Philosophy - Illinois Wesleyan University

Philosophy from Illinois Wesleyan University is a Campus Bachelor Philosophy degree that prepares you for a Liberal Arts career. What do Philosophy Majors do? Philosophers try to make sense of reality and human experience through critical reflection and argument. The study of philosophy involves asking questions about the nature of knowledge, reality, and values, and formulating and evaluating answers to these questions. In the course of such studies, students learn to reason more effectively, and to form and defend principled views. The department aims to: (1) help students from all fields develop habits of critical reading, thinking and writing; (2) introduce students to philosophical issues including the nature of consciousness, personal identity, morality, and skepticism; (3) explore these and other traditional philosophical issues through the writings of such classical philosophers as Plato, Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Mill; and (4) aid students in tracing connections among various disciplines. The philosophy department offers courses to meet the needs of general education students wishing to explore perplexing and controversial questions about the fundamental nature of the world and human experience. Since the best way to learn about philosophy is by doing it, all philosophy courses offer an open forum for a disciplined exchange of ideas. In such open forums students and professors learn from one another, and from the careful reading and critical analysis of philosophical works. Among the traditional tasks of philosophers is the investigation of the aims and methodology of other disciplines and specific problems that arise from them. Thus the department offers courses that probe the philosophical assumptions and implications of different disciplines, including courses in the philosophies of Religion, Natural Science, Psychology, Education, and Law. Philosophy faculty and students are active participants in IWINK, an interdisciplinary, student-faculty research project that investigates the nature of the mind. The department offers challenging programs for students who major or minor in philosophy . It offers a diverse selection of courses from the different branches of philosophy, teaching both historical and contemporary material from original works (in English translation where necessary). Because philosophers investigate the foundations of other disciplines, philosophy is often studied in conjunction with another discipline. Many philosophy majors or minors have a second major or a minor in such fields as Literature, Political Science, Religion, Biology, Psychology, and Music. Majors and minors have considerable freedom to pursue their individual interests in independent studies, internships and research honors. Students may declare a major in philosophy as late as their junior year. View more details on Illinois Wesleyan University . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Philosophy courses.