Central to Understanding with Imagination.
Central’s BA in Philosophy program is pluralistic in its emphasis on both Western and Non-Western philosophical traditions, as well as in its balance of historical and contemporary approaches to philosophy.
The program helps students develop knowledge and skills that have universal value including skills in critical and creative thinking, reasoning and argumentation, communication, perspective-taking, and moral/ethical reasoning about complex topics and issues. These skills have central value for all careers and every field, including law, business, medical school, politics, education, administration, and non-profit sector work.
Program Features
- Program faculty act as mentors and are dedicated to student success
- The department has a strong record of student-faculty research
- Offers a thesis option for students who wish to research and write about a topic of their choice
- Faculty have strengths in Philosophy, as well as in a range of interdisciplinary disciplines, including Peace Studies, Racial Justice, Religious Studies, and Bioethics
- Special track offered for those who aim to attend law school, as well as offering advising on applying to law school
- Offers a Philosophy minor and a minor in Social Justice
- Financial aid and scholarships available
- Free on-campus child care available
Program Options
Involves critical, self-critical, comprehensive inquiry about knowledge, reasoning, reality, norms, and values. It deals with corresponding problems arising in science, morality, art, literature, religion, and the social and natural worlds. Accordingly, engaging in philosophy can both address curiosity about matters of lasting significance and help us develop skills for dealing intelligently and sensitively with life.
Provides students with skills and knowledge for thinking, understanding, and engaging in critical discourse about the social world, particularly as concerns ethics and social justice. It also provides students with foundational skills and knowledge about the law and legal reasoning.