As a philosophy major at Fresno Pacific University, your pursuit of wisdom and truth will help you explore the unsettling questions of reality, knowledge, morality, God, evil, freedom, and the soul. Our courses will familiarize you with classic and foundational texts in philosophy, ethics and reasoning. Through critical thinking and argumentation, you’ll learn to think for yourself while engaging in discussions and interactive class projects. Whether you spend a week in silence studying the vice of vanity, express philosophy through creative writing or visual art, or publish your best work in a philosophy journal, you’ll learn from top Christian philosophers committed to your intellectual and personal formation.
Highlights
- A majority of philosophy majors are published authors by/near graduation.
- Small class sizes allow for seminar style classes and high level of engaged discussions
- Attend philosophy conferences as part of the Central Valley Philosophical Association
- Flexible second major to add to another major
Career opportunities
Philosophy is cross-disciplinary in scope, drawing upon faculty and courses in many divisions of the university and preparing you for diverse career options. Our graduates possess the critical thinking skills in high demand in today’s evolving job market and are well equipped to enter a variety of graduate programs and careers, traditionally scoring higher than all other majors in graduate school placement exams. Philosophy is also a top degree for entering law school and medical school. You’ll also be prepared for careers or graduate study in competitive business programs, theology and ministry, communication and tech industries, analytics, teaching, and many more.
Course listing
In order to obtain a bachelor’s degree from Fresno Pacific University, students must complete at least 120 units. Along with completing all required courses in their selected area of study, general education requirements must be met by all graduates. See the general education summary in the undergraduate academic catalog for more information.
Select programs may not provide enough units for a student to graduate and therefore an emphasis and/or elective courses must be completed alongside the major. Please see below for emphases related to this area of study.
General Education Prerequisites (3 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 100 | Introduction to Philosophy | 3 |
Required Courses* (Minimum 33 Units)
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 103 | Logic and Critical Thinking | 3 |
| PHIL 110 | Introduction to Philosophical Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 331 | Ancient Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 335 or PHIL 450 | Modern Philosophy or History of Political Theory and Ideas | 3 |
| PHIL 485 | Senior Project | 3 |
Electives
Select at least 18 units from the following
| Code | Title | Units |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 286 | Topics in Philosophy ** | 3 |
| BUS 365 | Business Ethics | 3 |
| HIST 435 | American Intellectual History | 4 |
| HIST 360 | Greece: Drama and Paideia in the Polis | 4 |
| LIT 426 | English Literature: C.S. Lewis | 3 |
| LIT 460 | Critical Approaches to Literature | 3 |
| PHIL 330 | Ancient and Medieval Rhetoric | 3 |
| PHIL 333 | Medieval Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 340 | Eastern Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 370 | Bioethics | 3 |
| PHIL 393 | Twentieth Century Western Thought | 3 |
| PHIL 405 | Philosophy of Religion | 3 |
| PHIL 430 | American Wilderness Literature and Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 450 | History of Political Theory and Ideas | 3 |
| PHIL 455 | Philosophy of Language | 3 |
| PHIL 460 | Philosophy of History | 3 |
| PHIL 470 | History and Philosophy of Science | 4 |
| PHIL 486 | Topics in Philosophy ** | 3 |
| PSY 450 | History and Systems of Psychology | 4 |
| THEO 430 | Contemporary Theologies | 3 |
*An upper-division course from another program may count toward the philosophy major if the course is pertinent to the philosophy major and approved by the philosophy program director. In addition to PHIL 100, philosophy majors are strongly encouraged to take PHIL 103, PHIL 331 and PHIL 335 before taking other upper-division courses.
** Multiple iterations of PHIL 286 or PHIL 486 can be taken, when the topic designation of each course is distinct from other iterations student has completed.
Program director
