Program Description

Our department offers a B.A. degree in Philosophy. Students can choose a religious studies option or a philosophy option in the major. The department has a diverse faculty and offers the full range of courses necessary for the major or the minor over a four year span. Many of our students take philosophy as a second major based on their passionate interest in the subject matter. Our department offers a balanced array of upper division courses in the history of philosophy, including courses in phenomenology, hermeneutics and applied ethics, among others.

We prepare majors and minors who are well-grounded in the history of Western thought and who are able to think for themselves both critically and analytically. We believe that the study of philosophy is an integral part of a liberal arts education. Furthermore, we recognize the importance of cultural diversity and, through our course offerings and other instructionally related activities, address multicultural concerns.

For more details about our program, please see the Philosophy entry in the University Catalog.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the views of some historically important philosophers (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Nietzsche).
2. Demonstrate knowledge of the main concepts and theories of ethics (e.g., egoism, altruism, rights, duties, utilitarianism, Kantianism, virtue ethics) through the application of these concepts and theories to case studies and contemporary moral issues.
3. Identify and reflect on values and intellectual and intuitive responses to ethical issues through analysis of case studies in such areas as justice, abortion, and the impact of humans on the environment.
4. Articulate an understanding of connections between reason and feeling and between cultural and intellectual traditions.
5. Express conclusions with awareness of the degree to which these conclusions are supported by evidence.
6. Demonstrate imaginative, creative, and reflective abilities by articulating philosophical insights.
7. Present effectively in writing an extended argument on a topic of ethical importance.
8. Articulate counter-arguments to one's own position.
9. Ask questions to clarify problems further.
10. Demonstrate openness and intellectual humility by approaching situations involving a conflict of views in a spirit of inquiry.
11. Demonstrate increasing awareness of the complexity of issues and of the necessity of examining issues from many different perspectives.