哲学专业提供教育，通过对学生的思维和行为方式进行严格的分析来丰富和增强他们的能力。区分哲学思想的习惯是权衡各种信念，论点和理论的连贯性，完整性和敏锐度，并在标志着我们有限的人类状况的历史背景下自觉地这样做。这些思维习惯的培养可以增强学生在整个课程中的学习能力，为从艺术和科学到政府和全球关系的机构发展做出贡献，并且“尤其重要”地是应对挑战和奇迹自己的生活。由于所有这些原因，哲学系课程的首要目标是帮助学生养成这些哲学习惯。反映其历史和其成员的现状，该系处于有利的地位，能够通过六个主要研究领域实现这一目标：分析
The major in Philosophy provides an education that enriches and empowers students by introducing them to rigorous analysis of their ways of thinking and acting. What distinguishes a philosophical mind is a habit of weighing the coherence, completeness, and trenchancy of various beliefs, arguments, and theories, and of doing so self-consciously within the historical context that marks our finite, human condition. The cultivation of these habits of mind enhances students abilities to learn across the curriculum, to contribute to the advancement of institutions, from arts and sciences to governments and global relations, andnot leastto grapple with the challenges and wonder of their own lives. For all these reasons, the overriding aim of the Department of Philosophy's program is to help students develop these philosophical habits. Reflecting its history and the present makeup of its members, the department is in the advantageous position of being able to pursue this aim through six main areas of research: analytic philosophy and logic, ethics and political philosophy, history of philosophy, phenomenology and pragmatism, philosophy of religion, and philosophy and history of science.<br><br>Learning Outcomes<br>Students completing a BA in Philosophy are expected to:<br><br>Demonstrate the conceptual ability and communication skills needed for intensive examination of questions concerning what is true, what is good, and what is beautiful.<br>Demonstrate familiarity with core questions in the main branches of philosophical inquiry (ethics and political philosophy, metaphysics and epistemology, logic) and sustain critical reflection on, and discussion of, those questions.<br>Demonstrate acquaintance with the canonical works of both antiquity and modernity, as well as the basic issues and texts of contemporary philosophy.<br>Defend their own views with strong arguments but also remain open to disagreement and critique.<br>Display curiosity about, and interest and engagement in, the world in which they live.