Oct 13, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate and Graduate Catalog

Department of Philosophy


 

Joel Velasco, Ph.D., Chairperson

Professors: Curzer, Nathan, Ribeiro, Webb
Associate Professors: Di Poppa, Flowerree, Hom, Schwartz, Tosi, Velasco
Assistant Professors: Boylan, Gottlieb
Assistant Professor of Practice: Amdur
Lecturer: Westfall

CONTACT INFORMATION: 251 Humanities Building | Box 43092 | Lubbock, TX 79409-3092 | T 806.742.3275 | F 806.742.0730 | www.depts.ttu.edu/philosophy

About the Department

This department supervises the following degree programs and certificate:

The department also participates in the humanities minor  in the Honors College; the fine arts doctoral program in the College of Visual & Performing Arts; a minor in women’s and gender studies ; and minors in European studies , environmental studies , religion studies , Asian studies , cognitive science , and linguistics  in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Undergraduate Program

Education in philosophy develops the ability to think critically, increases understanding of normative issues, provides a unique interdisciplinary perspective on the place of human beings in the universe, gives opportunities for critically examining methods of inquiry, yields a grasp of the development of human ideas in a cross-cultural perspective, and increases one’s ability to understand and communicate with others effectively. Philosophy majors may qualify for graduate work in philosophy in preparation for college or university teaching careers, but a major in philosophy is also recognized by many professional schools and employers as fine preparation because students of philosophy are able to think for themselves in a critical and objective manner.

Evidence that a philosophy education has broad application to various fields can be seen in the remarkable performance of majors on graduate and professional school admission examinations and in their high rate of admission to professional schools. Over recent years, they have scored higher on average than business majors on admissions tests to business schools (GMAT), higher than any other humanities or social science areas on the graduate record examinations (GRE), and third out of 30 disciplines on the law school admission test (LSAT). Additionally, philosophy majors have been more likely than almost any other major to gain admission to medical schools. No other undergraduate discipline can match such a record of achievement across the entire range of professional and graduate schools.

The Department of Philosophy brings distinguished guest speakers to campus for public lectures, classroom discussions, and visits with philosophy majors and graduate students. These visits provide a unique chance to talk informally about philosophical topics with world famous scholars.

Ethics Concentration. Philosophy majors may pursue a concentration in ethics by completing five Philosophy courses that focus on ethics. PHIL 2320 , which is required for the major, is one of the five. The remaining Philosophy courses may be drawn from PHIL 3320 PHIL 3321 , PHIL 3322 , PHIL 3325 , PHIL 4320 , PHIL 4321 , PHIL 4322 , and any other Philosophy courses with topics that cover an aspect of ethics. 

Graduate Program

For information on graduate programs offered by the Department of Philosophy, visit the Graduate Programs  section of the catalog.

Undergraduate Program Offerings, Course Descriptions & Curricular Tables

(Click on program for curricular table.)

Programs

    Bachelor’sUndergraduate Minor

    Courses

      PHIL - Philosophy (Undergraduate Courses)