Undergraduate Programme in Philosophy

To earn a 3 Year Philosophy Major, students must complete at least 12 courses (48 credits) in Philosophy and another course in any area. The 12 courses are:

• PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
• PHI-1060: Symbolic Logic
• Two courses in the Indian & Non-Western Philosophy category
• Two courses in the History of Western Philosophy category
• Three courses from the Contemporary Core category
• Three Elective courses (any Philosophy course)

Information ​​​​​​​about course categories can be found at this webpage and at the sites listing present and future courses and past courses.

​​​​​​​Note: No more than 2 cross-listed courses that are offered by non-Philosophy faculty members can count toward the major. There is no cap on the number of cross-listed courses offered by Philosophy faculty members that can count towards the major.

To earn a 4 Year Philosophy Major, students must complete at least 12 courses (48 credits) in Philosophy and another six courses in any area. The 12 courses are:

• PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
• PHI-1060: Symbolic Logic
• Two courses in the Indian & Non-Western Philosophy category
• Two courses in the History of Western Philosophy category
• Three courses from the Contemporary Core category
• Three Elective courses (any Philosophy course)

Information ​​​​​​​about course categories can be found at this webpage and at the sites listing present and future courses and past courses.

​​​​​​​Note: No more than 2 cross-listed courses that are offered by non-Philosophy faculty members can count toward the major. There is no cap on the number of cross-listed courses offered by Philosophy faculty members that can count towards the major.

To earn a 4 Year Philosophy Major with Research, students must complete at least 12 courses (48 credits) in Philosophy and another six courses in any area. They must also write a capstone thesis. The 12 courses are:

• PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
• PHI-1060: Symbolic Logic
• Two courses in the Indian & Non-Western Philosophy category
• Two courses in the History of Western Philosophy category
• Three courses from the Contemporary Core category
• Three Elective courses (any Philosophy course)

Information ​​​​​​​about course categories can be found at this webpage and at the sites listing present and future courses and past courses.

​​​​​​​Note: No more than 2 cross-listed courses that are offered by non-Philosophy faculty members can count toward the major. There is no cap on the number of cross-listed courses offered by Philosophy faculty members that can count towards the major.

Any Ashoka 4th year undergraduate student is eligible to write a thesis in Philosophy. A typical thesis writer will be a major in Philosophy, PPE, PHICS, or PSYPHI. In exceptional circumstances, a student with a major in another discipline may write a Philosophy thesis.

Requirements

• Agreement from an eligible advisor to advise the thesis
• Enrollment in PHI-4998: Capstone Research (Monsoon) and PHI-4999: Capstone Thesis (Spring)
• Completion of course requirements in PHI-4998 and PHI-4999
• A passing grade (D- or above) in PHI-4998
  • Students who do not receive a D- or above in 4998 will not be allowed to continue the thesis process
• Annotated bibliography and prospectus due end of Monsoon semester
• Thesis and thesis defense presentation due end of Spring semester
• The student is expected to be in contact with their thesis advisor throughout both semesters and to work closely with their advisor

Timeline

• Spring semester, 3rd year (or later)

1. 1. 1. The student secures agreement from an advisor to advise the thesis
      2. The student fills out the capstone thesis registration form on the AMS

• Summer between 3rd and 4th year

1. 1. 1. The student engages in preliminary work on the thesis, if they wish to do so, under supervision of advisor

• Monsoon semester, 4th year

1. 1. 1. The student enrolls in PHI-4998

• Spring semester, 4th year

1. 1. 1. The student enrolls in PHI-4999

Advisor Eligibility

• A student’s thesis advisor must be a permanent faculty member in the Philosophy department at Ashoka
• A thesis may have a secondary advisor who is a faculty member (visiting or permanent) in any department at any university
  • It is recommended that secondary advisors be permanent (rather than visiting) faculty
• Any secondary advisor must be approved by the primary advisor

Philosophy and Computer Science (PHICS) is an interdisciplinary major combining Philosophy and Computer Science.

To major in PHICS students must complete the following 17 courses:

• PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
• PHI-1060: Symbolic Logic
• CS-1101: Introduction to Computer Programming
• CS-1104: Discrete Mathematics
• CS-1216: Computer Organization and Systems
• CS-1205: Algorithm Design and Analysis
• CS-1309: Introduction to Machine Learning
• CS-1340: Computer Networks
• CS-1319: Programming Language, Design and Implementation
• CS-2349/PHI-2070 :Theory of Computation or Introduction to Computability Theory
• One course from between PHI-X600 and PHI-X829 (Ethics)
• One course from between PHI-X240 and PHI-X359 (Philosophy of Science, Math, or Language)
• Any three Philosophy courses
• Any two Computer Science courses

Psychology and Philosophy (PSYPHI) is an interdisciplinary major combining Psychology and Philosophy.

To major in PSYPHI students must complete the following 16 courses:

• PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
• PSY-1001: Introduction to Psychology OR PSY-1003: Thinking Like a Psychologist
• PSY-2001: Statistics and Research Methods I
• PSY-2002: Statistics and Research Methods II
• Any three out of the following:
  • PSY-2011: Biological Psychology
  • PSY-2021: Cognitive Psychology
  • PSY-2031: Developmental Psychology
  • PSY-2041: Clinical Psychology
  • PSY-2051: Social Psychology
• Five more courses from Philosophy
• Four more courses from Philosophy or Psychology or both

Information about the Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) Interdisciplinary Major can be found at this webpage.

To earn a Minor in Philosophy, students must complete at least 6 courses (24 credits) in Philosophy.

• UG23 and earlier:
  • PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
  • PHI-1060: Symbolic Logic
• UG24 and later:
  • PHI-1000 Intro to Philosophy​​​​​​​
  • One Elective course (any Philosophy course)
• Everybody:
  • One course from the Indian & Non-Western Philosophy category
  • One course from from the History of Western Philosophy category
  • One course from the Contemporary Core category
  • One Elective (any Philosophy course)

Information ​​​​​​​about course categories can be found at this webpage and at the sites listing present and future courses and past courses.

​​​​​​​Note: No more than 2 cross-listed courses that are offered by non-Philosophy faculty members can count toward the minor. There is no cap on the number of cross-listed courses offered by Philosophy faculty members that can count towards the minor.

To earn a Concentration in Philosophy students must complete at least four courses (16 credits) in Philosophy.

• UG23 and earlier:
  • PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
  • PHI-1060: Symbolic Logic
  • Two further courses in two different categories from among the three categories:
    • Indian & Non-Western Philosophy
    • History of Western Philosophy
    • Contemporary Core
• UG24 and later:
  • PHI-1000: Introduction to Philosophy
  • Three further courses in at least two different categories from among the three categories:
    • Indian & Non-Western Philosophy
    • History of Western Philosophy
    • Contemporary Core

Information ​​​​​​​about course categories can be found at this webpage and at the sites listing present and future courses and past courses.

All courses in a Philosophy concentration must be taught by Philosophy faculty.