B.A. in Philosophy
The philosophy program at LAU intends to offer a course of study that will produce outstanding graduates prepared to approach life’s challenges, interpersonally and professionally, with the greatest possible variety of supple and far-reaching frameworks for reflection, thought, decision, and action.
Corporations and other large international organizations have been clamouring for better educated and more cultured employees capable of thinking for themselves, strong in their communication and comprehension skills. Experience has taught those employers that those who majored in fields such as philosophy, English, and history have repeatedly excelled at their jobs in banking, finance, law, economics, and international relations.
The purpose of the philosophy major at LAU is to produce graduates who have superior critical and analytical capacities, the ability to read and understand some of the most difficult and profound texts ever written, excellent writing abilities; and courageous proclivities for truly independent thinking. The intention of the major is not merely to help students acquire a particular set of skills (although this will be one outcome of the sustained practice of closely reading and thinking about extremely difficult texts, and attempting to write clearly, penetratingly, and persuasively about them), but also to foster an open-minded, tolerant, and receptive outlook on what it is to be human. Graduates with a B.A. in Philosophy are hence expected to have developed the ability to think clearly and reflect deeply about their individual lives, their communities, the world around them, and what it all means.
Curriculum
The Philosophy major requires a total of 92 credits. Students must complete 42 credits in core requirements distributed among 14 courses of three credits each, of which 21 credits are required courses, and the rest are distributed among 3 groups from which selections can be made. Students must also complete a supervised substantial paper (or an approved equivalent) on a topic formulated in consultation with a member of the philosophy faculty.
Requirement for students without the Lebanese Baccalaureate (not required for the major):
| Number | Course | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| PHL101 | Introduction to Philosophy | 3 |
Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements (34 credits)
Core requirements (42 credits)
Required core courses:
| Number | Course | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| PHL210 | Critical and Creative Thinking | 3 |
| PHL211 | Symbolic Logic | 3 |
| PHL201 | Ancient Philosophy: From the pre-Socratics to the Epicureans and the Stoics | 3 |
| PHL202 | Medieval Philosophy: From Plotinus to Ockham | 3 |
| PHL203 | Early Modern Philosophy: From Montaigne to Kant | 3 |
| PHL204 | Modern Philosophy: From Hegel to Heidegger and/or Frege to Wittgenstein | 3 |
| PHL410 | Senior Research Project Seminar | 3 |
Choose 9 credits from twelve core courses in philosophy:
| Number | Course | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| PHL301 | Ethics | 3 |
| PHL302 | Theory of Knowledge | 3 |
| PHL303 | Metaphysics | 3 |
| PHL311 | Philosophy of Religion | 3 |
| PHL321 | Philosophy of Art | 3 |
| PHL322 | Philosophy in Literature and Film | 3 |
| PHL323 | Philosophy of History | 3 |
| PHL324 | Philosophy of Science | 3 |
| PHL325 | Philosophy of Mind | 3 |
| PHL326 | Social and Political Philosophy | 3 |
| PHL327 | Philosophy and Mythology | 3 |
| PHL328 | Arab and Islamic Philosophy | 3 |
Choose 6 credits from courses on the individual philosophers
| Number | Course | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| PHL350 | 3 | |
| PHL376 | 3 |
Choose 6 credits from Special Topics, to be divided among the following five groups:
| Number | Course | Cr |
|---|---|---|
| PHL390 | Contemporary philosophy, to be divided into the following four categories: Existentialism and Phenomenology, Applied Philosophy (such as the Philosophy of the Environment), Analytical Philosophy and the Philosophy of Language, and Critical Theory and post-Modernism. | 3 |
| PHL391 | Courses allowing different interactive combinations among individual philosophers, such as Aristotle and Scholasticism, Heidegger and the pre-Socratics, Plato and Wittgenstein, or Kant and Hegel. | 3 |
| PHL392 | Courses built around specific themes, such as Theory of Being, Philosophy and Science, Philosophy and Mathematics, Philosophy and Poetry, or World Philosophy. | 3 |
| PHL393 | Courses given about Arab and Islamic Philosophy, of which there are at least two possibilities: The roots of this tradition in ancient thought from Greece, Rome, Persia, and India (thus covering the interface between Arab and Islamic philosophy with older traditions); and recent and contemporary Arab and Islamic Philosophy. | 3 |
| PHL394 | Courses covering World Philosophy: philosophical thought – past and present, individually and comparatively – from all major regions of the world. | 3 |
Free electives (9 credits)
Duration
This program requires 92 credits, which can be completed in three years by those entering as sophomores.
Location
This program is offered in Beirut and Byblos.