Rochester Institute of Technology - Philosophy BS
Philosophy BS
John T. Sanders, Program Director
(585) 475-2465, jts@rit.edu
http://www.rit.edu/philosophy
Program overview
Most of the skills required for student and career success—how to learn, how to apply that learning in professional and personal environments, and how to COMMUNICATE that knowledge—are central to philosophical training. Philosophy students are taught to evaluate complex problems, identify and examine underlying principles, investigate issues from diverse perspectives, and communicate clearly in both written and oral forms.
The philosophy major provides a thorough grounding in the three main areas of philosophy (history, value theory, and reasoning/epistemology), as well as a four-course specialization within philosophy. Students combine philosophy with a core competence (or even a double major) in another discipline, encouraging them to creatively pursue cross-disciplinary relationships. The major concludes with a capstone senior thesis
Plan of study
Students develop skills through a core of philosophy courses which cover the history of philosophy, value theory, and reasoning/epistemology. Students choose four courses in an area of philosophical specialization. Examples of approved areas include: philosophy of mind and cognitive science, philosophy of science and technology, applied ethics, philosophy of the social sciences and political philosophy, philosophy of art and aesthetics, history of philosophy, and philosophy of law. Students also complete a professional core of courses designed to provide foundational knowledge in a professional/technical discipline outside of philosophy, which complements their studies. Philosophy electives, general electives, and liberal arts courses complete the curriculum.
Specializations
Philosophy of mind and cognitive science
This specialization covers the philosophical issues involved in studying intelligence, cognition, identity, consciousness, rationality, creativity and emotion, especially as such concepts and categories are invoked by computer and cognitive scientists, and as they are applied in relation to natural and artificial systems.
Philosophy of science and technology
This specialization examines the concepts, methodologies, and philosophical implications of science and technology, and explores the underlying theories, practices, and consequences of science and technology and their role in shaping societies and their values.
Applied ethics
This specialization examines the ethical underpinnings of different professions as well as the ethical presuppositions and implications of technology, engineering, science, management, and other disciplines. Attention is also given to ethics education within the professions and to the role professional ethicists can play in different professional and organizational settings.
Philosophy of social sciences and political philosophy
This specialization examines philosophical issues arising from social and political life as well as the disciplines that study them.
Philosophy of art and aesthetics
This specialization examines how different philosophical frameworks conceive of the various arts and crafts and the forms of creative experience and production with which they are engaged; explores the relationship between aesthetic perception and other forms of experience and judgment, between art and society, between art and ethics, and between art and technology.
