Philosophy Department

Philosophy students explore topics that have been at the heart of the Western intellectual tradition since 585 B.C., topics like logic and love, God and science, that remain a focus for humans in the 21st century. 

These questions have intrigued generation after generation, and they continue to fascinate the thoughtful person, even though many of these questions appear to be very difficult, if not outright impossible, to answer.

Where Intellectual Curiosity Leads Us

The beauty of philosophy is the discovery that rational inquiry is not always intended to find specific answers to specific questions. It's a process of intellectual growth available to anyone with a sufficient degree of intellectual curiosity.

Among the broad and enduring questions in the Western intellectual tradition:

• What is the right way for human beings to live their lives?
• What is the ultimate structure of reality as we encounter it?
• What is human knowledge and how do we come to have it? Can other sorts of beings have anything like knowledge in the same sense that we have it?
• Is there a God, and, if so, what are the properties that God has?
• What is the nature and structure of scientific inquiry?
• What are the fundamental components of rational thought and practical reasoning?

Faculty Research Areas

Center for Applied and Professional Ethics