Philosophy

Associate in Arts Degree Program (Transfer)

Generally, Philosophy asks major questions about reality, existence and living that can be broken down into descriptive and prescriptive questions. These are perennial questions that have puzzled people in general and philosophers in particular for thousands of years. Philosophy can be seen as the effort to better understand questions such as these and to "try out" possible answers to them. These questions fall into one of the following categories:

• Descriptive Philosophy - asks questions like: What is? What are? How is? How do? Could we?
• Prescriptive Philosophy - asks questions like: How should we? What should we? Should we? How ought we?
• Logical Reasoning - Applies to all philosophical reasoning. Asks questions like what are the rules for valid reasoning? What makes an argument valid? What makes an argument convincing? Is mathematics reliable? What constitutes a valid proof?

The UCC program of study in Philosophy is approved for transfer to other major institutions throughout the country that offer majors in Philosophy. Most major institutions such as UO, OSU, and PSU that offer a well rounded program of undergraduate and graduate study also offer majors in Philosophy.

Philosophy 201, 202 and 203 at UCC are online introductory undergraduate courses that are intended to introduce students to philosophy as a rational, systematic study of these and similar philosophical questions. It should be stressed that these are all online courses.

Appropriate companion courses to those studying Philosophy as a major or for a person simply interested in philosophical questions and reasoning would be: Humanities electives, English, Writing, Literature and World History. In addition other courses that would help in the understanding of philosophical issues are: social science electives, and science and math electives.

For more information, contact

Jillanne Michell, Chair of Humanities 
Phone: (541)440-4649
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