Philosophy Department

Seek to understand.

While literally meaning “the love of wisdom,” philosophy is the most ancient of academic disciplines. Fundamentally, philosophy is about understanding and analyzing arguments, determining whether a particular claim has relevant evidence provided for it, whether the evidence is logically related to the claim, and thus whether the claim is true, false, indeterminate, or as yet unsubstantiated. Philosophy also continuously exposes and evaluates the often hidden assumptions on which claims are based. While many disciplines claim to teach critical thinking and problem-solving skills, philosophy is the one area that literally specializes in such skills.

You will learn not only the basics of philosophy but also have the opportunity to apply the logical and critical skills you develop to conceptual and moral issues in art, science, law, psychology, medicine, religion, language, violence, war, happiness, love, technology, engineering, sexuality, business, culture, literature, race, and the environment.