Professor Michael Harrington, Chair
302 McDonnell-Barksdale Honors College

Professor Lawhead
Associate Professor Westmoreland
Assistant Professor Cozad
Visiting Assistant Professor Barnard
Instructor Joyner

MASTER OF ARTS

Admission Requirements
In addition to meeting Graduate School requirements, prospective students should normally show a major in philosophy or at least 18 semester hours of undergraduate philosophy courses. The graduate faculty of the department will make a decision concerning admission after reviewing an applicant's academic records, recommendations, and other relevant factors.

Thesis and Nonthesis Options
Both thesis and nonthesis options are offered for the M.A. degree. The thesis option requires 24 semester hours of course work and 6 semester hours of thesis work. The nonthesis option requires 36 semester hours of course work. The options are described in part below.

1. THESIS OPTION. Students electing the thesis option should submit a one- or two-page thesis prospectus to the departmental graduate faculty by no later than the middle of their third semester. Upon approval of the prospectus and in discussion with the candidate, the faculty will select a director and two other graduate faculty to serve as the thesis committee. The thesis director will be the student's primary adviser and liaison with the graduate school, and together with the other two members of the thesis committee will evaluate the thesis and the oral examination. Prior to the oral defense of the thesis, the student must have completed the written MA comprehensive examination and the exit questionnaire.
2. NONTHESIS OPTION. Students electing the nonthesis option must select their course work in consultation and with the consent of the graduate adviser. During the third semester of graduate work, the students will notify the director of Graduate Studies of their intent to submit a paper to the graduate faculty. Upon approval of the director and in discussion with the candidate, the faculty will select three graduate faculty to hear the paper presentation. The director will be the student's primary adviser and liaison with the graduate school, and together with the other two members of the committee will evaluate the paper and the oral examination. Prior to the oral defense of the paper, the student must have completed the written MA comprehensive examination and the exit questionnaire.
   

Course Descriptions

Philosophy - PHIL

502. PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNITED STATES. Survey of American philosophy from colonial times to present. (3).

503. SEMINAR. Selected topics. Content varies. (3).

506. CONTEMPORARY POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. Philosophical issues in recent political thought. (3).

508. SYMBOLIC LOGIC. Symbolic techniques used in formalizing the basic logical principles and in constructing rigorous proofs and demonstrations. (Same as LING 508.) (3).

511. PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE. Survey of philosophical issues in scientific theory and practice, including the nature of scientific method and explanation. (3).

516. CONTEMPORARY ETHICAL THEORY. Recent ethical and metaethical theories and issues: e.g., the nature of morality, relativism, the relation of ethics to law and religion. (3).

518. CONTEMPORARY THEORIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Recent work in the philosophy of religion, such as process thought, Eastern religion, and religious epistemology. (3).

519. PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE. Survey of major philosophical problems in language, including meaning, reference, and the relations of language to thought and being. (3).

520. PROBLEMS IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS. Selected problems, such as population dynamics, ecosystem disruption, and environmental rights. (3).

607. MAJOR WESTERN PHILOSOPHERS. One or more classical thinkers such as Plato, Aristotle, Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Hegel. (May be repeated for credit). (1-3).

609. STUDIES IN EXISTENTIAL PHILOSOPHY. Basic works and themes in existentialism, centering in the fundamental philosophical questions as they are raised in Hebrew and Greek thought, synthesized in Christian thought, and examined by the existentialist philosophers. (3).

611. PROBLEMS OF METAPHYSICS. Selected issues in theories of reality. (May be repeated for credit.) (3).

613. PROBLEMS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Topics selected in accordance with needs and backgrounds of students. (1-3).

615, 616. RESEARCH. (May be repeated for credit). (1-3).

617. PROBLEMS OF EPISTEMOLOGY. Selected issues in theories of knowledge. (May be repeated for credit.) (3).

619. VALUE THEORY. An examination of the nature and purpose of values in classical and contemporary thought. (Consent of instructor). (3).

697. THESIS. (1-12).

Return to Top of Page

Religion - REL

503. MAJOR ISSUES IN SOUTHERN RELIGION. Selected problems in religion in the American South: e.g., biblical defenses of racial practices, the slave religion controversy, interrelation of evangelical theology and political involvement. (3).

613. PROBLEMS IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Topics selected in accordance with needs and backgrounds of students. (3).

Return to Top of Page