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Philosophy

The study of philosophy is significant to all who wish to live in a reflective and critical manner. At Yeshiva College, courses in philosophy cover the full range of historical periods. Students closely study many of the classic texts in the field, examine differing areas of philosophical inquiry, and learn rigorous methods of argument. Issues that affect our daily lives are central to philosophical inquiry and analysis: ethics, morality, the nature of knowledge and meaning, the character of the world, freedom, justice, and much more. Philosophy explores fundamental problems of human existence. Virtually every area of human activity—art, science, religion, politics—generates questions and ideas that call for philosophical reflection. As Socrates taught, the unexamined life is not worth living. Philosophy is a discipline unique in its methods and subject matter. Studying its sources and mastering its methods are invaluable in your general undergraduate education. You will learn to analyze complex ideas carefully and clearly; to eschew vague, impressionistic thinking in favor of critical, rigorous, precise reflection; to read with care, curiosity and wonder; to write in an organized and persuasive fashion.

The philosophy program at Yeshiva College attempts to strike a balance between courses that discuss the history of philosophy (that is major thinkers and movements) and courses that cover particular areas and specific problems. Interdisciplinary courses probe the interface of philosophy with other fields, including religious thought, political theory and literature. Some of these courses provide perspectives unavailable at any other college. The Colloquium seminar concentrates in depth on such issues as free will and contemporary ethical and political philosophy.

Mission Statement

The mission of the philosophy department is: (1) to make all students who take philosophy courses intellectually more rigorous (where intellectual rigor consists in being: (i) explicit, (ii) precise, and (iii) meticulously correct about matters of logic), and (2) to prepare students (who intend to do so) to pursue advanced studies in the field or in fields for which training in philosophy (and its attendant intellectual rigor) is especially important, such as Mathematics, Medicine, Law, and Religious Studies. Both aspects of the mission are accomplished by: (i) developing students’ ability to reason, (ii) acquainting students with a selection of fundamentally important philosophical arguments, claims, problems, and paradoxes, and (iii) training students in the intellectually rigorous expression of their own claims and arguments.

Student Learning Goals

  • Evaluate philosophical arguments.
  • Be well acquainted with philosophical issues pertinent to the field.
  • Construct their own philosophical arguments.
  • Effectively communicate their own philosophical arguments.

For more information about the Philosophy Department at Yeshiva College, please contact Professor David Johnson at dajohnso@yu.edu or 212-960-5400 ext. 6292.

Program Information

Please see the Schedule of Classes for the current semester’s offerings.

  • PHI 1010 or 1010H Philosophy and Propositional Logic
    3 credits

    Truth, semantic paradoxes, conditionals and probability, possible worlds, vagueness, logical consequence, and other crucial topics in philosophy.
  • PHI 1011 Introduction to Philosophy I
    3 credit

    A rigorous introduction to philosophy
  • PHI 1100 Logic
    Introduction to formal logic.
  • 3 credits
  • PHI 1130 Symbolic Logic
    3 credits

    Advanced logic. Topics are selected from the following: 1) soundness and completeness proofs; 2) meticulous examination of Godel’s proof of his first incompleteness theorem; 3) modal logic; and 4) axiomatic set theory.
    Prerequisite: PHI 1100.
  • PHI 1220 Philosophy of Language
    3 credits

    Theories of meaning, reference, and truth.
  • PHI 1320 Theories of the Mind
    3 credits

    Examination of rival conceptions of mind and self, and of differing explanatory models for human behavior.
  • 3 credits
  • PHI 1600 Ethics
    Fundamental moral problems such as the place of pleasure and happiness in the moral life, and the relation between individual interests and social obligations. Readings from classical and contemporary works.
  • 3 credits
  • PHI 1800 Philosophy of Art
    3 credits
  • PHI 2170 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
    From the pre-Socratics to Thomas Aquinas, with emphasis on Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Boethius, and Aquinas.
  • 3 credits
  • PHI 2420 Modern Philosophy
    3 credits

    Continental rationalism and British empiricism, from Descartes to Hume.
  • PHI 2560 Philosophy in the 19th and 20th Centuries
    3 credits

    The chief contributions of Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, James, Russell, Ayer, and Wittgenstein.
  • PHI 2650 Phenomenology and Existentialism
    Critical examination of these two related movements, with special attention to the works of Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre.
  • 3 credits
  • PHI 3402 Philosophy of Law
    Fundamental questions about the nature and scope of law, grounds for legal obligation, and the justification of particular jural practices, such as punishment.
  • 3 credits
  • PHI 4901 Independent Study
  • PHI 4911 Guided Project
    Meet with the Yeshiva College academic dean.

Philosophy Major: 30 Credits

Required Courses (21 credits)

  • 1 course chosen (3 credits) from:
    • Ethics, 1600
    • Or an approved course in Value Theory
  • 3 courses chosen (9 credits total) from:
    • Logic, 1100
    • Philosophy of Language, 1220
    • Theories of the Mind, 1320
    • Approved course in Metaphysics and Epistemology
  • Ancient & Medieval Philosophy, 2170 (3 credits)
  • Modern Philosophy, 2420 (3 credits)

Electives - 3 Courses (9 credits total)*

* Up to 6 credits in Jewish Philosophy (JPH) may count as electives toward the major with the approval of a departmental advisor. 

Philosophy Minor (18 Credits)

Required Courses (12 credits)

  • 1 course chosen (3 credits) from:
    • Ethics, 1600
    • Or an approved course in Value Theory
  • 2 courses chosen (6 credits total) from:
    • Logic, 1100
    • Philosophy of Language, 1220
    • Theories of the Mind, 1320
    • Approved course in Metaphysics and Epistemology
  • 1 course chosen (3 credits) from:
    • Ancient & Medieval Philosophy, 2170 (3 credits)
    • Modern Philosophy, 2420 (3 credits)

Electives - 2 Courses (6 credits total)*

* Jewish Philosophy (JPH) courses may count as electives toward the major with the approval of a departmental adviser.

The following list includes faculty who teach at the Beren (B) and/or Wilf (W) campus.

  • Shalom Carmy
    Associate Professor of Philosophy (W)
    David Johnson
    Associate Professor of Philosophy (W)
    Co-Chair, Department of Philosophy
  • Herbert Leventer
    Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy (B)
  • Daniel Rynhold
  • Associate Professor of Jewish Philosophy (W)
  • David Shatz
    University Professor of Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Thought (B)
    Co-Chair, Department of Philosophy

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