Philosophy
Dr. Logan P. Gage, chair
Dr. Brandon Dahm, director of MA Program
Dr. Javier Carreno (Austrian Program)
Dr. Michael Healy
Dr. Patrick Lee
Dr. Robert McNamara
Dr. Alex Plato
Dr. Rashad Rehman
Dr. Matthew Shea
Dr. Paul Symington
Mission Statement and Aims
Philosophy is the study of the most basic questions of human existence, such as what a person is, how far our freedom extends, how matter and spirit come together in human nature, where the moral law comes from, how the mind knows reality, and how God can be known through reason and experience. In philosophy we examine these questions by probing human experience, by rational analysis, and also by studying closely the tradition of Western philosophy. Although philosophy is in many ways close to Christian theology, giving much to it and receiving much from it, philosophy is an entirely distinct and in some ways more fundamental discipline. In studying philosophy one also develops habits of critical thought; one develops powers of articulating, distinguishing, and arguing. The philosophy courses are, therefore, not just for future teachers of the subject, but for everyone who agrees with Socrates that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”
Assessment Learning Goals
- To recognize the most important questions of philosophy and to be able to approach them in a specifically philosophical way.
- To know how to read a philosophical text carefully and sympathetically and to evaluate it critically.
- To be able to show understanding of the boundaries between philosophical and non-philosophical discourse.
Philosophy Course Descriptions