Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University

Gateway courses

Each of these unlocks the largest share of downstream work on this map. Courses from other departments can appear here when they genuinely gate PHIL coursework.

• PHIL 301Metaphysicsopens 2 courses (2 directly)
• PHIL 300Philosophical Conceptsopens 1 course (1 directly)
• PHIL 302Epistemologyopens 1 course (1 directly)
• PHIL 303Philosophy of Languageopens 1 course (1 directly)
• PHIL 304Philosophy of Mindopens 1 course (1 directly)
• PHIL 320Philosophy of Lawopens 1 course (1 directly)

The map

Intro tiers at the top, advanced work below; arrows point from a prerequisite to the course it unlocks. Courses from other departments appear where they gate PHIL work. Click any course to see what it requires and unlocks without leaving this page; hovering lights up its neighbors. The lists on this page carry the same courses in text form.

Showing the 28 PHIL and feeder courses that have prerequisite links. 6 more PHIL courses have no recorded prerequisites. They are listed under Tracks below, not drawn as loose dots here.

Concentration routes

The concentrations and majors that build on PHIL, and how their requirements are structured. Expand a program to see which courses satisfy each group, then plan it in the Planner.

Tracks

Upper-level clusters, grouped by the gateway that opens them.

The longest ladders

The deepest prerequisite chains in PHIL. These are the routes that take the most semesters to climb.

• 3 courses deep, ending at PHIL 490

  1. PHIL 101Introduction to Philosophy
  2. PHIL 300Philosophical Concepts
  3. PHIL 490Seminar in Philosophy

• 3 courses deep, ending at PHIL 496

  1. PHIL 101Introduction to Philosophy
  2. PHIL 301Metaphysics
  3. PHIL 496Senior Research Project

• 2 courses deep, ending at PHIL 320

  1. PHIL 201Introduction to Ethics
  2. PHIL 320Philosophy of Law

• 2 courses deep, ending at PHIL 412

  1. UNIV 200Advanced Focused Inquiry: Literacies, Research and Communication
  2. PHIL 412Zen Buddhism

Grade medians

Professors

No section schedule with instructor names for PHIL yet.

Clubs & organizations

No clubs or organizations on record under PHIL yet.

Clubs students here join

Department events

Philosophy does not run a page here yet. When it does, its events show up here and on the VCU campus feed.