Academic Programs - Undergraduate

Philosophy

The study of philosophy is about asking big questions. What is the meaning of life? What is the nature of the world around us? What forms the basis of morality?

Think critically, ask big questions

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By choosing to study philosophy, you can learn valuable life skills to put to use in both your professional and personal lives. You will learn to communicate effectively. You will be able to think critically and logically. You will know how to grasp all angles of an argument and analyze it to get to the heart of an issue. This set of skills is vital to work in law, politics, business, government, and the academia.

Philosophy tackles the most fundamental questions. How should I live? Is there a God? What are my rights and responsibilities? Do I have free will? Studying philosophy will give you insight into such questions. It will help you develop the skills of analysis, argumentation, and clear expression. Philosophical questions underlie the theory and practice of every academic field.

At Acadia, we teach you to question. Our award-winning professors will challenge you to think critically. You will learn to debate and engage. No other department at Acadia matches the Philosophy Department in its focus on the pursuit of intellectual challenge for the intrinsic rewards it offers. We provide our students with an exceptional grounding in critical thinking. Through our rigorous program, our graduates go on to high academic achievement. In fact, philosophy graduates do better on standardized tests such as the LSAT and GRE than graduates in any other field.

Some recent graduates have won the prestigious Presidential Graduate Fellowship at MIT and gained admission to graduate schools at Brown, Carleton, Cornell, Dalhousie, Harvard, Indiana, McGill, Memorial, MIT, Ottawa, Princeton, Purdue, Queen’s, Simon Fraser, Toronto, UBC, Victoria, Western, and York. Others have gained admission to law school at Dalhousie, Osgoode Hall, Ottawa, Queen’s, and Wales. Still others have gained admission to medical school at Memorial. Our recent graduates have won graduate scholarships totalling well over $500,000. Philosophy prepares you for whatever career challenges you’ll face later in life.

First Year at a Glance

Required Courses

  • 6 credit-hours (2 courses or 1 full-year course) in Philosophy at the 1000 level

Electives

Your choice of courses totalling 24 credit-hours. These courses can include some of your Arts Core requirements, such as the required English courses, or a science course, or something from the social sciences. You're welcome and encouraged to sample courses outside of Philosophy and the Arts Core in your first year.

Future Careers

  • Academia
  • Government
  • Journalism
  • Law
  • Medicine
  • Non-governmental organizations
  • Paralegal
  • Policy analysis
  • Policy research
  • Public relations
  • Teaching
 

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