Philosophy Nipissing University

Program Description

Thinking about a Major? Why not Major in Thinking? Rather than being concerned with a particular set of questions or a particular period of time, philosophy concerns itself with the nature of inquiry, thought, and argument itself, asking how each of these operates in the various areas of human life, from ethics and politics to the study of nature and reality. This means that philosophy students take up the truly big questions: What is the best life? Why should we be moral? How is knowledge possible? Is the world really as it appears to us? How does the mind work? At the same time, the skills students develop in pursuit of a degree in philosophy – careful reading, charitable interpretation and discussion, and rigorous argumentation – have proven themselves to be useful in innumerable fields within and beyond the university. The Philosophy Program at Nipissing is small and student-focused: with an average of 35 full-time majors, students get to know and work closely with both their professors and their peers. The department is particularly committed to introducing students to the history of philosophy, from the ancient period to the present. The program is designed to work well either as a stand-alone degree or as a combined degree with other programs, and there are numerous philosophy courses offered each year that do not have prerequisites and that are popular electives for students in other programs.​

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