Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences · major
Philosophy requirements
Explore the reviewed Philosophy major at Boston College, organized by requirement and course.
Two Core courses in Philosophy (6 credits): one of the approved Philosophy Core sequences
Choose from these approved options.
- PHIL1070 Philosophy of the Person I
- PHIL1071 Philosophy of the Person II
- PHIL1089 Person and Social Responsibility II
- PHIL1091 Perspectives on Western Culture II/Perspectives II
- PHIL2151 Philosophical Perspectives on Science II
- PHIL1088 Person and Social Responsibility I
- PHIL1090 Perspectives on Western Culture I/Perspectives I
- PHIL2150 Philosophical Perspectives on Science
History of Philosophy distribution (one course)
Choose from these approved options.
- PHIL2151 Philosophical Perspectives on Science II
- PHIL4405 Greek Philosophy
- PHIL4408 Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Philosophy
- PHIL5005 Medieval Philosophy
- PHIL5528 Skepticism, Stoicism, and Neo-Platonism
- PHIL5549 Selected Readings in Phenomenology
- PHIL6555 Heidegger and Politics
- PHIL2525 The Great Conversation I: Ancient & Medieval Philosophers
- PHIL3135 Dante's Sinners in Inferno and Purgatory
- PHIL5015 Kant's First Critique
- PHIL5075 Kant's Religion Within the Boundary of Mere Reason
- PHIL5235 Space and Time: Aristotle to Einstein
- PHIL5320 Crisis and Renewal in Early 20th-Century Europe
- PHIL6401 Plotinus On Providence
Knowledge and Reality distribution (one course)
Choose from these approved options.
- PHIL2151 Philosophical Perspectives on Science II
- PHIL2264 Logic
- PHIL4001 Feminisms and Philosophies of Difference
- PHIL4408 Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Philosophy
- PHIL5005 Medieval Philosophy
- PHIL5440 Philosophical Implications of Artificial Intelligence
- PHIL5528 Skepticism, Stoicism, and Neo-Platonism
- PHIL5529 Metaphysics
- PHIL5549 Selected Readings in Phenomenology
- PHIL5577 Symbolic Logic
- PHIL3250 Buddhist Modernism
- PHIL3314 Mind and Body
- PHIL3420 Philosophy of Race and Racism
- PHIL5235 Space and Time: Aristotle to Einstein
Ethics and Value distribution (one course)
Choose from these approved options.
- PHIL4001 Feminisms and Philosophies of Difference
- PHIL2233 Values in Social Services and Health Care
- PHIL2261 Telling Truths I: Writing for the Cause of Justice
- PHIL4555 The Problem of Evil
- PHIL4565 Happiness and Utopia: Thinking about the Ideal Life
- PHIL5512 Philosophy of Existence
- PHIL5650 Law and Interpretation
- PHIL6555 Heidegger and Politics
- PHIL6633 Hermeneutics of Christian Life
- PHIL3250 Buddhist Modernism
- PHIL3255 The Idea of the Self: Philosophical Perspectives
- PHIL3290 Philosophy of Love and Friendship
- PHIL3420 Philosophy of Race and Racism
- PHIL5075 Kant's Religion Within the Boundary of Mere Reason
- PHIL5320 Crisis and Renewal in Early 20th-Century Europe
- PHIL5425 Ricoeur and the Problem of Evil
Free Philosophy electives (five courses, 15 credits); up to two approved cognate courses in other departments may also count
Choose from these approved options.
- PHIL2151 Philosophical Perspectives on Science II
- PHIL2216 Boston: An Urban Analysis
- PHIL2230 Mass Incarceration: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives
- PHIL2262 Telling Truths II: Depth Writing as Service
- PHIL2264 Logic
- PHIL2294 Cultural and Social Structures II
- PHIL3692 Medieval Women Philosophers
- PHIL4001 Feminisms and Philosophies of Difference
- PHIL4403 Does God Exist?
- PHIL4429 Freud and Philosophy
- PHIL4454 Unheard Voices: Philosophy at the Crossroads of Identity
- PHIL4495 Self-Knowledge and Discernment
- PHIL5240 Figures in Analytic Philosophy
- PHIL5442 Faith and Reason
- PHIL5534 Environmental Ethics: Value of Nature/Nature of Value
- PHIL6605 Augustine
- PHIL6687 Back to Earth: Towards a Symbiotic Ecology
- PHIL2225 Freedom
- PHIL2259 Perspectives on War, Aggression, and Conflict Resolution I
- PHIL2490 Philosophy in Great Plays
- PHIL2526 The Great Conversation II: Modern and Contemporary Philosophers
- PHIL3025 Dante's Saints and Boethius
- PHIL3210 Knowledge and Reality
- PHIL3270 Hermeneutics of Justice
- PHIL4010 Introduction to Latin American Philosophy
- PHIL4410 Philosophy and Medicine
- PHIL4450 Ancient Moral Philosophy
- PHIL4602 Self & Community
- PHIL5010 Africana Philosophy
- PHIL5250 Philosophy and Poetry in the 20th Century: Rilke, Auden, Celan
- PHIL5300 Women Virtue Ethicists
- PHIL5418 Capstone: Working, Playing, Being
- PHIL5419 Capstone: A Life Well Lived
- PHIL5551 Jaspers' History of Metaphysics:Descartes, Spinoza, Pascal and Leibniz
- PHIL5563 Ethics, Religion, and International Politics
- PHIL5570 The Irish Mind
- PHIL5599 Kant's Moral Philosophy
- PHIL6200 Morals and Politics
- PHIL6230 The Socratic Aporia Dialogues
- PHIL6235 Aquinas on Science and Nature
- PHIL6670 Technology and Culture
- PHIL2150 Philosophical Perspectives on Science
- PHIL2233 Values in Social Services and Health Care
- PHIL2261 Telling Truths I: Writing for the Cause of Justice
- PHIL2291 Philosophy and Theology of Community I
- PHIL2444 The Vegetative Soul: The Hidden Life of Plants
- PHIL3690 Energy Justice: Ethics, Economics, and the Environment
- PHIL3999 The Ethics of Emerging Technologies
- PHIL4405 Greek Philosophy
- PHIL4408 Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Philosophy
- PHIL4555 The Problem of Evil
- PHIL4565 Happiness and Utopia: Thinking about the Ideal Life
- PHIL4931 Senior Honors Seminar
- PHIL4932 Perspectives Seminar
- PHIL5005 Medieval Philosophy
- PHIL5440 Philosophical Implications of Artificial Intelligence
- PHIL5505 The Aristotelian Ethics
- PHIL5512 Philosophy of Existence
- PHIL5515 How to Save the World: Ethics of Climate Change
- PHIL5528 Skepticism, Stoicism, and Neo-Platonism
- PHIL5529 Metaphysics
- PHIL5549 Selected Readings in Phenomenology
- PHIL5577 Symbolic Logic
- PHIL5650 Law and Interpretation
- PHIL6555 Heidegger and Politics
- PHIL6633 Hermeneutics of Christian Life
- PHIL2164 The Challenge of Peace
- PHIL2210 Animals, Machines, and Human Beings: From Aristotle to AI
- PHIL2476 Rumi and the Sufi Imagination: Mysticism and Love in Persian Poetry (in Translation)
- PHIL2485 The Good Life in Japan
- PHIL2525 The Great Conversation I: Ancient & Medieval Philosophers
- PHIL3135 Dante's Sinners in Inferno and Purgatory
- PHIL3250 Buddhist Modernism
- PHIL3255 The Idea of the Self: Philosophical Perspectives
- PHIL3290 Philosophy of Love and Friendship
- PHIL3307 Teaching Assistantship
- PHIL3314 Mind and Body
- PHIL3420 Philosophy of Race and Racism
- PHIL4402 How to Begin Thinking: Aftermaths of Twentieth-Century Literature, Philosophy, History
- PHIL4901 Readings and Research
- PHIL4921 Advanced Independent Research
- PHIL5007 Mahayana Buddhism: Thought and Practice
- PHIL5015 Kant's First Critique
- PHIL5075 Kant's Religion Within the Boundary of Mere Reason
- PHIL5235 Space and Time: Aristotle to Einstein
- PHIL5320 Crisis and Renewal in Early 20th-Century Europe
- PHIL5377 Philosophically Religious 1
- PHIL5425 Ricoeur and the Problem of Evil
- PHIL5901 Special Topics: The Ethics and Politics of Capitalism
- PHIL5950 Ethics and Happiness in Modern Philosophy
- PHIL6401 Plotinus On Providence
Source and limitations
Requirements sourced from Boston College University Catalog — Philosophy.
Applies to the Current University Catalog; students should confirm their catalog year cohort.
97 courses across 5 requirement groups.
Requirement eligibility varies by school, cohort, and section. Confirm every degree requirement in EagleApps or with an advisor.