Philosophy Major with Ethics and Public Policy Concentration

The requirements for the concentration in Ethics and Public policy are 30 credits PHIL with at least 15 upper-level credits, including:

One of PHIL 101 Introduction to Philosophy, PHIL 103 Ancient Greek and Medieval Western Philosophy or PHIL 104 Modern Western Philosophy
One of PHIL 201/211/212/213/214 (introductory ethics courses)
PHIL 222 Logic
One of PHIL 301 Mind and Reality, PHIL 302 Reason and Knowledge, or PHIL 303 Philosophy of Language
All three of PHIL 320 Philosophy of Law, PHIL 327 Ethical Theory, PHIL 335 Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 490 Seminar in Philosophy (as a capstone course)
Two of the following courses, which for this concentration will be accepted within the required 30 credits of the program: MRBL 350 Tort Law, CRJS 324 Courts and the Judicial Process, CRJS 355 Foundations of Criminal Justice, ECON 301 Microeconomic Theory, ECON 302 Macroeconomic Theory, HIST 333/ECON 419 History of Economic Thought, HIST 338 History of Socialism, HIST 369, 370 American Constitutional and Legal Development, POLI 310 Public Policy, POLI 314 U.S. Constitutional Law, POLI 315 Courts and Politics, SOCY 302 Contemporary Social Problems, SOCY 430 Politics, Power and Ideology

General Advice:

See your advisor at least once each year (and ideally each semester) to ensure that your course plans make sense relative to the graduation requirements.
We automatically give overrides to our majors for any Philosophy or Religious Studies course that is full. Just see the secretary.
Take all the lower-level course requirements as soon as possible, since they are prerequisites from some of the advanced requirements, and excellent preparation in any case.
Take one of PHIL 301/302/303/320/327/335/391 as soon as possible since this will satisfy part of the core requirement and permit you to take PHIL 490 Philosophy Seminar.
Take honors sections of PHIL courses wherever possible (since they are typically smaller and more sophisticated). We often have honors sections of the introductory ethics courses. Even if the section is full, we will let you in.
PHIL 490 Philosophy Seminar is offered every semester. It can be taken for credit twice as long as it is on a different topic. If you take it more than once, you may be able to substitute one of the seminars for one of the core requirements (if the topic is appropriate). To satisfy the senior capstone requirement, take PHIL 490 at least once after you have earned senior status (completed 85 credit hours).
Many upper-level courses are offered only once every two years.

Anthony Ellis, Chair: ajellis@vcu.edu

C. Diane Bentley, Secretary: cdbentley@vcu

Philosophy Home Page

Revised 11/11/2009