About the Program

Our primary goal as a philosophy department is to introduce students to a tradition of philosophical inquiry represented by such diverse authors as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Kant, and Heidegger. We take these different authors to belong to a single tradition of inquiry characterized by a distinctive method and an identifiable objective. The objective we take to be wisdom -- whether ethical, metaphysical, or epistemological. The method can be broadly construed as "dialectical", that is, as consisting in the critical analysis of common discourse with particular attention to its logical content.

A student's introduction to this tradition may take the form of the extended course of studies that constitutes a major or minor in philosophy, or it may take the form of the one or two philosophy courses taken by non-majors.

As a introduction to a continuing tradition of inquiry -- and not merely to a museum piece or cultural artifact -- it is our understanding that the course-work of students must occur in the context of the practice of philosophical inquiry on the part of faculty and students within the philosophy department. Consequently, we consider it essential to our mission that philosophical inquiry be carried on in a regular and public manner by faculty and students outside the classroom. The practice of such inquiry within the larger college community constitutes an important aspect of the department's contribution to the community of scholars that is Nazareth College.