Philosophy

Department Chair - Burgdoff

Assistant Professor - Jackson

Lecturer - Hiltbrunner

Adjunct Instructors - Phillips-Gary, Huizenga, Onyia

Mission Statement

The mission of the Religion and Philosophy Department is to participate in the mission of Capital University by fostering the disciplined, critical study of the ways in which human individuals and cultures make meaning. Specifically, the Religion and Philosophy Department aims to develop in students the ability to engage in critical thinking, the ability to articulate and defend their ideas effectively, and the capacity for critical reflection on the goods of human existence, life, and work, in a manner that honors individual abilities and communal needs.

The specific mission of the philosophy program is to pursue the difficult foundational questions that lie at the roots of our thinking about many aspects of human existence and experience, such as, but by no means limited to: “What is relevant to judgments in ethics? and “Is there any basis for belief in God?”

Learning Outcomes

Philosophy is the pursuit of difficult foundational questions, such as:”What do we really know?” “What is relevant to judgments in ethics?” and “Are there any bases for belief in God?” These are difficult questions and they lie at the roots of our thinking about other things.

The six learning goals for Philosophy state that students who major in Philosophy should:

Grapple with a broad range of questions and issues about themselves and their worlds, including, but not limited to: human connectedness to nature; rationality and justice; evil and the grounds for human hope; people as symbol users.
Be able to articulate their own views, express themselves well in speech and writing, and participate productively in a critical community of discourse.
Connect and apply their learning to other disciplines, to contemporary issues, and to areas of life and work.
Engage in critical and self-critical thinking. Students should practice the criticism not only of the works and views other but also their own thinking. Students should be able to think critically about cultures, ideas, values, ways of knowing and subjects studied. And they also should be able to think critically about claims encountered in the media and in the daily life.
Be practiced in the careful reading of texts in a variety of media. Students should demonstrate the skills and attitudes necessary for engaging, appreciating, interpreting, comparing, and evaluating texts.
Demonstrate a knowledge of important views, authors, and approaches essential to their discipline and area of focus.