Philosophy

Students who study philosophy confront theoretical and practical questions about themselves, their social world, and the fundamental nature of reality. Engaging in philosophical thinking is essential to a superior liberal arts education. It enriches thought, understanding, and imagination.

Geneseo is a great place to study philosophy. The department is open and friendly, class sizes are small, and majors are encouraged to combine philosophy with other majors.

Our Programs

The Department of Philosophy offers a major in philosophy, a minor in philosophy, and an interdisciplinary minor in Ethics & Values in Society. We also offer the interdisciplinary major in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Our curriculum is offered on three levels: introductory courses (100-level), intermediate (200-level), and advanced courses including topical and major figures seminars (300- and 400-level).

The Philosophy Major meets the needs and interests of students who:

plan graduate study and teaching in the field
intend to go to law school
seek preparation for work in government, business, social service, or any field in which critical thinking is valued, and
simply want to think deeply about fundamental life questions and assumptions

The Minor in Ethics & Values in Society is particularly appropriate for students who:

are interested in making positive change in their local community or on a national or global level
would like to study values in depth
wish to bring together interdisciplinary course-work of their choosing with philosophical focus on moral, political, and/or legal theory

Skylar Reed '23, right, a Philosophy major and the first graduate with a minor in Ethics & Values in Society presents a poster on her Capstone Research at Great Day 2023. She worked with Dr. Jessica Gilbert-Overland, PRODiG Fellow in Geography and Sustainability, at left.

Ella Isaac '24, a Sociomedical Sciences major, presents a poster on her research into transnational surrogacy. Dr. Amanda Roth of the Philosophy Department supervised her research.

Other Updates/Happenings

Read about our Philosophy Outreach Program, through which our students bring philosophical discussion into area high schools. After a COVID-related pause, this program was restarted during the Spring 2024 semester. In this one semester, students developed a lesson about Robert Nozick's experience machine thought experiment and presented it to approximately 120 students in three local high schools!

The philosophy department has also been heavily involved in pre-college programs at Geneseo through the development of the Summer Institute in Justice and Ethics in Modern America, which was offered virtually in 2021 and 2022.

In Spring 2023, all full time/tenure and tenure-line faculty were Geneseo Safe Zone trained or refreshed.