Department of Philosophy

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Student Learning Outcomes

Philosophy, BA Student Learning Outcomes

SLO 1   Analytic Reading

  1. Students will be able to extract arguments from primary texts.
  2. Students will be able to distinguish valid from invalid arguments, plausible from implausible premises. 
  3. Students will be able to offer even-handed interpretations of texts, making issues and concerns relevant to the contemporary reader.
  4. Students will be able to contextualize texts relative to one another. 

SLO 2   Argumentative Skills

  1. Students will be able to give valid arguments with plausible premises, anticipating likely objections. 
  2. Students will be able to clearly explain a philosophical problem, canvasing some of its purported solutions, giving arguments for and against each.

SLO 3    Philosophical Knowledge

  1. Students will be able to identify central ideas associated with central figures and movements from the history of philosophy.
  2. Students will be able to identify central ideas and movements within contemporary metaphysics and epistemology.
  3. Students will be able to identify central ideas and movements within contemporary value theory.

SLO 4    Writing

  1. Students will be able to offer critical discussion that goes beyond mere reporting.
  2. Students will be able to articulate fully abstract claims in explicit, minimally figurative language.
  3. Students will be able to sustain a coherent intellectual narrative, including what is relevant, excluding what is not.
  4. Students will demonstrate a mastery of standard written English in matters of grammar, diction, and style. 

Core Philosophy Student Learning Outcome

SLO b   Students will be able to read and think critically. 

 

Last Updated: January 10, 2018