Philosophy (BA)

Required Courses

Liberal arts education has traditionally placed strong emphasis on the importance of philosophical reflection for the formation of the human person. The philosophy program at DeSales University recognizes this fact and strongly promotes it. This program seeks to encourage the development of the intellectual and moral virtues, helping students not only to think clearly about reality and to know the greatest truths, but also to understand how to conform their practical activity to this knowledge; philosophy at DeSales regards the entire person in his or her humanity. This program is designed to enable students to see philosophy as a dialogue among persons seeking truth, and to promote personal participation in that search. The philosophical insights that result from this search should help students to discriminate and relate the different kinds of knowledge that make up the sum of human learning, and hence enable them to interpret their study of the sciences and the humanities in their significance for the human race. This training takes place within the Christian intellectual tradition and DeSales University’s dedication to Salesian spirituality and Christian Humanism.

To graduate with a BA degree in philosophy, students must complete a 12-course program, designed in conjunction with the philosophy faculty, so as to address the problems of the four major periods of philosophy in our Western tradition.

The following courses are required for all philosophy majors:

• PL - 109 Philosophical Thinking: MOT/Philosophy Credits: 3
• PL - 225 Logic Credits: 3
• PL - 499 Independent Study in Philosophy Credits: 3