“Philosophy” (from Greek φιλοσοφία) means “love of wisdom.” It also means the experience of thinking critically about, and finding meaning in, all kinds of personal and global complexity. This experience is fundamental for human beings of all identities and cultures—Western and non-Western, ancient, modern, and postmodern.

The Philosophy and Critical Thought program provides a foundation for further exploration of issues like those above. It affords a deeper grasp of how all areas of knowledge—in the humanities, the natural and social sciences, in the arts and other cultural media, in social, political and ethical life—continually interact with one another and the larger world.

The core of our program gives students a solid grasp of classic philosophical texts and subjects. Many courses also explore emerging perspectives and purposes that are redefining knowledge, experience, and practice across older cultural and disciplinary boundaries in the twenty-first century world.

Students who pursue philosophy majors or minors, or who simply take philosophy courses as electives, have a strong record of achieving successful careers in a rich variety of fields that reward critical and creative thinkers. These fields include (besides teaching philosophy) law, business, psychology and other sciences, IT, and the arts. Philosophy majors are the highest postgraduate wage-earners in the humanities. They are also among the top scorers in all fields in tests such as the GRE, LSAT, and GMAT.

What complexities speak most deeply to you? Our program will help you find out.