Joint major in Linguistics & Philosophy

Printable Brochure

Click here for a printable description of the Linguistics & Philosophy major and Honors Program.

Participating Faculty

Linguistics

Philosophy

Major Requirements

The joint major in Linguistics & Philosophy provides a solid foundation in both disciplines and allows students to explore theoretical issues and basic philosophical questions raised in connection with discussions of meaning, intention, and reference.

The academic program consists of 2 foundation courses (one each in Linguistics and Philosophy) plus 11 principal courses (at least 5 within each concentration).

Two foundation courses

To be taken before higher-level Philosophy courses.

Philosophy introduction, one of:

  • CAS PH 100 Intro to Philosophy

  • CAS PH 110 Great Philosophers

  • CAS PH 160 Reasoning and Argumentation

To be taken before higher-level Linguistics courses.

Linguistics introduction

Four additional Philosophy courses

  • CAS PH 310 History of Modern Philosophy

  • CAS PH 360 Symbolic Logic

  • CAS PH 422 Analytic Philosophy or  CAS PH 443 Philosophy of Mind

  • CAS PH 463 Philosophy of Language

Four additional Linguistics courses

Three additional electives

Three additional Linguistics and Philosophy courses above the 100-level, including at least one in Linguistics and one in Philosophy. Recommended courses include:

Philosophy

  • CAS PH 261 Puzzles and Paradoxes

  • CAS PH 265 Minds & Machines

  • CAS PH 266 Mind, Brain and Self

  • CAS PH 270 Philosophy of Science

  • CAS PH 421 Frege, Moore and Russell

  • CAS PH 424 Wittgenstein

  • CAS PH 460 Epistemology

  • CAS PH 461 Computability and Logic

  • CAS PH 462 Foundations of Math

  • CAS PH 465 Philosophy of Cognitive Science

  • CAS PH 467 Mathematical Logic

  • CAS PH 468 Logic and Mathematics

  • CAS PH 486 Topics in Knowledge, Language, and Logic

Linguistics

Declare your major

To declare a Linguistics & Philosophy major in CAS, submit this form to the CAS Records Office (in a new location), and the Hegis code (1514) should be included: http://www.bu.edu/linguistics/UG/ling-major_minor_declare.pdf

Honors program

Follow this link for details on the Linguistics Honors Program, or click here for a printable description of the Linguistics & Philosophy major, including the Honors Program.