Philosophy

The conventional definition of Philosophy according to the Oxford dictionary, is that ‘Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.’ It may be more helpful to describe philosophy as the one discipline that does not look at the world through a discipline, such as adopting a biological or political worldview, but instead, it looks at the disciplines we use to understand the world. In this sense philosophy concerns all disciplines. Along the way, our students acquire a thorough understanding of the various philosophical traditions and a strong set of skills, such as:

  • Understanding, analysing, criticising, and constructing cogent arguments;
  • Describing, analysing, and criticising complex and abstract problems in philosophy and beyond;
  • Reading, writing, and speaking effectively on philosophical issues and beyond;
  • Applying philosophical analysis and argumentation to reflect on other fields of study;
  • Independently undertaking a substantial piece of research, culminating in a research paper;
  • Demonstrating a solid understanding of the basic concepts of formal logic.

It almost goes without saying that the skills you develop in studying philosophy are of use in most disciplines in the academy. Studying philosophy will strengthen your reading, writing, and reasoning skills.