The department of philosophy is committed to the principle that the study of philosophy is a cornerstone of a liberal arts education, an education that enriches and empowers students by introducing them to rigorous analysis of their ways of thinking and acting. We take philosophy, broadly construed, to be the process of investigating and questioning human beings’ place in nature and history as well as their responsibilities to one another and to themselves, based upon the most complete, presently available understanding of science, culture, art, and religion. What distinguishes a philosophical mind is a habit of weighing the coherence, completeness, and trenchancy of various beliefs, arguments, and theories, and of doing so self-consciously within the historical context that marks our finite, human condition. The cultivation of these habits of mind enhances students’ abilities to learn across the curriculum, to contribute to the advancement of institutions, from arts and sciences to governments and global relations, and- not least- to grapple with the challenges and wonder of their own lives. For all these reasons, the overriding aim of the department of philosophy’s program is to help students develop these philosophical habits. Reflecting its history and the present make-up of its members, the department is in the advantageous position of being able to pursue this aim through six main areas of research: analytic philosophy and logic, ethics and political philosophy, history of philosophy, phenomenology and pragmatism, philosophy of religion, and philosophy and history of science.

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