Philosophy is the study of fundamental ideas about the world we live in. It questions the nature of our world, asks what would constitute a good life in such a world, and asks what could be done to make it better. Students will be introduced to areas central to philosophy including:
Metaphysics - the study of what sorts of things exist in the world, and how they are related: for instance, whether there is a mind or soul and if so, how it is related to the body.
Epistemology - the study of what constitutes knowledge of the world, and of what methods can be used to obtain it.
Ethics and aesthetics - what is the nature of the good and the beautiful, and how may such value judgements be justified.
Political philosophy - the principles that underlie the structure of a just society.
Philosophy of language - the notions of meaning, truth and linguistic understanding.
Philosophy of mind - the relationship between consciousness and physical reality.
Logic - the theory of reasoning. Logicians study what makes for a good argument or inference, and try to identify underlying structural features of argumentation
