Philosophy - Metropolitan State College of Denver

Philosophy from Metropolitan State College of Denver is a Campus Bachelor Philosophy degree that prepares you for a Liberal Arts career. Overview: What is Philosophy? The question about the nature and scope of philosophy is itself a philosophical question. And since, in philosophy, no question is held back, and no final resting place is expected, this question freely admits of no easy or obvious answer. Today it is almost impossible to say, in advance, just what philosophy may take up as the subject of its unique process of reflection or how it will deal with these topics. In this respect, philosophy differs from various old and new disciplines (say, mathematics on the one hand, and psychology, on the other) that do have well-defined fields of inquiry and the widespread appearance of methodological unification. Although the actual degree of agreement (and disagreement) is usually misrepresented, it is important to note that questions such as ?what good is mathematics?' or ?why study psychology?? are not mathematical or psychological questions. Instead, they are preeminently philosophical questions. Furthermore, philosophy reserves the right to insist that the very form of the questions under consideration may require further investigation and careful reformulation. So adjudicating the priority, relevance and formation of any question is itself a philosophical activity. Indeed philosophy is also concerned with the appropriateness of the question ? both its 'when' and its 'where' ? in the flux of philosophical discussion. Since philosophy is fundamentally an activity, philosophy is very different from many other academic subjects: it is not sufficient to study it, one also needs to do it, to actively engage with and in it. So while you need not be a poet to study poetry, studying philosophy involves taking up at least a temporary position in the philosophical conversation, the long, historical record constitutive of the subject. This is because the reality of philosophy is partially inscribed within its concrete historical existence, the fact that it emerged as a human preoccupation some 2500 years ago in the burgeoning Greek culture of the eastern Mediterranean. Indeed the English word ?philosophy? directly echoes and invokes the Greek term philosophia (or, love of wisdom). So, although similar pursuits emerged elsewhere in other cultures, at various time and places, ?philosophy? primarily names the culturally determined conversation that emerged out of the language and world-view of the ancient Greeks. Mindful of the Delphic injunction "Know thyself," the earliest philosophers insisted that the unexamined life was not worth living and so set the human experience on the quest of self-understanding, a project that entails a correlative investigation of the various worlds (natural, social) that human beings come to inhabit. Finally, because philosophy is much older than the university, it developed independent of the kind of structure ultimately imposed on formal higher education. Yet, in the birth of the university, philosophy was quickly adopted as a core component of liberal education, or the education of the free individual. The fit, however, remains imperfect. Indeed, this is one reason why the very concept of a fixed mission statement is itself paradoxical in (at least) the singular case of philosophy . Our Mission The mission of the MSCD Philosophy Department is to provide our students, ourselves, and our community with both formal and informal occasions to reflect upon and engage in, in a serious and systematic way, the great human conversation about the nature and meaning of human existence, with an eye to our correlative commitments to the concepts of truth, freedom and opportunity. Philosophy holds fast to a pursuit of the truth and an examination in which no questions are barred and in which no result is unconsidered, regardless of their beauty, utility, political correctness, or popular appeal. Philosophy names the occasion for the mutual pursuit of truth by faculty and students. But in order to maintain a lively connection with and to contribute to the ongoing endeavor that is philosophy, an essential element of this mission of this department is the fundamental activity of continuing education and professional contributions in the forms of talks, communications, commentary, papers and monographs in our field. On our view, research and instruction are inseparable and so our Department upholds the unity of purpose inherent in the very notion of the teacher-scholar. Through its extracurricular activities, student organizations and the departmental colloquium, we also invite our students to take first steps in similar directions. An education in philosophy is an education for life because it addresses questions and issues of enduring interest, in an engaged and sometimes practical way. Philosophical inquiry recognizes no pre-established limits or disciplinary boundaries in its critical examination of topics of human concern. It enlarges the student's horizon of ideas and encourages the student to critically examine and creatively extend these ideas in a free and open manner. The possibilities of unlocking human potential and increasing self-understanding follow from tools that increase individual autonomy and provide for the liberation from received opinions and empty custom. In this way, individuals may be prepared for a fuller and deeper civic participation and responsibility. Among philosophy's special gifts are enrichments to what are sometimes called ?letters? or the ?humanities? or ?humane studies.? On its humanistic side, the Department provides important and singular offerings to the College's General Studies requirements, as well as to such programs as Honors, Legal Studies, and Women's Studies. Our Department is committed to providing academic programs of study, which feature curricular flexibility and individualized learning, with an eye to increased opportunity. The skills and abilities associated with the disciplinary rigor of the philosophy program ? especially analytical and abstract thinking and clarity in thought and written exposition ? are transferable to almost any conceivable human endeavor. Indeed the emphasis on logic and method are part and parcel of the self-identity of both philosophy and modern natural science. Hence, within and without the academy, it is important to note our discipline's ongoing contributions to mathematical logic, theoretical linguistics, cognitive psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence and statistics and game theory. Accordingly, the Department also assists a number of other colleges, such as the School of Business, and other programs, including Computer Science, IDP, and the Linguistics minor, among others. Our Goals For our students to gain a detailed understanding, sophisticated appreciation and critical awareness: 1. ? of the nature and complexity of human thought, of its critical and creative possibilities, and of the long-standing and continuing contributions (and reactions) to central defining moments in world civilization; 2. ? of the core problems, issues, and approaches, first delineated and associated with philosophical inquiry, and of the ways in which different (sometimes unstated) assumptions shape, determine and constrain fields of human inquiry; and 3. ? of the possible ramifications and innate complexity of even basic philosophical ideas, and the ability to adjudge and evaluate such notions in light of the purposive aspects of human existence. View more details on Metropolitan State College of Denver . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Philosophy courses.