Philosophy Minor
College of Arts and Humanities
1128 Skinner Building
Phone: 301-405-5689
lgilman@umd.edu
http://philosophy.umd.edu
Program Director: Rachel Singpurwalla, Ph.D.
Philosophy investigates the foundations of reality, knowledge, and value. Students can expect to receive training in these areas, and also in clear thinking, inventive synthesis, and precise expression. For some, this will serve as preparation for graduate studies in philosophy. However, philosophical skills are useful in professions such as law, medicine, government, business management, and in any field that demands intellectual rigor. The department offers a wide range of courses, including courses on historical figures, such as Plato and Kant, traditional philosophical topics, such as the nature of the human mind, free will, and the just society, and several that deal with the philosophy of various disciplines outside philosophy itself, such as philosophy of physics and philosophy of law.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Three or more courses at 3xx-level or above in Philosophy 1 | 9 | |
| One or more courses at 2xx-level or above in the history of pre-twentieth century philosophy 2 | 3 | |
| One or more courses at 2xx-level or above in value theory (including aesthetics and political philosophy as well as ethics) 2 | 3 | |
| One or more courses at 2xx-level or above in metaphysics or epistemology (including philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion, as well as metaphysics and theory of knowledge) 2 | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 18 | |
- 1
Not counting internship courses (PHIL386).
- 2
See http://philosophy.umd.edu/sites/philosophy.umd.edu/files/distributive_areas.pdf for a list of philosophy courses that can be used to satisfy the various distributive requirements.
For a course to count toward a student's minor, the grade in the course must be "C-" or above. For students who matriculated in September 2012 or later, the average of all grades counted toward the minor must be 2.0 or greater. Therefore, grades of "C-" will have to be balanced with higher grades. ("C-" counts as 1.7 toward the GPA).