专业描述

Philosophy can be humanistic or technical, historical or contemporary, theoretical or practical. The Philosophy Department at the University of Chicago is committed to offering a curriculum which allows its undergraduates to engage all of these facets of the subject. Philosophy's humanistic dimension involves the cultivation of the skills of close reading and careful interpretation of texts, as well as reflection on the largest of questions about who we are and what our place is in the world. Yet it equally involves reflection on the very intellectual capacities which we bring to bear in such reflection; and this means that philosophy has also always been concerned with the refinement of our exercise of such capacities. This leads to the roots of the more technical aspects of the discipline in formal logic, as well as in the application of such formal methods and tools to specific areas of philosophy, most notably today in the philosophy of language and the philosophy of science. Philosophy is perhaps unique in its relation to its own history. Its interest in its history is not simply an interest in its own sources, but is part of an ever-ongoing inquiry to discover what philosophy is and how it should be done. This means that the central historical texts in the tradition are often treated as equal partners in current discussions and that contemporary practitioners continue to return to classical works as sources of inspiration and understanding. Here, in the Philosophy Department at the University of Chicago, there is a particularly strong local tradition of interaction between the study of the history of philosophy and its contemporary practice -- a local tradition, on the one hand, of approaching and intervening in the debates of the philosophical present by drawing on the insights of the great philosophers of the past, and, on the other hand, of approaching the study of the classics of the history of philosophy with the tools and the insights of the present in order to see how well their ideas are able to stand up to the test of time. Philosophy is equally concerned with both the true and the good: with what thought is and what it is to think well, as well as with what human life is and how one goes about living well. This means that philosophy has both a theoretical aspect and a practical one. Its theoretical dimension comes most to the fore in the contemporary philosophical landscape in the areas of epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science; its practical aspect in areas such as ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of law. And there are also a number of interesting areas that straddle or problematize the division between theoretical and practical philosophy. each in a very different way, such as aesthetics, philosophy of action, philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of religion. Philosophy therefore is a discipline that defies any simple definition. The study of philosophy involves reflection upon the character and validity of the fundamental principles that guide our thought and action, our search for knowledge and our desire to live well. Yet it also deals with other sorts of problems such as the relation between mind and body and the nature and existence of God. Perhaps one should just say with Wilfrid Sellars, an American philosopher of the mid-20th century, that "the aim of philosophy is to understand how things in the broadest sense of the term hang together in the broadest sense of the term." The truth is, philosophy is a complex and multifaceted subject, and the undergraduate curriculum offered by the Philosophy Department at the University of Chicago seeks to initiate students into the wealth and depth of this area of inquiry. Whether College students choose the occasional course from the Department's offerings or decide to pursue a major or minor in the discipline, they will learn how to read some of the classic texts of philosophy, come to appreciate the various problems with which philosophers have been concerned, and receive a training in rigorous methods of argument. The most general aim of the study of philosophy within the mission of a liberal arts institution such as the University of Chicago is to help foster and nurture fundamental intellectual skills, both theoretical and practical, that are important to the conduct of life, such as the ability to think critically about abstract issues and to consider carefully the ethical implications of one's actions. It is often these very general benefits of the study of philosophy that attract a great many students to take at least one or two courses in the subject. Various areas of philosophy border closely on other subjects and the skills acquired in philosophy courses are central to success in a great many other academic areas. It is therefore perhaps unsurprising that professors in the Philosophy Department per capita teach more undergraduates outside their own major than any other professors in the Humanities Division.