dichotomy. Second, while philosophy is characteristically general and is not an experimental subject, it is also not indifferent to empirical knowledge. Many areas of applied philosophy, e.g., rely heavily on empirical knowledge, and even general philosophical systems may have a variety of clearly empirical assumptions at their foundation, assumptions, for example, about human nature and its limitations.

Even apart from these qualifications, the distinction between relatively a priori and relatively a posteriori disciplines is not enough by itself enough to capture what distinguishes philosophy from other intellectual disciplines. For instance, mathematics is also a highly a priori discipline, but is not philosophical in character (though philosophical questions arise in considering the foundations of mathematics, which is also a concern of the field of philosophy known as the philosophy of mathematics). And it would also be a mistake to suppose that a priori questions of the sort which philosophy often seeks to answer are not also sometimes of crucial importance in empirical science. For example, one of the greatest theoretical advances in physics, special relativity, was accomplished by Einstein’s careful analysis of the concept of simultaneity. Philosophy is also distinguished by the kinds of relatively a priori questions it raises. Philosophical questions and problems arise when we investigate various fundamental categories of human activity and thought at the deepest level possible. We can say that philosophical questions are framework questions, in the sense that they are questions that arise about the framework of our thought about one or another fundamental area of human investigation.

Philosophy has also given rise historically to global and comprehensive accounts of the nature of the world and of the relation of human beings to it. Comprehensive philosophical systems are a natural outcome of the desire at once to exhibit the universe as ultimately intelligible and to carry out the investigation at the most general and fundamental level possible. System building on this grand scale was once the central activity of philosophy. In this more skeptical age, it is not as widely pursued as it used to be. But it tends to remain the sole province of philosophy, since other intellectual disciplines define themselves by how they limit their object of study.

These general remarks provide at best a framework for thinking about philosophy. The best way to get a real sense of the nature of philosophy is to consider some examples of the sort of questions that philosophers have attempted to answer. Many of these questions are both ordinary, and pressing questions, and ones which are deceptively simple. A question which every person faces is, ‘How ought I to live?’ This has been said to be the most fundamental question of ethics (from the Greek ethos, ‘character’). Since this question is not about the sort of life one does live, or even the sorts of lives most people live, it cannot be answered by describing the way one actually lives or the way others live or have lived. An answer to the question ‘How ought I to live?’ is intended to help one to guide one’s life; what we want in answer to it is a prescription, a model, or a norm or ideal to which we can compare our lives, and on the basis of which we can modify our lives to bring them into accordance with the ideal we hold up to ourselves. For this reason, this is called a ‘normative question’. A full answer to the question ‘How ought I to live?’ will involve a system of normative principles which govern one’s reasoning about what to do in various circumstances. In attempting to answer this question, philosophers have also been led to raise questions about many of the central concepts involved in practical reasoning, such as those of good, right, duty, obligation, virtue, rationality and choice, as well as second-order questions about the objectivity or subjectivity of claims made using these concepts, and whether the truth of such claims is relative to cultures or social systems, as well as questions about the extent to which we are in a position to offer well-grounded answers to normative questions.

Another, connected, traditional question of philosophy is whether our actions can be considered to be free or not. This is traditionally called ‘the problem of freedom of the will’. When a leaf falls from a tree, the time of its fall, the path it takes, and the place it comes to rest, are determined (so far as they are at all) by the laws of nature and the particular conditions present in the leaf’s environment. It does not choose to fall, and if it did, its choice would make no difference to its movements. Let us say someone moves her hand in a gesture of farewell. What distinguishes this movement from the movement of the leaf? What makes the gesture an expression of agency? What, if anything, makes it free? Is it required that she could have refrained from the gesture? If so, how could this requirement be met compatibly with recognizing ourselves as natural objects just as much subject to the reign of natural law as the leaf? And if our actions are not free, can we make sense of our practices of assigning praise and blame?

These questions illustrate some of the most important philosophical questions that arise from reflection on our nature as agents. Similarly fundamental philosophical questions arise in other areas of inquiry, and at the meta-level of theorizing about the nature of rational inquiry itself. Here are a number of examples which illustrate the broad range of philosophical questions. Consider first a subfield in the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of space and time. One of the most difficult questions is one of the most simply stated: What is time? Do points of time exist, or is this merely a convenient way of speaking? Do three-dimensional objects endure through time, or is this an illusion, and are all objects, rather, contrary to common sense, actually four-dimensional objects? Can this latter view be reconciled with our ordinary ways of thinking about ourselves and the things we interact with? Turning to the philosophy of mind, what makes some states and events mental states and events? How is it possible to think about the most distant objects in the universe, or the future or the past, or merely possible things, like a unicorn or a winged horse? How can a physical object, constructed of bone and flesh and sinew, and ultimately out of elementary particles, be conscious? In the philosophy of language: what makes the sounds one utters when one asks a question, or makes a statement, mean something, and mean what they do in particular? What distinguishes language from other sorts of organized social activity; what distinguishes speech from the dance of a bee that directs members of its hive to the location of nectar? In metaphysics: what is the nature of causation? When does one event cause another? What are the fundamental categories into which things fall (what is the correct ontology)? Are there events, as well as objects, are there states of affairs and facts? Are some kinds of things more logically fundamental than others? Aesthetics: what makes a thing beautiful? What makes something a work of art? Why is it important, if it is? Are judgements of artistic value objective? What is the relation between art and emotion? Epistemology: what is knowledge? What are we justified in believing? How do we know things about our own minds, the world around us, the past, the future, and the minds of others? Can there be a rational and objective ground for belief at all? In the philosophy of culture: what is our status as social beings? How are our most fundamental features affected or determined by our social and cultural environments? Is it possible to achieve a culture independent perspective on the nature of our natural and social environments?

It is characteristic of philosophy also, as some of these questions suggest and as noted above, that the nature of philosophy itself, its methodology, and the existence and intelligibility of the special kind of knowledge, a priori knowledge, which traditionally has been seen as the result of philosophical inquiry, are themselves subjects for philosophical inquiry and criticism. Philosophy is a peculiarly self-critical enterprise. While philosophy has traditionally presented its results as timeless truths, there has always been a skeptical strain in philosophy as well, which doubts the pretensions of philosophy to provide us with timeless, absolute truths. Both in ancient times, and since, some philosophers have wondered whether the ideal of philosophy is not simply an empty hope. Recently, some traditional philosophy has come under attack as presenting as timeless truths what were in fact theories and principles which, dressed up in the garb of reason, served merely to perpetuate contemporary social or power structures. (This, of course, is not to say that there are not a priori truths, but rather that the label ‘a priori’ has been abused.) However, that philosophy is in this way a self-critical enterprise, far from indicating any fundamental weakness, is in fact one of its strengths, since it is only by such continual reexamination of the most fundamental assumptions we make in inquiry that we can ultimately satisfy ourselves about its soundness (if, indeed, this is possible).

From the list of questions above, and from our earlier remarks, it is clear that philosophy is not characterized by its subject matter. Its subject matter is everything. It is rather characterized by the kinds of questions which it raises and attempts to answer. It is concerned with the most general theoretical questions that can be raised about any subject. That is why for any fundamental domain of human inquiry there is a philosophy of that subject. The most general questions are those that have to be settled (largely) prior to empirical investigation, because they are instrumental in fixing the subject matter of empirical investigation and the framework within which it takes place. Furthermore, there seem to be some subject matters the proper method of inquiry into which is necessarily* a priori*. Normative questions, as we have seen, seem to be of this sort, because of the independence of their answers from how people actually live or behave.

1.2 Areas of philosophy. Top | Prev | Next

The main traditional areas of philosophy are ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, logic, and the history of philosophy. Ethics is the study of practical reasoning and the normative questions which it gives rise to, as we have seen above. Branches of ethics are political and social philosophy. Existentialism also falls within the domain of ethics. Among other important branches of ethics is applied ethics, which includes bio-ethics, biomedical ethics, business ethics, and environmental ethics, among others. Epistemology is the study of knowledge and justification, and of the family of concepts which are involved in our assessing claims to knowledge or justified belief. ‘Metaphysics’ (literally ‘after’ + ‘physics’) was originally the title of those books in the collection of Aristotle’s works that came after the Physics. (Note: what you find in a non-academic bookstore under the label ‘metaphysics’ is usually not metaphysics in the academic sense at all.) In its most general use, ‘metaphysics’ covers any inquiry that raises questions about reality that lie behind or beyond those science is capable of answering. In this sense, ‘metaphysics’ and ‘philosophy’, as characterized above, are pretty much synonymous. However, more narrowly, metaphysics is usually taken to comprise mostly questions about ontology (i.e., about what there is, what things exist), and about a set of basic concepts such as those of existence, truth, causation, time, thought, substance, property, and the like. Metaphysics is also the traditional location of comprehensive philosophical systems, such as those of Spinoza, Leibniz, or Hegel. Logic is a branch of epistemology which deals with valid arguments, either inductive or deductive, particularly with respect to the forms of such arguments. It plays an important methodological role in philosophy, since philosophy is in part concerned with how much argument can establish a priori. In this century, the importance of logic in philosophy, especially formal logic, has grown greatly. The benefit of this is that it has facilitated the precise expression of both philosophical problems and of proffered solutions. But this has also had the disadvantage of putting much philosophical research beyond the reach of the general public, contributing to the (mistaken) perception that academic philosophy has lost touch with the big questions of philosophy and is irrelevant to the lives of most people. The history of philosophy, the last major traditional area in our list, bears a special relation to philosophy which the history of most disciplines do not bear to their current practice. It is not merely that studying the work of great philosophers in the past is valuable as history, or as the history of ideas, but that a proper and deep understanding of the history of philosophy is necessary for an adequate appreciation and understanding of contemporary philosophy–and because, in part due to the nature of philosophical inquiry, there is much that the great philosophers of the past still have to offer in our continuing attempts to grapple with some of the great unsolved problems of philosophy.

These traditional areas of philosophy are supplemented by a number of additional areas of intense study in philosophy centered around philosophical questions that arise about one or another fundamental aspect of human activity. A partial list includes the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of action, decision theory, the philosophy of language, philosophical logic, aesthetics, the philosophy of culture, feminism, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of science and its subdisciplines, such as the philosophy of the natural sciences, which includes the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of biology, and the philosophy of the social sciences, which includes the philosophy of history, the philosophy of psychology, and, a recent addition, the philosophy of economics, and the study of the philosophical thought and systems of other cultures–e.g., ancient civilizations such as those of India and China, traditional societies such those of the Amerindians, and contemporary cultural and social systems such as those of Latin America. It should be emphasized that despite the division of philosophy into these different fields, it is almost impossible to undertake the investigation of any philosophical problem or question without having to raise and address questions in other fields of philosophy. Thus, for example, in considering questions that arise in ethics, one is often led to questions in the philosophy of mind, action, and language, all of which raise fundamental questions about our natures as rational agents. In addition to these subject areas, particular historical figures are subjects of intense study, such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Russell, Husserl, Moore, Wittgenstein, Unamuno, Heidegger, Sartre, and many other major figures. Likewise, more recent philosophical traditions are often subjects of study in their own right, notably the 20th century traditions in continental and analytic philosophy.

This list of areas of philosophical study is not exhaustive or static. The core disciplines of philosophy are unlikely to shift, but philosophical inquiry is responsive and responsible to the society and culture in which it takes place. For example, new technologies can give rise to new areas of applied philosophy. Bioethics is a relatively recent field of applied ethics which has arisen specifically in response to developments in biotechnology which enable people to manipulate the biological features of organisms to a hitherto unprecedented degree. Similarly, philosophical inquiry has responded to practical social and political problems which have given rise to questions relating to gender, race, international relations, and differing cultural traditions. Many of these new areas of philosophy are represented in courses offered in philosophy at the University of Florida.

1.3 The uses of philosophy. Top | Prev | Next

Philosophy is one of the core liberal arts disciplines. The value and importance of the study of philosophy lies in the first instance in the habits of thought it inculcates, the breadth of vision it encourages, and the perspective it gives us on ourselves, our activities, and our lives among others. Philosophy is by its nature one of the purest of the intellectual disciplines. Its concerns are very abstract. It is not a trade (though teaching philosophy, for which graduate study prepares one, is a trade). Its interest and value lies in its helping us to understand ourselves and our world better and more deeply than we otherwise would, and in permanently altering our approach to our lives and our relations to others through encouraging a lifelong habit of reflection on them. This is rather more of an achievement, perhaps, than anyone could hope that a university education could provide–but the study of philosophy can be the beginning of a process whose continuance can immensely enrich one’s life, and can open to one views that would otherwise be closed or overlooked.

To say that in the first instance the value of the study of philosophy is not practical (in a narrow sense) is not to say that it has no practical value. Philosophy is harder than the evident importance and attractiveness of many of its central questions can lead one to expect. But precisely for that reason its serious study can greatly enhance one’s analytical, critical, and interpretive abilities, as well as one’s ability to express oneself clearly and to formulate and respond to arguments in speech and writing. Philosophy provides one with general problem-solving skills, skills in analyzing concepts, definitions, arguments and problems. It enables one to organize ideas and issues and to extract what is central to an issue from a mass of information. It helps one both to make fine distinctions and to find what is common ground between opposing positions. It also encourages one to synthesize or bring together a range of different views into one more comprehensive and coherent position. Philosophy improves one’s communication skills, through improving one’s ability to present ideas in well-constructed, systematic arguments, to express what is unique about one’s views, and to explain difficult material. These skills in presenting well-thought-out arguments, clear formulations, and apt examples, in turn lend one’s arguments persuasive power. And the give and take of philosophical discussion, which is a part of any good program of study in philosophy, improves one’s ability to think on one’s feet, and to indicate why one’s own views are to be preferred to others. Ideally, it aids one also in recognizing when and in what respect one’s own views may be incorrect, and what must be revised or discarded and what can be retained. Writing is taught intensively in philosophy courses, with an emphasis on clarity and rigor of argument, the apt use of example and illustration, and sensitivity to the strengths and weaknesses both of views one is examining and of one’s own view. Philosophy also, more than many other majors, encourages students to aim to develop their own views on the questions and problems they study, rather than to absorb uncritically material presented as the current state of a subject.

Philosophy offers one of the best opportunities in the curriculum for pursuing the goal of improving such skills. These general intellectual skills are applicable to any subject matter, or any sort of problem, practical, or theoretical, one may be faced with. The cultivation of such general intellectual skills is one of the most important goals of a university education. This prepares one not just for particular professions, but to learn new skills and knowledge as needed in later life, both in employment and in the larger arena of political and community life which binds us together with common goals. No one learns everything he or she needs to know at the university (let alone in kindergarten!). Philosophy makes one intellectually agile, prepares one to meet challenges one has not been specifically trained to meet, and prepares one for serious citizenship. Philosophy is, in addition, good training for professional school in journalism, law, medicine, and business, as well as for graduate study in philosophy. As in the case of other liberal arts majors, it provides the kind of well-rounded education and general intellectual skills that are prized in management in both the private and the public sectors of the economy.

2. The Philosophy Department at the University of Florida

2.1 Philosophy Department Facilities. Top | Prev | Next

The philosophy department at the University of Florida is located on the third floor of Griffin-Floyd hall, one of the original buildings on the campus, which was completely renovated in 1992. Its interior is among the more attractive of buildings on campus, with hardwood floors, extensive use of wood in decoration, and a beautiful three-story central wooden staircase preserved from the original. The central hallway on the third floor features an atrium which floods the hallway with natural light.

The department office is located in 330 Griffin-Floyd Hall, at the north end of the atrium. Next to the department office is the mail room (326) where messages can be left for faculty and graduate students in their mail boxes. Bulletin boards are located both on the landing at the top of the stairs and on the wall in the hallway next to the mail room. The former contains information about the layout of the department, the location of faculty and teaching assistant offices, and other facilities, current course information, and announcements of colloquia (visiting speakers) and departmental seminars (faculty talks). The latter is reserved for the posting of information of special interest to students. These include fellowship and scholarship opportunities, calls for papers for competitions and journals, information about graduate study in philosophy, and opportunities to study philosophy abroad and at other institutions.

The department maintains a web page, which contains information about the department, the undergraduate and graduate programs, current course offerings and descriptions, a list of faculty and graduate students and their e-mail addresses, and other useful information of interest to current and prospective majors and minors. The address is: <http://web.phil.ufl.edu>

The department maintains the monad e-mail discussion list which is used by the Undergraduate Philosophical Society for the announcement of Society (and Departmental) activities. To subscribe to the monad list, just send a message to <dept> and ask to be on the monad list.

2.2 Faculty. Top | Prev | Next

The department, which offers degrees at all levels, from the B.A. to the Ph.D., has faculty who represent a wide range of interests in philosophy, from the history of philosophy–especially ancient, modern, and 19th century–to ethics and applied ethics, political and social philosophy, the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of language, theory of knowledge, metaphysics, logic, the philosophy of the natural sciences, including especially the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of social science, the philosophy of history, the philosophy of action, the foundations of analytic philosophy, continental philosophy, existentialism, and feminism. You can see the current list of faculty (including retired emeritus and emerita faculty), together with their main areas of research and teaching, and links to their home pages.

3. The Study of Philosophy at the University of Florida.

3.1 Program Requirements. Top | Prev | Next

(a) Admission to the major

Admission to the philosophy major at the upper division level (60+ credit hours) normally requires a student to be in good academic standing and to have taken at least two philosophy courses with a grade of “B” or better.

Applications for the major are made at the CLAS Advising Office. Students are urged to apply for the major as soon as they have decided that they wish to major in philosophy. Preference is given to majors and minors, in that order, for seating in required courses for the major.

(b) Major requirements

The philosophy major currently requires 33 hours in philosophy. Of these, 27 must be at the 3000-level or above, and six of these must be at the 4000-level, excluding PHI 4905 and PHI 4912. No more than 15 hours in transfer credit may count toward the minimum hours required for the degree. No more than three hours of PHI 4905 may count toward the required minimum. Area requirements and the courses required to meet them are given in the following table:

Area Courses
Logic PHI 3130 Symbolic Logic
History PHH 3100 Ancient Greek Philosophy and PHH 3400 Modern Philosophy
Philosophical Writing PHI 3950 Philosophical Writing
Ethics PHI 3650 Moral Philosophy
Epistemology PHI 3300 Theory of Knowledge

The area requirements of the major are divided into skills courses and subject courses. Logic and philosophical writing are skills courses, and are designed to ensure that students acquire the skills in analysis and writing that are required for the serious pursuit of philosophy. The required subject courses are designed to ensure that students have a good grounding in the history of philosophy, which is essential for an adequate understanding of contemporary philosophy, and a core competence in ethics and epistemology, the study of which play a foundational role in the study of many other subjects in philosophy. In general, students should aim to take skills courses early in their studies, and aim to finish subject courses before their senior year.

The remaining 15 hours required for the major are electives, which students may use either to pursue a particular interest in some depth, or to gain additional breadth in philosophy. Students should discuss their interests and plans with an advisor in the philosophy department in choosing electives. Students wishing to prepare for postgraduate or professional work, in particular, should meet with the undergraduate advisor to discuss what program would be most appropriate.

Earlier catalog years.

*Students with a catalog year of 2006 and earlier require only three hours (not six) in philosophy at the 4000-level, excluding PHI 4905 and PHI 4912.

Students with a catalog year of 2003/04 and earlier can meet the logic requirement by taking either PHI2100 or PHI3130.

Students with a catalog year of 1996/97 are required to take 30 hours of philosophy, the history sequence, and meet the logic requirement. Level distribution requirements are as above.

Students with a catalog year of 1995/96 and earlier are required to take 27 hours of philosophy, the history sequence, meet the logic requirement, and take at least two 4000-level courses. Level distribution requirements are otherwise the same as above.

(c) Honors

To graduate cum laude (with honors), a student must achieve the honors threshold 3.5 upper-division GPA. This honors threshold GPA is calculated based on the grades a student earns after he or she has achieved “3LS” status, that is, beginning the semester after the student earns his or her 60th credit. (“Upper division” in this instance refers to the student’s status (3LS or 4LS) when taking any courses, not to the upper-division courses (3000- or 4000-level) the student has taken.) The honors threshold GPA is conveniently calculated toward the bottom of a student’s degree audit. Students who achieve the honors threshold GPA upon graduation will automatically graduate cum laude.

To graduate magna cum laude or summa cum laude (with high or highest honors), a student must, in addition to achieving the 3.5 honors threshold GPA, both take an additional three hours at the 4000 level or above beyond the required minimum and complete an honors thesis while taking PHI 4912. Evaluation of the honors thesis determines whether a student graduates magna or summa cum laude.

The honors thesis: The honors project involves independent research under the supervision of a faculty director. The goal is to give you an opportunity to write a large-scale paper and investigate a single philosophical issue in more depth than you may have had an opportunity to do in course work. Doing such a thesis can be a very rewarding experience, although you should understand that it is not a project to be undertaken lightly. The rules below are designed to ensure that you will be sufficiently prepared to succeed in the project.

Overview of the process: The process of undertaking an honors thesis will take nearly two semesters. In the first semester you need to form a reasonably specific plan as to what you will do in the thesis, ensure that you have the relevant background for the topic, and the like; in the second semester, you actually write the thesis, signing up for PHI 4912. In both semesters you need to work with a faculty director who officially sponsors your thesis. When the thesis is completed, you will be subjected to an oral examination and defense of your work.

The proposal: In order to register for PHI 4912, it is mandatory that you submit and have approved a proposal for the thesis no later than the middle of the preceding semester. More precisely, the proposal must be submitted by no later than the last day of classes of the semester preceding that during which you hope to take PHI 4912. The proposal, which you should develop in consultation with a faculty director, is to be submitted to the Undergraduate Coordinator by that date.

The proposal will primarily consist in a description of the project, including a statement of thesis you hope to defend, where that statement must be relatively specific. The following two statements, for example, are not adequate specifications of your thesis:

By contrast, the following two statements display an appropriate scope and specificity:

The statement of the thesis should be accompanied by a discussion (750-1000 words) of the issue in which you explain your preliminary thoughts on the matter, which questions you plan to pursue, what arguments you expect to address, and so on. While it is not required that the completed thesis adhere strictly to what you provide in the proposal, we do insist on a proposal that will give you a substantial starting point in your investigation.

When the proposal is submitted, it must be accompanied by three further things: (1) the explicit approval of the faculty director who agrees to work with you on the project; (ii) a bibliography of relevant readings, accompanied by a brief statement of which items you’ve already read and which you plan to read in the near future; and (iii) a demonstration that you have taken or are currently taking a 4000-level course (possibly a section of PHI 4905) that is relevant to your thesis area.

Mid-term review: In the middle of the semester during which you are taking PHI 4912, the Undergraduate Coordinator will request from the faculty director a mid-term review of your progress on the thesis to ensure that it is realistic to expect you to have an adequate thesis done in time for your projected graduation. After consulting with the faculty director, the Undergraduate Coordinator will contact you with his or her assessment of your progress, which may include the faculty director’s report as well as any of the coordinator’s own concerns.

Completion and oral defense: A completed thesis, approved by the faculty director, needs to be handed in to the Undergraduate Coordinator at least two weeks before it is due in the Honors Program Office. The two week time period is needed in order to allow that committee to review the thesis and to schedule an oral defense. After the oral defense the committee will arrive at a judgement as to whether the thesis merits awarding honors, high honors, or highest honors.

The completed thesis is to be handed in to the Honors Program Office by their deadline, usually the last day of the semester. Before handing it in, you need to pick up an abstract form from the Honors Program Office or the Undergraduate Coordinator; this form is to accompany the completed thesis when you turn it in. For more details, see the Honors Program page regarding senior honors theses.

(d) Minor requirements

The minor in philosophy requires a total of 15 hours in philosophy. No more than six transfer credits may count toward the philosophy minor, and no more than six hours below the 3000-level may count. In addition, the minor requires completion of *either *(1) the history sequence, Ancient Philosophy PHH 3100 and Modern Philosophy PHH 3400, or (2) one course from the history sequence, and the logic requirement, which is satisfied by either of PHI 2100 or PHI 3130.

Applications for the minor are made at the CLAS Advising Office. Students are urged to apply for the minor as soon as they have decided they would like to minor in philosophy. Preference is given to students who are declared minors over non-majors for required courses for the minor.

(e) Double majors

Students should also be aware that it is possible to have a double major in philosophy and another area. Applications for double majors are made at the CLAS Advising Office. Students who plan to double major must plan their schedule of study carefully to be sure than they can complete the requirements for both majors within the University’s 120 credit hour limit. In most cases, with some care in planning, students should experience no great difficulty in completing both a philosophy major and another major.

(f) The minor in applied and professional ethics

A fifteen credit hour minor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in Applied and Professional Ethics is available for students throughout the University. The minor will be of interest to students who wish to augment their training in philosophy with courses in other disciplines that specifically address ethical issues in that discipline, field, or profession, and to preprofessional or pregraduate school students who wish to augment their undergraduate education with selected courses that examine the ethical issues and problems within a number of disciplines and professions. This minor can serve as additional preparation for philosophy students who anticipate teaching applied ethics after the completion of their graduate degrees, for preprofessional students who want to develop a comparative understanding of how value issues within one or more fields are addressed, and for preprofessional student who are preparing to take an interest in developing courses in ethics within their own graduate or professional fields. Students interested in pursuing this minor should contact the department’s advisor for Applied and Professional Ethics.

Requirements:

(a) One of: PHM3400 Introduction to the Philosophy of Law; PHM 4440 Philosophy of Law; PHI 4905 Individual work in applied philosophy; PHI 4662 Ethical Theory.

(b) Six hours from cluster A: PHI 2630 Contemporary Moral Issues; PHM 3032 Ethics and Ecology; PHM 3203 Political Philosophy; PHI 3650 Moral Philosophy; PHM 3640 Ethics of Communication.

(c) Six hours from cluster B: AGG 4444 Agriculture and Natural Resource Ethics; ADV 4931* Ethics and Problems in Advertising; EGN 4032 Professionalism Issues in Engineering; JOU 4700* Problems and Ethics of Journalism in Society; NUR 3825* Professional Socialization 1; NUR 4826* Seminar: Professional Socialization 2; PET 4474 Moral and Ethical Issues in Sport; POT 3503 Environmental Ethics and Politics; PUR 4933* Seminar in Ethics and Problems in Public Relations; REL 3170** Ethics in Religious Perspective; REL 4179** Religious Perspectives on Ethics, Law and Public Policy; RTV 4931 Ethics in Telecommunications.

*Generally these courses are open only to majors in that field.

**No more than one of these courses may be taken to satisfy the six hours required from cluster B.

3.2 Sample Programs and Concentrations. (Top | Prev | Next)

(a) Typical Programs

Possible programs for entering freshmen majoring in philosophy and transfer students beginning their junior year at the University of Florida are illustrated in the following charts. These are only illustrations. Many different configurations of courses that will meet the requirements in four years or two years for transfer students. These examples assume a student entering in the Fall term and taking a 15 hour load each semester for eight semesters in the first case, and for two in the second. (Note for planning purposes that typically PHH 3103 is given only in the Fall and PHH 3402 only in the Spring.)


Sample Four Year Program for Incoming Freshmen
First Year - Fall Term First Year - Spring Term
PHI 2010 Intro. to Philosophy (GE-H) 3 PHI 3130 Logic (Gordon-M) 3
Composition (GE-Gordon C) 3 Humanities (GE, Gordon-C) 3
Humanities (GE-H) 3 Physical/Biological Sciences (GE) 3
Foreign Language (CLAS) 4-5 Mathematics (GE-Gordon M) 3
Foreign Language 4-5
Semester Total: 13-14 Semester Total: 16-17
Second Year - Fall Term Second Year - Spring Term
PHH 3013 Ancient Philosophy 3 PHH 3400 Modern Philosophy 3
Physical/Biological Science (GE) 3 PHI 3950 Philosophical Writing 3
Mathematics (GE-Gordon M) 3 Humanities (GE-H) 3
Social and Behavioral Science (GE,I) 3 Social and Behavioral Sciences (GE,I) 3
Elective (or foreign lang. if 4-4-3 opt.) 3 Physical/Biological Science (GE) 3
Semester Total: 15 Semester Total: 15
Third Year - Fall Term Third Year - Spring Term
PHI 3300 Theory of Knowledge 3 PHI 3650 Moral Philosophy 3
3000-level philosophy elective 3 3000-level philosophy elective 3
Social & Behavioral Science (GE) 3 Elective 3
Physical/Behavioral Science (CLAS) 3 Elective (3000 or above) 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Semester Total: 15 Semester Total: 15
Fourth Year - Fall Term Fourth Year - Spring Term
4000-level philosophy elective 3 3 or 4000-level philosophy elective 3
Elective 3 PHI 4912 Honors Thesis (if eligible) 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Semester Total: 15 Semester Total: 15


Sample Program in Philosophy for Junior Transfer
Third Year - Fall Term Third Year - Spring Term
PHI 3130 Logic 3 PHH 3400 Modern Philosophy 3
PHH 3100 Ancient Philosophy 3 PHI 3950 Writing Philosophy 3
3000-level philosophy elective 3 3000-level philosophy elective 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Semester Total: 15 Semester Total: 15
Fourth Year - Fall Term Fourth Year - Spring Term
4000-level philosophy elective 3 4000-level philosophy elective 3
3000+ philosophy elective 3 PHI 4912 Honors (if eligible) 3
3000+ philosophy elective 3 3000+ philosophy elective 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Elective 3 Elective 3
Semester Total: 15 Semester Total: 15

The above example assumes that the transfer student has completed his or her general education requirements prior to matriculation at the University of Florida.

(b) Concentrations

The following are lists of recommended courses for philosophy majors interested in pursuing one or another particular post-graduation career path. It should be emphasized that it is not required for success in any of the areas listed that a student take all or any of these courses. They are rather courses which students will by and large find helpful in pursuing one of these post-graduation career paths. Students are urged to discuss their post-graduation plans with an undergraduate advisor for more specific advice in the light of their interests and plans.

(i) Preparation for graduate school

Students who intend to prepare for graduate study in philosophy should aim to maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher, especially in philosophy courses, to write an honors thesis if eligible, and to consider taking courses from the following list:

Students interested in pursuing graduate studies primarily in Continental philosophy should give serious consideration to:

as well as

(ii) Preparation for law-related professions

Students who are pre-law or studying for law-related professions should give serious consideration to:

Students considering pursuing law school after an undergraduate degree may wish to visit the American Bar Association web page on preparing for law school.

(iii) Preparation for medicine-related professions

Students who are pre-med or studying for medicine-related professions should give serious consideration to:

3.3 Study and Career Planning. (Top | Prev)

(a)* Planning your program of study*

As soon as a student decides to major in philosophy, he or she should talk to the undergraduate coordinator and declare a major. It is important to identify clearly the goals of one’s study, and one’s post-graduation plans (at least tentatively) so that one can plan carefully one’s course schedule in consultation with the undergraduate coordinator. Planning ahead will make one’s study for a degree both smoother and more enjoyable, and help to ensure that one graduates on schedule.

(b) Graduation and career planning

Students should begin post-graduate planning well before graduation. To assist you in this task, the Undergraduate Committee in collaboration with Becky Ross of the Career Resources Center has prepared the Philosophy Major’s Career Handbook which is available on-line as well as in printed form. Majors should review this helpful material. As a first step toward rational career planning, the department recommends scheduling an appointment with the Director of the Career Resource Center, who is the Center’s CLAS liason.

It is important to take advantage of the resources provided for career planing both by the department’s advisors and by the UF Career Resource Center. A degree in philosophy can be used as an entry into many business and management positions, both in the public and private sectors, as well as for professional schools (law, journalism, business, education, e.g.). But students can do many things to enhance their chances of finding a job, and a job to their liking, or admission to an appropriate professional program, by planning ahead. Planning ahead can make the transition from graduation to a job or further professional or graduate training much easier than it would otherwise be. For example, careful planning of course work in areas outside one’s major can enhance one’s ability to find a desirable position after graduation, or to gain admission to an appropriate professional school or graduate program. An appropriate minor, or a double major, may be an important advantage on the job market, as well as in preparation for professional or graduate school. There are also many internships available which students can apply to through the Career Resource Center which can provide both valuable work experience and a special relationship with a particular employer, which may enable one to find a job with that employer after graduation. (A recent survey of businesses showed that 48% of new hires had career-related experience such as an internship.) Information about opportunities is posted periodically in the department and is available also from the Career Resource Center. In general, businesses look for applicants who have drive, enthusiasm, and initiative, and who are quick learners and open-minded. Many businesses also expect applicants to have some experience in working with computers, and look for people who work well in groups and have good organizational skills. Increasingly, businesses also look for people who are respectful of other cultures. A well-thought-out schedule of courses, both in and outside of the philosophy major, can provide a good record to show that one has these qualities.

For more information on career planning, check out the Career Resource Center–where you will find information on career planning workshops, expos and fairs, on-campus interviewing, and career planning classes.

© University of Florida, 1997-2008, vers. 8.4 Prepared by the undergraduate committee of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Florida