一次或一次，我们几乎所有人都被哲学上的困惑所困扰。我们想知道，有上帝吗？为什么有邪恶和苦难？道德和知识是偏爱和观点的问题吗？还是存在客观的价值观和真理？有什么值得评估的？有什么思想？我们的思想是我们身体的一部分，还是一个独立于它的东西人们应该如何在社会中组织自己个体自由比平等更重要，还是应该考虑对后者的约束？哲学课程的最终目的不仅是帮助学生理解那些有思想的人的著作。解决了这些重要问题，但要为学生提供使他们自己可以从中挣扎的手段。该专业课程面向喜欢哲学并希望接受全面，良好教育但不希望申请哲学研究生课程的学生
Philosophy is the attempt to resolve general and fundamental problems concerning existence knowledge value reason the mind and language. The ultimate goal of studying philosophy is to gain the skills needed to think intelligently about these problems. Philosophical problems arise when we notice that two ideas each of which seems sound conflict with each other. For instance we might think that we are free to choose but we might also think that everything that happens has a sufficient cause which would seem to imply that we are not free to choose. In thinking philosophically we seek to resolve these conflicts either by rejecting one of the two ideas or by finding a way to interpret them so that they fit together harmoniously.Students study and value philosophy for its own sake. Through the study of philosophy they also gain skills they can use in their other courses and in life generally. They acquire the ability to think precisely and analytically the ability to craft arguments and the ability to express themselves well. Above all they acquire independence of mind.