Philosophy Major (B.A.)

Philosophy Major (B.A.)
Philosophy students in group discussion

What is philosophy?

As participants in a conversation that extends back to the Ancient Greeks and the Vedic Scriptures, you will acquire the ability to think systematically and imaginatively about fundamental and enduring issues such as morality, justice, beauty, gender, race, nature, artificial intelligence, space, time, and the meaning of life and death.

Why study philosophy at UNH?

Our internationally renowned professors emphasize discussion, debate and writing in their courses, and wrestling with these big questions will prepare you exceptionally well for a wide variety of fulfilling careers. As a lively and nurturing community personally invested in the success of our high achieving students, we take pride in watching our graduates of the philosophy degree program go on the excel in top law schools, elite graduate programs and prestigious positions from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.

Potential careers

  • Business professional
  • Communications executive
  • Community service organizer
  • Ethicist
  • Healthcare professional
  • Lawyer
  • Politician
  • Professor
  • Teacher
  • Technology progessional
  • Writer
  • picture of Eric Thomson
    Philosophy Major | Bioinformatics Scientist at NIH
    Why did you major in philosophy? I majored in philosophy because it was the only discipline where we could explicitly tackle certain meta-level questions that don’t get addressed elsewhere. For instance, what is science and how do we differentiate it from other disciplines? Why is quantum mechanics so damn weird? How do conscious experiences relate to brain processes…
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  • Gordon Unzen
    Psychology, Philosophy and Justice Studies Majors
    A triple major in psychology, philosophy and justice studies with a minor in German, Gordon Unzen is busy. Interestingly, the most important lessons he’s learned at UNH are about simplicity: connecting…
    Learn More
  • photo of Piper Gibson
    Philosophy and Political Science Majors
    Hometown: Colebrook, Conn. What made you choose UNH? I attended a summer camp at UNH for several years during high school called the Future Leaders Institute. The camp was led by the amazing professors Nick Smith of philosophy and Scott Smith…
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  • picture of Sean Murphy
    Philosophy Major | Ph.D. Candidate
    Why did you major in philosophy? In my first semester at UNH, I took “Human Nature and Evolution” with Val Dusek, and that was that: I was going to be a philosophy major. Apart from that, I don’t have much of a story to tell. I really don’t like it when philosophers give some romantic origin story about how when they were four, they contemplated whether trees had…
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  • picture of Jeremy deVries
    Philosophy Major | Quality Assurance Team Manager at Apple
    Why did you major in philosophy? I grew up in the Philosophy Department (quite literally — my father is Professor deVries)! Philosophy has always been part of my life, I learned at a young age how to argue and question, (with very solid logic) both to the benefit and chagrin of my Dad. However, I never expected to major in Philosophy and was adamant for most of my life…
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Curriculum & Requirements

UNH philosophy majors acquire the ability to think systematically and imaginatively about fundamental and enduring issues such as morality, justice, happiness, beauty, gender, race, nature, artificial intelligence, space, time, and the meaning of life and death. Our internationally-renowned professors emphasize discussion, debate and writing in our courses. Wrestling with the “big questions” from diverse and global perspectives will prepare you exceptionally well for a variety of fulfilling careers. A lively and nurturing community personally invested in the success of our high achieving students, we take pride in watching our graduates excel in top law and graduate schools, innovative social justice programs, and various positions from Wall Street to Silicon Valley and beyond that seek hard workers who can think rigorously and communicate clearly.

Degree Requirements

Minimum Credit Requirement: 128 credits
Minimum Residency Requirement: 32 credits must be taken at UNH
Minimum GPA: 2.0 required for conferral*
Core Curriculum Required: Discovery & Writing Program Requirements
Foreign Language Requirement: Yes

All Major, Option and Elective Requirements as indicated.
*Major GPA requirements as indicated.

Major Requirements

Majors must take a minimum of ten (10) philosophy courses, for a total of 40 credits. A single course can satisfy multiple requirements for the major. The required minimum overall GPA in major coursework is 2.00 and minimum grade of C- for all courses counting toward the major. Candidates for a degree must satisfy additional University requirements for graduation, such as:

  1. University "Writing Intensive" Requirements,
  2. Philosophy majors must satisfy the language requirement for the B.A., as a part of their liberal arts education.  See the UNH Advising Handbook for how students may satisfy this requirement.  Students who would like to satisfy this requirement with a language not offered by COLA (such as American Sign Language) should speak with their advisor about how to petition for an exception,
  3. minimum number of credits (128 credits for B.A. degree), and
  4. University Discovery Requirements.

Consult with your adviser early and often to plan the optimal path for fulfilling major and University requirements.

Core Requirements20
PHIL 412
Beginning Logic
PHIL 500
Workshop
PHIL 530
Ethics
PHIL 570
Ancient Philosophy
PHIL 580
Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant
Electives 112
Select three (3) additional philosophy courses of the student's choice.
Discovery Capstone Requirement 8
Select two (2) 700-level philosophy courses (excluding PHIL 795, PHIL 798, and PHIL 799) of the student's choice, at least one of these should be taken in the senior year
Total Credits40
1

PHIL 495 Tutorial Reading and PHIL 795 Independent Study normally do not count toward fulfilling major requirement credits; exceptions may be granted by special permission.

Note that it is in the nature of 700-level seminars to presuppose by default that students have completed the main 400-level and 500-level core requirements (PHIL 412 Beginning Logic, PHIL 500 Workshop, PHIL 530 Ethics, PHIL 570 Ancient Philosophy, PHIL 580 Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Kant) and so free reference is made to materials, views, techniques, etc. covered in those lower-level core requirements.

Discovery Requirements

For students majoring in only philosophy: philosophy majors may "double count" any two courses toward the major and also to satisfy Discovery requirements. For example, a philosophy major can count (1) PHIL 412 Beginning Logic toward the major requirement as well as using this course to satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning Discovery Category and (2) they can also count PHIL 421 Philosophy and the Arts toward both the major and the Fine and Performing Arts Discovery Category. Because PHIL 412 Beginning Logic  and PHIL 570 Ancient Philosophy are required for the major and also satisfy Quantitative Reasoning and Humanities Categories, respectively, all majors could simply count these two courses toward their Discovery requirements. In various circumstances—for instance if a student already satisfied those Discovery requirements before becoming a philosophy major—one might prefer to count other philosophy courses toward different Discovery Categories, and they are free to do so.

For students double majoring with philosophy: The Department sets no limits on how many courses students may "double count" toward both the philosophy major and Discovery categories if philosophy is your second major. A double major with philosophy as the second major could in principle count any of the following courses toward the major while satisfying five Discovery Categories:

  1. Quantitative Reasoning (QR) Discovery Category could be satisfied by PHIL 412 Beginning Logic.
  2. Fine and Performing Arts (FPA) Discovery Category could be satisfied by PHIL 421 Philosophy and the Arts.
  3. Humanities (HUMA) Discovery Category could be satisfied by PHIL 401 Introduction to PhilosophyPHIL 405 Critical ThinkingPHIL 405W Critical ThinkingPHIL 410 Happiness, Well-Being , and a Good LifePHIL 419 Race, Gender and Social Justice, PHIL 419W Race, Gender and Social Justice, PHIL 420 Introduction to Philosophy of Law and Justice,  PHIL 430 Ethics and SocietyPHIL 431 Business Ethics, PHIL 436 Social and Political PhilosophyPHIL #440 Just Business: The Ethics of Markets and Money, PHIL 440A Honors/Who Are You? Personal Identity and Humanity, PHIL 440B Honors/Who's Human Now?PHIL 510 Philosophy and Feminism, PHIL 525 ExistentialismPHIL 531 Topics in Professional and Business Ethics, or PHIL 570 Ancient Philosophy.
  4. World Cultures (WC) Discovery Category could be satisfied by PHIL 440C Honors/The Copernican Lens: Finding a Place for Humanity or PHIL 520 Introduction to Eastern Philosophy.
  5. Environment, Technology, and Society (ETS) Discovery Category could be satisfied by PHIL 424 The Future of Humanity: Science, Technology, and Society, PHIL 435 Human Nature and Evolution, PHIL #444 Remaking Nature/The Ethics and Politics of Genetic Engineering, PHIL 447 Artificial Intelligence, Robots, and People, or PHIL 450 Environmental Ethics.

UNH philosophy majors acquire the ability to think systematically and imaginatively about fundamental and enduring issues such as morality, justice, happiness, beauty, gender, race, nature, artificial intelligence, space, time, and the meaning of life and death. Our internationally-renowned professors emphasize discussion, debate and writing in our courses. Wrestling with the “big questions” from diverse and global perspectives prepares students exceptionally well for a variety of fulfilling careers. Cultivating a lively and nurturing community personally invested in the success of our high achieving students, we take pride in watching our graduates excel in top law and graduate schools, innovative social justice programs, and various positions from Wall Street to Silicon Valley.

More concretely, we monitor the following learning objectives.
 

  • Students understand major philosophers and philosophical ideas accurately.
  • Students apply their understanding of ideas in novel contexts.
  • Students write effectively.
  • Students speak effectively.
  • Students argue with depth, precision, balance, and insight.
  • Students understand the formal structure of arguments and understand rules of inference.
  • Students read analytically, critically, and empathetically.
  • Students critically assess their own preconceptions, commitments and ideas.

The main way we oversee student progress is through close mentorship, early on in our 2nd year orientation designed for new majors (PHIL 500 Workshop), and culminating in their presentation of research in two required 700-level seminars. We also strongly encourage participation in the annual Philosophy Department Undergraduate Research Conference.

Please note: All courses counting for the major must be completed with a grade of C- or better.

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