About The Discipline of Philosophy:
Students of philosophy seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other.
For example:
- Philosophy questions the nature and extent of knowledge and truth: How is truth different from belief or opinion? What does it mean to "prove" something? Is knowledge based upon sensory experience, abstract rules, or something else? Are there limits to what can be known?
- Philosophy also questions the nature of reality: Is there an external world? What is the relationship between physical existence and mental perception? Does God exist?
- Many philosophical questions concern the foundations and implications of other disciplines: What is a scientific explanation? What knowledge of the world does science provide? Do scientific theories such as evolutionary theory, or quantum mechanics, compel us to modify our understanding of reality?
- Other philosophical questions concern human nature: Do humans truly act freely? Where does our moral compass come from? How do we construct justice? Is that justice political in formation?
The scope of philosophical thought is limited only by the bounds of imagination and human inquiry. What makes philosophy so vital, is that philosophy does not simply aim to master a given set of facts but to teach students how to think, how to speak, and how to write clearly when questioning those sets of facts. The study of philosophy is a process of learning how to read critically, analyze arguments, discern hidden assumptions, think creatively, and how to precisely express one's position in both speech and writing.
An undergraduate degree in philosophy is academically rigorous. It is excellent preparation for law and medicine, software development, as well as a spectrum of entry-level positions in business, public service and more. Read more about the advantages of studying philosophy.