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The Philosophy BA Program: Student Learning Outcomes

(2007‐08)

Goals

1. Each student will be able to engage in articulate argument on political, social, and ethical issues through applying philosophical habits of thought.
2. Each student will be able to engage in a sophisticated level of reading and writing about the large concerns of leading an individual life and of being with others in communities.
3. Each student will be able to make effective use, in reflecting on a range of issues, of knowledge of the broad currents of intellectual history and of the thoughts of leading historical figures in philosophy.
4. Each student will read with understanding a range of primary texts in philosophy that require the application of advanced analytical and conceptual skills to the study of often highly abstract ideas.
5. Each student will be able to apply philosophical training to other fields of interest, such as art, religion, literature, psychology, Asian studies, and women's studies.
6. Especially able students will be prepared for academic study beyond the bachelor's degree.

Objectives

1.1 Given a philosophical argument of modest difficulty, students will be able to give an analysis of the principal moves of the argument.
1.2 Given a topic area of modest difficulty, students will be able to develop their own well-constructed arguments.
1.3 Given a philosophical argument of an advanced level of difficulty, students will be able to give an analysis of the principal moves of the argument.
1.4 Given a philosophical argument of an advanced level of difficulty, students will be able to weigh critically reasons for and against accepting the argument's conclusion.
1.5 Given a topic area of an advanced level of difficulty, students will be able to develop their own well-constructed arguments.
1.6 Each student will be able to engage in serious critical reflection about ethical and social issues important to contemporary life.

2.1 Students will be able, in a brief, clear, well-organized essay, to summarize accurately a section of a philosophical text.
2.2 Students will be able, in a brief, clear, well-organized essay, to weigh different interpretations of philosophical passages and to compare the points of view of different texts.
2.3 Students will be able, in a clear, well-organized essay, to take a critical stance towards a philosophical text.
2.4 Students will be able to write a longer, extended essay that develops the virtues described in objectives 2.1 - 2.3.
2.5 Students will be able to carry through the development of a philosophical argument in an extended essay of at least forty pages.

3.1 Given essay assignments and examination questions, students will demonstrate an understanding of ancient philosophy.
3.2 Given essay assignments and examination questions, students will demonstrate an understanding of the work of thinkers in broad areas of the history of philosophy.
3.3 Students will demonstrate, in oral and written form, an ability to understand an issue by setting it in a large historical context and to understand the historical origins of contemporary Western institutions and patterns of thought.
3.4 Students will spend a semester examining in depth the texts of a single great philosopher and will demonstrate, in oral and written form, a sophisticated understanding of the philosopher.

4.1 When asked to respond in oral or written form, students will be able to give a clear account of difficult philosophical passages requiring conceptual analysis at a high level of abstraction.

5.1 Students will demonstrate, either in essays or in class discussions, the ability to apply philosophical concepts and habits of reasoning to other fields of study.

6.1 Especially able students who go on to advanced study will perform competently in graduate schools of philosophy, in law schools, and in other areas of advanced study.

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