Philosophy explores life’s most fundamental questions: How should we live? What can we know? What are our rights and our legal and moral responsibilities? What does a just society require?
Philosophers explore answers to such questions while putting them to a stress test. We help students develop the capacity to reason logically, evaluate arguments carefully, examine their own beliefs, engage thoughtfully with opposing views, and speak and write persuasively—skills every profession values.
We offer courses in logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy, and the history of philosophy. Our curriculum includes classes such as Black Mirror and Philosophy (PHIL 105), Critical Reasoning (PHIL 200), Logic (PHIL 210), Philosophy of Law (PHIL 216), Markets and Morals (PHIL 221), Justice, Equality, and Liberty (PHIL 225), Philosophy of Race and Racism (PHIL 220), Philosophy, Power, and Politics (PHIL 301), Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences (PHIL 312), Metaphysics (PHIL 318), and Ethics (PHIL 222). We also offer a wide range of applied ethics courses, including Medical Ethics (PHIL 322), Sexual Ethics (PHIL 326), Animal Ethics (PHIL 332), the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (PHIL 320), and Issues in Clinical Bioethics (PHIL 303).
The Philosophy Department also coaches the Rhodes College Ethics Bowl. Ethics Bowl is a national intercollegiate debate-style competition where students present well-reasoned arguments on real-world ethical issues. Teams are judged on their teamwork, reasoning skills, and the cogency of their positions.