updated 8/15/2006

Philosophy

Jeremiah M. Hackett, Chair

Professors
Davis Whitney Baird, Ph.D., Stanford University, 1981
Michael Dickson, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 1995
Martin John Donougho, Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1980
Jeremiah M. Hackett, Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1983
R.I.G. Hughes, Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 1979
Jerald T. Wallulis, Ph.D., Notre Dame University, 1978, Undergraduate Director

Associate Professors
Anne L. Bezuidenhout, Ph.D., University of Michigan, 1990, Graduate Director
Otávio Bueno, Ph.D., University of Leeds, 1999
F. Thomas Burke, Ph.D., Stanford University, 1992
George Khushf, Ph.D., Rice University, 1993
Christopher O. Tollefsen, Ph.D., Emory University, 1995

Assistant Professors
Ann Johnson, Ph.D., Princeton University, 2000
Matthew Kisner, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, 2004
Heike Sefrin-Weis, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2002

Overview

The USC Department of Philosophy is an intellectually active and pluralistic community offering a congenial environment for graduate study. We host numerous invited speakers, workshops, and major conferences, and we house the editorial offices of three philosophical journals: The International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Science, and Techné. In addition, the department is leading a large interdisciplinary NSF-funded project examining nanotechnology in society.

The history of philosophy is foundational in the undergraduate and graduate programs and is a crucial part of the methodology of the faculty. Individual faculty members work in a wide range of areas in collaboration with various units on campus, including the School of Medicine, the Center for Bioethics, the School of the Environment, and the NanoCenter. The department has significant clusters of faculty who work in two special areas of research:

• The history and philosophy of science: We emphasize issues and methods that are closely tied to the actual content of the sciences, whether contemporary or historical. The faculty has particular strengths in the philosophy of physics, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and technology.
• Theoretical and practical ethics: We see normative issues as intertwined with a host of other philosophical, scientific, and historical issues. The faculty has particular strengths in normative ethical theory, bioethics, engineering ethics, environmental ethics, and the ethics of emrging technologies, especially nanotechnology.

Additionally, individual faculty members have research and teaching interests in the following areas: ancient philosophy, early modern philosophy, eighteenth to nineteenth century German idealism, American pragmatism, twentieth century analytic philosophy, existentialism and phenomenology, contemporary European social philosophy, aesthetics, philosophy of language and mind, and philosophy of logic. The department collaborates with other units on campus, including biology, chemistry, classics, comparative literature, history, linguistics, physics, psychology, religious studies, and women's studies.

Admission

The philosophy department admits new students into the M.A. and Ph.D. programs in the fall semester of each year. Applications for admission are reviewed during the previous spring term. Normally, to be admitted with full standing into either program, a student will have completed 18 hours of course work in philosophy above the introductory level. Applicants must also have met the general admission requirements of The Graduate School.

Applicants should arrange for three letters of recommendation, transcripts, and GRE scores to be sent to The Graduate School. Applicants whose native language is not English should also arrange for TOEFL or IELTS Intl. exam scores to be sent to The Graduate School. In addition, all applicants should send a sample of philosophical writing (maximum length 6,000 words) and a brief statement of purpose (400 words) to the department.

Letters of recommendation should come from persons familiar with the applicant's academic achievement and potential and should specifically address the applicant's potential for success in a graduate degree program.

Transcripts of prior undergraduate and graduate work must show sufficient promise of ability to do graduate work. Hence the department looks for GPAs in the range from 3.00 to 4.00 for all undergraduate work and 3.50 to 4.00 for all graduate work (on a 4.00 scale).

We look for GRE scores above 680 on the verbal reasoning and quantitative reasoning portions of the exam. Scores of at least 5 on the analytical writing section are generally acceptable.

Applicants whose native language is not English are required to submit a satisfactory score on the TOEFL or the IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam. For admission to the Ph.D. program, applicants should submit a TOEFL score of at least 590 (243 computer-based score). For admission to the M.A. program, applicants must achieve a minimum score of 570 (230 computer-based), which is also the minimum requirement for entrance into The Graduate School. The minimum acceptable overall band score on the IELTS Intl. Academic Course Type 2 exam is 6.5.

Evidence of high potential from several parts of an applicant's file may occasionally outweigh a low test score or a low GPA.

Students whose undergraduate major was not philosophy may be considered for admission on a conditional basis. If admitted, special programs will be arranged to provide them with the background necessary for graduate study. Unsuccessful applicants to the Ph.D. program who do not already have a master's degree in philosophy will automatically be considered for admission to the M.A. program.

Deadlines

Students are normally admitted to the program only in the fall semester. The absolute deadline for applying for the fall semester is July 1. However, to receive full consideration for financial assistance, applications should be completed before January 15. Applicants who do not meet the January deadline will still be considered for and may even be awarded support, but opportunities become increasingly limited after this date.

Degree Requirements

The requirements for degrees include those stated in the Graduate Studies Bulletin for all M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. The following requirements are specific to the Department of Philosophy.

All philosophy graduate students must maintain at least a B average for all courses taken and will be asked to leave the program if a grade below B is received in more than two courses.

Master of Arts in Philosophy

Students in the M.A. program may elect either the thesis or nonthesis option.

1. Course requirement. Students in the M.A. program who choose to write a thesis are required to take eight graduate philosophy courses (24 nonthesis semester hours), at least four of which must be at the 700 level. Without a thesis, 11 courses (33 credit hours) are required, at least 6 of which must be at the 700 level.

2. Logic requirement. Successful completion of PHIL 511 Symbolic Logic, taken either as an upper-level undergraduate course or as part of the graduate program, is required of all M.A. students.

3. Language requirement. A reading knowledge of one foreign language is required of all M.A. students. The USC language department administers tests of foreign language competency.

4. All M.A. students are required to pass an M.A. comprehensive examination. Students who choose the thesis option must also write a master's thesis.

Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy

Course Descriptions (PHIL)

• 501 -- British Empiricism. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202, or consent of the instructor) A historical and critical survey of the British philosophers of experience. Principal concentration is on Locke, Berkeley, and Hume.
  
• 502 -- Continental Rationalism. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or consent of the instructor) A critical and historical study of the 17th-century European philosophers. The works of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz are emphasized.
  
• 503 -- Analytic Philosophy. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) A critical study of recent and contemporary works in philosophical analysis, and an evaluation of the purposes, methods, and results of this movement.
  
• 504 -- Phenomenology and Existentialism. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or 301, or consent of the instructor) A critical study of some fundamental themes in phenomenology and the philosophy of existence. Emphasis is placed on an intensive study of selected works of such writers as Kierkegaard, Jaspers, Husserl, and Heidegger.
  
• 505 -- Plato. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 201 or consent of the instructor) An intensive study of selected Dialogues.
  
• 506 -- Aristotle. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 201 or consent of the instructor) An intensive study of some of the more important of Aristotle's works.
  
• 507 -- Medieval Philosophy. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 201 or consent of the instructor) A historical and critical study of the works of the leading medieval philosophers.
  
• 508 -- Hume. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or consent of the instructor) An intensive study of the philosophical writings of Hume, especially A Treatise of Human Nature.
  
• 509 -- Kant. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or consent of the instructor) An intensive study of the work of Kant, especially the Critique of Pure Reason.
  
• 510 -- Theory of Knowledge. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) An examination of some representative theories of truth, meaning, probability, and perception.
  
• 511 -- Symbolic Logic. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 110 or consent of the instructor) A presentation and philosophical examination of the fundamentals of modern symbolic logic.
  
• 512 -- Philosophy of Science. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) A critical examination of methods and concepts of the sciences. Topics include scientific revolutions, the unity of science, experimentation, explanation, and evidence.
  
• 513 -- Philosophy of History. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or consent of the instructor) A philosophical examination of historical inquiry. Theories of historical development. The logical problems of historical explanation.
  
• 514 -- Ethical Theory. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 311 or consent of the instructor) Survey of recent and historical developments in ethical theory with special emphasis on the meaning of ethical language and the forms of reasoning employed in discussing moral values.
  
• 515 -- Philosophy of Religion. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or consent of the instructor) A critical study of selected problems in the philosophy of religion. Emphasis is placed on problems relating to the existence of God, religious knowledge, and the language of religion.
  
• 516 -- Advanced Aesthetics. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 313 or consent of the instructor) Detailed examination of the literature on aesthetics.
  
• 517 -- Philosophy of Language. {=LING 565} (3) (Prereq: PHIL 202 or consent of the instructor) An examination of concepts and problems such as meaning, reference, analyticity, definition, and the relation between logic and philosophy.
  
• 518 -- Philosophy of the Social Sciences. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) The goals of inquiry and problems such as objectivity, reduction, value freedom, and ideology.
  
• 519 -- Metaphysics. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) Major issues in classical and modern metaphysics. Topics include the idea of first philosophy, being, substance, the problem of universals, essentialism, causation, time and space, and metaphysical method.
  
• 520 -- Philosophy of Mind. (3) The concept of mind, the mind-body problem, emotions and cognition, the possibility of artificial minds, theories of embodied cognition.
  
• 521 -- Mathematical Logic. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 511) Axiomatic development of logic and the set-theoretic foundations of mathematics.
  
• 523 -- Advanced Topics in Logic. (3) (Prereq: PHIL 511 or consent of instructor) Philosophical problems about logic, the development of philosophical logics, and the problems surrounding them.
  
• 527 -- Virtues, Acts, and Consequences. (3) Recent contributions to three central strands of ethical theory: virtue theory, deontology, and utilitarianism; historical roots and recent developments.
  
• 528 -- Concepts of Evidence. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) Systematic approaches to data analysis--Bayesian, Fisherian and decision theoretic--will be critically appraised. Applications of these theories to some problems of inductive logic: the paradoxes of confirmation, the role of simplicity, and the probability of inductive generalizations.
  
• 532 -- Social Justice. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) Recent theories of distributive justice and their application to such issues as redistribution of wealth, reverse discrimination, and the conflict between liberty and equality. Authors include Rawls, Nozick, Hayek, and Popper.
  
• 534 -- Contemporary European Social Philosophy. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) An examination of European social philosophy associated with either the Frankfurt School of Social Research or contemporary French Poststructuralism.
  
• 535 -- Ecofeminism. {=WOST 535} (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or instructor's consent) An exploration of the connections between oppression of women and oppression of nature.
  
• 536 -- Language and Interpretation in Contemporary European Philosophy. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) Selected contemporary European philosophical movements, their views on language, and their approach to interpretation: hermeneutics, structuralism, poststructuralism.
  
• 540 -- Renaissance Philosophy. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) Humanism (e.g., Petrarca), Platonism (e.g., Pico and Ficino), Aristotelianism (e.g., Pomponazzi), philosophies of nature (e.g., Telesio, Campanella, and Bruno), and Nicholas of Cusa, Erasmus, Montaigne, and Suarez.
  
• 550 -- Health Care Ethics. (3) (Prereq: 3 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level or consent of the instructor) An exploration of the ethical dimensions of patient care in the clinical setting.
  
• 571 -- Philosophies of India. (3) (Prereq: 6 credits in philosophy or consent of the instructor) Six classic systems of Hinduism and the "heterodox" schools of Jainism and Buddhism with emphasis on the analysis of the concept of the self.
  
• 573 -- History of Traditional Chinese Thought. {=HIST 573} (3) An introduction to the development of Chinese thought in relationship to the political and socioeconomic institutions of early China (sixth century B.C. to third century A.D.), with emphasis on Confucianism and Taoism.
  
• 598 -- Readings in Philosophy. (3) (Prereq: 6 hours in philosophy beyond the 100 level).
  
• 701 -- Studies in Ancient Philosophy. (3)
  
• 705 -- Studies in 17th- and 18th-Century Philosophy. (3)
  
• 706 -- Studies in Continental Philosophy. (3) Study of the works of one or more major contemporary continental philosophers.
  
• 707 -- Studies in 19th-Century Philosophy. (3)
  
• 709 -- Studies in 20th-Century Philosophy. (3)
  
• 710 -- Ethics and the Health Sciences. {=SOWK 753, NURS 794, DMED 620, PUBH 710} (1-4) Students are introduced to formal and informal codes of professional conduct of various health science disciplines and understand the implications of these distinctions for interdisciplinary research, clinical practice, and administration.
  
• 711 -- Studies in Ethics. (3)
  
• 712 -- Studies in Theory of Knowledge. (3)
  
• 714 -- Philosophy of Science. (3)
  
• 716 -- Philosophy of Mind. (3) Topics and problems arising in the philosophy of mind.
  
• 718 -- Studies in Philosophy of Language. {=LING 765} (3) Examination of concepts such as meaning, reference, analyticity, and translational indeterminacy; evaluation of accounts of speech acts, the semantics of propositional attitudes, metaphor, and other pragmatic phenomena.
  
• 720 -- Studies in Philosophy of Religion. (3)
  
• 721 -- Pragmatism. (3)
  
• 723 -- Hegel. (3)
  
• 724 -- Speculative Metaphysics. (3)
  
• 760 -- Special Topics in Philosophy. (3)
  
• 761 -- Special Topics in Philosophy. (3)
  
• 763 -- Epistemology. (3) Survey of historical and recent trends in epistemology.
• 764 -- Metaphysics. (3) Survey of historical and recent trends in metaphysics.
• 765 -- Proseminar. (3) Critical reading of a philosophical text or series of related texts. Required of all doctoral degree candidates during the first year of course work.
  
• 767 -- Case Study in the Philosophy of Science. (3) Introduction to the method of studying historical cases in the philosophy of science. This course revolves around the sustained treatment of one or two such cases.
  
• 769 -- Jurisprudence. {=LAW 769} (2-3) An examination of a number of philosophical problems about the law: the nature and function of rules, the difference between legal rules and other rules, the nature of reasoning from legal rules, the concept of a legal system, and the relation of law and morals.
  
• 790 -- Teaching Philosophy. (1) Materials, techniques, and problems of teaching philosophy. Repeatable for credit. (Pass-Fail Grading)
  
• 797 -- Independent Study. (3)
  
• 798 -- Research Seminar. (1) Student and faculty presentations of current research in specified subject areas. Content varies. May be repeated for credit. Pass/Faill grading.
  
• 799 -- Thesis Preparation. (1-9)
  
• 835 -- Seminar in Environmental Ethics. {=ENVR 835} (3) Examination of the intellectual, cultural, and ethical frameworks within which environmental problems arise and are solved.
  
• 847 -- Modern Philosophies of Education. {=EDFN 847} (3) (Prereq: Education 744, the equivalent, or consent of instructor) Critical comparison of present-day schools of thought on the nature, objectives, and functions of American education.
  
• 899 -- Dissertation Preparation. (1-12)
  

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