Undergraduate
Philosophy
In philosophy students find a new realm of intellectual discovery. What is philosophy all about? Here is a sample of philosophical questions:
How distinct is mind from matter? Can I survive the death of my body? Or is the mind merely a bodily function? Though these questions arise in the context of religion, they are themselves matters of philosophical inquiry, as are the nature of religion itself and the belief in the existence of God.
Human beings can be seen as a part of nature, or they can be seen as something unique, as beings that, through their activities in history, generate their social, moral and political world. Important implications for psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, etc. flow from these two positions. Must these studies approach their subject matter entirely differently from that of the natural sciences?
The question of the nature and validity of science itself is a matter for philosophical inquiry. Is its claim to knowledge spurious? Can any claim to knowledge be valid? Perhaps the nature of things will always remain hidden from us behind the veil our use of words imposes on them. Perhaps truth cannot be reached because of distortions and biases built into our perceptual equipment or the way our beliefs are formed.
Moral and political questions about freedom and responsibility, about the existence of ultimate rights, about the relation between morality and happiness also form a large part of philosophical inquiry. Whether moral questions have genuine answers or whether moral opinions are merely the expression of individual or group attitudes is an important issue.
Philosophy is not just reflection on fundamental issues. Its aim is to reflect on them rationally and critically. We try not to take common notions and prejudices for granted. We try to think straight. The ways of straight thinking are themselves an object of inquiry in philosophy. This study is called logic. Logic concerns itself with rational modes of reasoning, inference, and proof. To expose conceptual muddles and fallacious reasoning is an exercise in logic.
Philosophy has a long tradition: suffice it to mention the names of Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, Kant, Marx, and Wittgenstein. We learn a lot from their insights and from their mistakes. By reading them we also gain an entry into the culture to which we belong.
What is the use of philosophy? Well, what is the use of improving one’s mind? What is the use of widening one’s intellectual horizon? The answer is that it is worth doing for its own sake.
Philosophy will also give you a better overall understanding of the matters you are dealing with in your other courses, in the Faculty of Arts or any of the other faculties.
We believe that those who have done philosophy acquire a better intellectual orientation generally. Their thinking becomes less liable to confusion and obscurity. We even provide a special course on Logical Thinking.
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