The Philosophy Department offers a variety of majors and minors. For more information and how to declare a major/minor, contact our faculty advisers today. We are here to help you on your journey!
Come participate in our department's monthly Social Hour events. Check out the events for this month.
Student Spotlights: Every semester, the Philosophy Department showcases students who major or minor in philosophy and have demonstrated excellence in the field. We get to learn more about these students' motivation for studying philosophy and their philosophical interests as well as some fun facts about them!
Philosophy majors, Makesha Balkaran and Vincent Andreassi, participate in research project on theory-of-mind in bonobos.
Sprague and Taylor Annual Lecture 2019: Professor Dean Zimmerman lectures on the topic of perceiving God. Read more.

Philosophy

Guide for Prospective Majors and Minors

Studying philosophy will teach you to think clearly and critically, and to communicate complex ideas effectively both orally and in writing.

Philosophy will prepare you for a wide range of careers, earn more than any other humanities major, transform you into an engaged and responsible citizen.

Learn More

Contact Information

Department Chairperson: Robert Lurz
Deputy Chairperson: Matthew Moore

Location: 3308 Boylan Hall
Phone: 718.951.5311
Fax: 718.951.4675

Important Message

All philosophy classes are being moved to an online format.

Please e-mail your instructor for details. If you need to look up the contact information for your instructor, view the Faculty Contact Information and Office Hours page.

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this transition, e-mail the department chair, Professor Robert Lurz or call the office at 718.951.5311.

Find the Meaning of Life at Brooklyn College.

You constantly ponder life's greatest questions: What is our place in the universe? How does one determine good versus bad? Where did it all begin, and what is reality anyway? The Department of Philosophy can give you the tools to try to sort it all out. You will improve your reasoning, analytic, and judgment skills, and you'll enhance your ability to develop and defend positions. Your philosophy courses will do more than just help you understand what it's all about; they'll prepare you for a wide range of careers—in law, business, finance, management, and technology—by cultivating your abilities to think critically and creatively about complex problems, and to express yourself with confidence and clarity.

Kennedy Alexis

Kennedy Alexis is a philosophy major who graduated in May 2019. In the video, Kennedy describes the career opportunities that her philosophy major opened for her. "Becoming a philosophy major was the best academic decision that I made," she says. "Philosophy teaches its students analytical and critical thinking skills in the context of life, allowing them to have greater access to autonomy." Kennedy was accepted to the State University at Buffalo's Master's Program in Urban Planning, and she will be starting the program this fall.

Kennedy Alexis 'Tell Us Your Story'

Major and Minor Checklists

To keep track of your progress toward completing your major and/or minor, view the Checklists for Majors and Minors page, where you will find a checklist for each major and/or minor that you can download as a pdf.

Transfer Credit Policy

Refer to the Transfer Credit Policy, which states the department's policy regarding this matter. If you have any questions, contact us.

Advice About Applying to Philosophy M.A. and Ph.D. Programs

View our Graduate School Information page.

What's New for Fall 2020?

Course Schedule

Our Fall 2020 course schedule (pdf) provides the following information for each of our course offerings: catalog number, section, registration code, days, times, location, and instructor. This schedule was last updated on August 4, 2020.

Faculty Advisers (Major/Minor and Pre-Law Advisement)

Go to our Advising page to view information regarding our faculty advisers (name, email address, phone, office, and days/times for their office hours). We have advisers for our majors/minors as well as for pre-law.

Transfer Credit Evaluators

Go to our Transfer Credits page to view information regarding our transfer credit policy and transfer credit evaluators (name, office, phone, e-mail, and days/times for their office hours).

Course Descriptions

To help you make an informed decision as to what courses to enroll in for the Fall 2020 term, please view our course descriptions page. We have compiled a list of course descriptions composed by the professors who will be teaching these classes. We hope that this will give you more insight into what will be taught in these classes. If you have further questions about a specific course, we encourage you to contact the instructor directly.