This Social, Moral and Legal Philosophy for the Professions concentration prepares students for post-baccalaureate professional studies and eventually a career in their chosen field. Students who complete program while earning their Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy should be equipped with the intellectual skills (i.e., critical reading and analysis skills) necessary to successfully apply to, enter and graduate from competitive professional graduate programs such as law, business and administration. Philosophy began when people first questioned the accounts poets and priests had handed down about the structure of the world and the meaning of human life. Since then, philosophers have helped create and explore virtually every aspect of our cultural life, including science, religion, art and politics. To study philosophy, therefore, is to engage in a classic form of liberal education in which reasoning and conceptual analysis are explicitly developed. The study of philosophy includes: (1) the development of critical thinking and writing skills, (2) the investigation of conceptual problems encountered in the course of reflecting about experience, (3) the assessment of assumptions underlying other sciences and arts, and (4) the exploration of political and ethical theory. Philosophy is not a high unit major. It is possible for many students to obtain the benefits of a philosophically based liberal education while also majoring in another discipline. The Philosophy Department also encourages minors, which can be tailored to the student's individual interests or other fields of study. Majoring or minoring in philosophy is an excellent way of preparing for law school and other careers that involve facility in reasoning, analysis and information processing.