Welcome to USFs philosophy department. I am Professor Tom Cavanaugh of the Philosophy Department.  The word Philosophy comes from the Greek word Philosophy meaning a love of or friendship with wisdom.  This friendship with wisdom
 has a history in Jesuit liberal education. Philosophy plays a crucial role at the Jesuit University of San Francisco.  While all USF students will take one or two courses in Philosophy as part of the core curriculum, our majors will work more deeply participate in the tradition of inquiry that spans almost two thousand years.

Philosophy department faculty offer diverse courses, some required, and mostly elective, to complete your philosophy major.  I will introduce you to the outlines of the Philosophy major and the courses in which you should enroll for the upcoming semester.  

Briefly, the major is 44 credit hours, typically 11 courses, 4 of which are required and the remainder made up of different elective courses. The required courses are 310 Ancient & Medieval Philosophy, 312 Modern Philosophy, 315 Ethics for Majors and 319 Logic.  This coming semester you should take one or two courses in Philosophy.  We recommend our Philosophy majors enroll only in our courses listed as 300 or above.

Whether you are an incoming First-Year Student or a Transfer Student, the first of our required courses in which you should immediately enroll is PHIL 310, Ancient & Medieval Philosophy.    This course introduces you to Philosophy by reading the works of Plato, Aristotle and Aquinas amongst others.  PHIL 310 will also fulfill your Core D1 requirement - though it is not listed that way in the course schedule. Do not worry, PHIL 310 is designed for students without any background in Philosophy, just come with your love of wisdom.  

As a second course in your first semester, we recommend PHIL 319, Logic.  This course will hone your critical thinking skills while enabling you to analyze arguments.  Moreover, it will keep you puzzling over logic problems until early in the morning.  

Your schedule should resemble something like this (4 x 4 credit courses)
PHIL 312 Ancient and Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 319 Logic
Core or Rhetoric and Composition course
Core or Language course

In some cases, if you are a transfer student, you may have taken course such as these already.  It is important to review your degree evaluation to determine which courses you need to complete.  We in the Philosophy department look forward to meeting you as does the entire USF faculty and your soon-to-be fellow students. Welcome to USF. Welcome to USFÍs Philosophy department and welcome to the next stage in your friendship with wisdom.

Contact information
philosophy@usfca.edu
415.422.6543