Honors Minors

Honors Minors must complete six credits of work in philosophy. Minors in philosophy will register for 1/2 credit of Senior Honors Study in the Spring term of their senior year. Senior Honors Study does not count toward satisfying the six credit requirement for the minor.   External examiners will set questions and specify additional readings (3-4 articles or book chapters) for the preparation that is to be examined. These questions will be available to students by the end of the Fall term. Honors minors will choose one question for the preparation. They will then produce for the preparation an independent essay of no more than 4,000 words in response to the question they have chosen. 

It is expected that these essays will demonstrate initiative in engaging with problems and texts and that they will develop lines of argumentation beyond what is normally expected of papers produced for seminar discussion. The preparation of the essays will not be supervised by members of the faculty. Conversation among students who are preparing these essays is encouraged, but each student must produce and independent, original essay. The essays must be submitted to the department to be sent to the external examiners by the beginning of the written examination period. There will be no further written examination of preparations beyond these independent essays. 

An external examiner will conduct a 60 minute oral examination on both the independent essay and the materials considered in the preparation (typically all the materials listed on the syllabus for the related seminar).

Honors Minors need at least 4 of their Philosophy credits from Swarthmore.

Honors Minors Philosophy preparation must be taken at Swarthmore.

Starting with the class of 2026 - There is a limit to the number of cross-listed courses that students can count toward the major and minor-
- Majors (honors and course) can only count two cross-listed courses
- Honors minors can only count one
- Course minors have no restrictions

  • Student wishing to add a major or minor in Philosophy must do so by the end of the add/drop period of the Fall term of the senior year.
  • Philosophy students changing their program from course to honors (or honors to course) must do so by the end of the add/drop period of the fall term of the senior year.
  • Philosophy honors students must declare their honors preparations by the end of the add/drop period of the Fall term of senior year.
  • Students wishing to drop an honors major or minor must do so by the end of the add/drop period of the fall term of the senior year.