Logic is a central area I quoted above from Syracuse University s web site the four core areas of philosophy that students must study are The History of Philosophy Ethics and Moral Theory Metaphysics and The Theory of Knowledge Epistemology and Logic Now from Harvard University basic required courses are an introductory course and one each from 1 Logic 2 Contemporary metaphysics epistemology philosophy of science philosophy of mind philosophy of language 3 Ethics political philosophy aesthetics and 4 History of ancient medieval or modern pre 20th century philosophy Stanford University basic required courses are an introductory course and one each from Logic Philosophy of science Moral and political philosophy Metaphysics and epistemology and History of philosophy Major research universities seem to agree that all undergrad phil majors must take a logic course and incidentally that metaphysics and epistemology can be lumped together at this level While what undergrads must take is hardly the be all and end all of phil it certainly indicates to me that logic is a major area in the minds of academic philosophers I also consider The Development of Logic by Kneale and Kneale to support this position from pg 1 it puts not simply valid argument but the reflection on principles of validity in the context of Plato and Aristotle Of course they also discuss it in the context of math I contend that logic is a central area of phil and merits conclusion alongside ethics and metaphysics epistemology as the three major areas of phil