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Philosophy

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A philosophy major opens doors to careers in law, business, education, and more. Explore big questions and develop critical thinking skills.

In philosophy, we look at the big questions: how we acquire knowledge, the nature of right and wrong, the meaning of beauty, the nature of the mind...just to name a few!  We also investigate how philosophy is applied to real world problems and issues, whether it be politics, the environment, or artificial intelligence.  In our courses, you'll learn to read carefully, think critically, and write clearly by examining responses to the big questions by thinkers from a variety of time periods and cultures.  We offer you the opportunity to rigorously analyze different viewpoints on important topics, and develop good reasons for your opinions. 

Our own majors have gone on to work in law, medicine, journalism, education (teaching and administration), politics, business finance, business management, editorial work, nursing, the general sciences, community engagement, and counseling.  The possibilities are indefinite.  

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Undergraduate programs

Philosophy

Undergrad major Undergrad minor

Philosophy means the love of wisdom. It is the academic study of questions related to fundamental truths: What is a meaningful life? How should I treat others? What are my responsibilities to the environment? What is truth? What is beauty? What is the nature of reality and the mind? Philosophers ask these questions and many others. The field teaches people how to assess the positions of others and more precisely articulate their own.

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Ethics

Undergrad minor

Ethics involves "systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior," according to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ethical theories are typically divided into three general subject areas:

  • Metaethics: Investigates where our ethical principles come from and what they mean.
  • Normative ethics: Aims to find moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct.
  • Applied ethics: Involves examining specific controversial issues from animal rights to nuclear war.
    -Source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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Sustainability & Environmental Studies

Undergrad minor

Sustainability and environmental studies is an interdisciplinary field that aims to understand human-environment relationships and address complex issues and problems related to this relationship. It draws upon diverse disciplines including natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, allowing students to analyze human-environment relationships with the breadth and depth that other fields alone do not have. 

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Artificial Intelligence Ethics Certificate

Undergrad certificate

Artificial intelligence (AI) ethics is a branch of ethics that explores complex ethical challenges posed by AI technologies. These issues include areas such as privacy, transparency and data collection issues; consent in AI systems; the attention economy; human enhancement technologies; the potential for bias and discrimination; and the absence of human judgment in AI decision-making.

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Philosophy: A Great Major!

What makes philosophy a great major? Lots of things. Our program is academically rigorous, ensuring that you'll feel challenged in your courses. Graduates with philosophy degrees possess the skills needed to get a first job...and quickly rise to the top. Best of all, philosophy is actually pretty fun.

Don't just take our word for it: learn more about why philosophy is a great major.

See what the American Philosophical Association (APA) says about why you should study philosophy.

Philosophy: A Major that Pays!

Do philosophy majors really earn more than accounting majors???

According to a study published in the Wall Street Journal, graduates with an undergraduate degree in philosophy had the highest percentage increases in salary in their first 10 years after graduation. Average mid-career salaries ranged from $52,800 (25th percentile) to $127,000 (75th percentile). 

Philosophy is also the top-earning bachelor degree in the humanities, as reported recently.  Philosophy is the #1 major that pays!

Philosophy: Great preparation for the GRE, LSAT, and more!

Philosophy majors score higher than any other major on the GRE, with the highest overall scores and the highest scores on both the verbal and analytical writing sections.  Philosophy majors are currently tied for #2 (with economics) for highest LSAT scores, coming in just behind Physics.

Philosophy majors also do well on the GMAT, and enjoy high rates of acceptance to medical school, compared to other majors.

What can I do with a major in philosophy?

With a major in philosophy, the possibilities are endless! Today's employers value college graduates who possess critical thinking and analytical reasoning skills and the ability to solve complex problems; in philosophy, you'll develop these skills by working on the hardest problems we can come up with.

Take a look at what he APA has to say about the employability of philosophy majors and some impressive people who are philosophy majors. 

Our majors have gone on to do awesome things - check out some of their stories.

Is a philosophy class right for me?

Even if you're not planning to major or minor in philosophy, a philosophy class can enrich and deepen your understanding of your major area of study. 

We offer courses that fulfill General Education requirements. Many of our courses are also electives in a wide variety of majors and minors - including Psychology, Environmental Studies, Women's Studies, Nutrition, and Linguistics (just to name a few!)

Many of our students double major.  See our Majors/Minors page for more details!

Eagle Advantage

Faculty Commitment

Dr. Sheryl Tuttle Ross

Dr. Sam Cocks

Dr. Daniel Schneider

Dr. Stewart Eskew

 

Featured courses

  • Ethical Theory and Practice
    PHL 201 | 3 credits
    This course is an exploration of philosophical ethics with attention paid to the philosophical methods of analysis and argumentation used to drive and evaluate moral theories and judgments. Topics may include the nature of moral truth (e.g., absolute truth, relativism, pluralism), prominent moral theories (e.g., virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism), important figures from the history of philosophy (e.g., Aristotle, Kant, J.S. Mill), an examination into the nature of virtues and values, principles of right action, and character. Contemporary moral problems will help elucidate each of the theoretical positions. Offered Annually.
  • Theory of Knowledge
    PHL 301 | 3 credits
    This course is an intensive examination of the central philosophical questions surrounding the nature of knowledge, truth, and justification. Topics may include the difference between knowledge, wisdom, and know-how; analyses of knowledge, truth, and justification; the nature of misinformation; disagreement; the structure and sources of justification; the insights and limits of cognitive science; the role of human evolution in our understanding of the world; knowledge of abstract entities (e.g., principles of logic, mathematics, or morality); knowledge of the self and other minds; social cognition; and issues concerning the lived-experience of marginalized groups. (Cross-listed with PHL/PSY; may only earn credit in one department.) Offered Annually.
  • Ethics and Meta-Ethics: Theory, Justification, and Objectivity
    PHL 303 | 3 credits
    This course is an examination of classic and contemporary issues in the field of meta-ethics. Topics include addressing questions concerning the meaning of moral claims and principles, moral objectivity, moral psychology and motivation, moral disagreement, the nature of moral knowledge and justification, and the nature of moral reasons. Offered Fall.
  • Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
    PHL 304 | 3 credits
    This course is an examination of the principal moral problems that arise in the development and use of artificial intelligence technology. Topics include an introduction to the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, the nature of AI, as well as the ethical complexities surrounding various issues in AI ethics including responsibility, transparency, AI as a rights holder, moral personhood, data collection, the attention economy, human enhancement, and AI consent. Offered Annually.
  • Philosophy and Science Fiction
    PHL 313 | 3 credits
    The genre of science fiction allows one to reflect upon scenarios that are beyond the scope of actual human experience - whether by examining future contingent events, merely possible alternate universes, or employing technological innovations that have not yet been discovered. In this course, we will examine some of the difficult questions posed by philosophers through the scenarios depicted in works of science fiction. Topics include personal identity, time travel, artificial intelligence, and dystopia. Offered Spring.
  • Philosophy of Food: The Dining Experience
    PHL 330 | 3 credits
    This course explores the aesthetic, ethical and existential features of food. Topics may include the ethics of hunting; whether food can be art; the Tao of food; the phenomenology of terroir, localism, and cosmopolitanism; whether manners are a moral or aesthetic good; and whether certain foods are Veblen goods. Offered Fall.
  • Philosophy of the Arts
    PHL 332 | 3 credits
    An examination of production, appreciation, and criticism of art. Topics may include the nature of art, the nature of beauty, the function(s) of art (if any), the moral status of works of art, aesthetic evaluation, the antimony of taste, the paradoxes of fiction, tragedy, and horror, and public financing of art. Theories may include the imitation/representation theory, expressionism, formalism, aesthetic experience theory, and institutional theory. Offered Annually.
  • Philosophy of Mind
    PHL 333 | 3 credits
    A study of the nature of the mind from both philosophical and psychological perspectives. The course will focus on important attempts to solve the mind-body problem, how mind and body are related and also will address the related problems of consciousness, intentionality, free will and personal identity. (Cross-listed with PHL/PSY; may only earn credit in one department.) Offered Fall.
  • Social and Political Philosophy
    PHL 337 | 3 credits
    An examination of differing philosophical views about humanity and human nature with respect to our social and political life. Topics may include the question of political legitimacy, the function of the state, the possible rights and obligations of citizens vis-a-vis the state, general concepts of justice,rights, liberty, equality, and community (as well as possible specific conceptions of these terms), and how social goods should be distributed. The application of these topics to contemporary social and political debates. Offered Alternate Years.
  • Medical Ethics
    PHL 339 | 3 credits
    This course is an examination of the principal moral problems that arise in the clinical and non-clinical medical context. Topics include an introduction to the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice, as well as the ethical complexities surrounding various issues including paternalism and patient autonomy, healthcare decisions regarding children, the role and responsibilities of surrogate decision-makers, truth-telling and confidentiality, clinical trials, abortion, reproductive and genetic technologies, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, public health, and justice in health care. Offered Occasionally.
  • Asian Philosophy
    PHL 349 | 3 credits
    This course is an examination of the main questions found in the Asian philosophical traditions. Students read Indian, Chinese, and Japanese philosophers, with a special emphasis on Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism. Questions are centered in ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Topics include: (right) conduct and virtue; the nature of reality, mind, and self (e.g., what is a self, what is a person?); the Middle Way; individual and social well-being; and the notions of interdependent arising, emptiness, and enlightenment. Conceptual connections are made with Western philosophical traditions. Offered Alternate Years.
  • Topics in Environmental Studies
    ENV 303 | 3 credits
    This fully interdisciplinary seminar provides the opportunity to explore how scientific, historical, political, and ethical issues are interrelated in a specific environmental topic. Complexity of social-ecological systems is inherent in each pressing environmental issue. Course topics could include food, bicycle politics, environmental activism, and forest management. Repeatable for credit - maximum six. Prerequisite: ENV 101 or ENV 201. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Environmental Studies Capstone
    ENV 496 | 3 credits
    As a culmination of the environmental studies minor, this course has two main purposes. The first is to take action locally on an environmental service learning project. Action in the community builds professional skills, offers networking, and solidifies student interests. The second purpose is to help students clarify personal and career goals that are based on their environmental philosophy. Hearing from recent graduates and professionals in environmental fields provides students with a wide variety of perspectives and ideas as they consider their future decisions. Prerequisite: ENV 303; ENV 301 or ENV 304 or SOC 328 or SOC 332; six credits from the natural sciences electives, social sciences electives, or arts and humanities electives. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • AI in Communication and Media
    CST 388 | 3 credits
    This course explores the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within communication and media, focusing on how AI remediates message creation, social interactions, and audience engagement in digitally mediated environments across interpersonal, organizational, and mass communication contexts. Students examine AI's influence on human-machine communication (HMC) and the media industry, critically analyzing the socio-cultural implications specific to communication processes and media production. Students also learn to apply AI tools in media production and message strategies, gaining essential skills for careers in media and communication. Prerequisite: CST 271 or CST 378. Offered Occasionally.
  • Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing
    ENG 335 | 3 credits
    This introductory course in professional and technical writing explores how writing mediates knowledge, values, and action in both social and organizational contexts. Students investigate key concepts and enduring questions in the field, drawing from historical and theoretical perspectives to inform contemporary writing practices. The course also explores ethical considerations and the impact of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence on writing practices. Prerequisite: ENG 110; sophomore standing. Offered Fall, Spring.
  • Data and Power: Feminist Science Studies
    RGS 205 | 3 credits
    This course is an introduction to feminist science studies and explores how patriarchy, racism, classism, colonialism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia shape scientific knowledge production, historically and currently. Students learn to question the attainability and usefulness of objectivity itself, imagine what explicitly feminist practices of science might look like, and explore how to ask scientific questions differently, thereby expanding both scientific knowledge and social justice. Offered Spring.
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Portrait of Grace Koch

Hear from an alum

Grace Koch

The professors in this program are very passionate about the environment, and their classes always spark interesting student conversations. This program has allowed my own interests in climate change and human health to thrive.

Portrait of Miranda Sibley

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Miranda Sibley

UWL taught me to never give up, be passionate in your purpose, be adventurous, and never take anything for granted.

Portrait of Jake Fischer

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Jake Fischer

Rather than merely specializing in one particular field, this program allows students to understand and critically think in a broader and more holistic manner, which is something that isn’t just useful, but incredibly enjoyable as we’re not limited to one lens or area of study.