Teaching Philosophy

Volume 30, Issue 4, December 2007

Teaching To / By / About People with Disabilities

Unreasonable Accommodations?
Waiving Formal Logic Requirements for Students with (Relevant) Disabilities

Since formal logic courses are typically required in philosophy programs, students with certain cognitive disabilities are barred from pursuing philosophy degrees. Are philosophy programs (legally or morally) obligated to waive such requirements in the case of students with disabilities? A comparison is made between the formal logic requirement and the foreign language competency requirement, which leads to a discussion of what areas of study are essential to mastery of philosophy. Ultimately, it is concluded that at this point in the discipline’s development, formal logic is required at the graduate level (but could be waived at the undergraduate level).