Philosophy Department

Socrates claimed that the unexamined life is not worth living. Why not? One reply is that since our unexamined opinions and values are often inseparable from who we are and how we conceive of ourselves, our satisfactions, our relations to others, reality itself, our lives, and the worth of our lives depend on our efforts to achieve greater understanding. The examination and critique of claims to truth and rightness is central to philosophy. The promise it holds out is that of greater self-understanding, involving the gradual liberation from false beliefs and partial views of ourselves and our world. Because of this, it has an essential place in the liberal arts curriculum.

The aim of the philosophy department is to introduce students to the inquiries of important philosophers and to aid them in developing and in exercising their own critical, independent thought. To this end, philosophy courses encourage students to formulate issues and questions and to evaluate critically philosophers' arguments and their own in classroom discussion as well as in the writing of papers.

Avicenna, a.k.a. Ibn-Sina (c. 980-1037)

Harvard philosophy course goes on TV: Harvard Professor Michael Sandel, whose evil twin plays Homer Simpson's boss at the nuclear power plant, now has a show of his own, filmed live in his philosophy course on Justice. Watch the video or read more (free NYT sign-in required).

A new movie about Confucius is to be made with the support of the Chinese government. This is huge news because since the time of Mao the Chinese Communist Party has regarded Confucius as an advocate for oppression under feudalism, precisely the evil system of traditions they needed a revolution to overthrow. As Mao's thought has been seen to repeatedly lead to disappointing results, Chinese are increasingly turning again to other home-grown sources, of whom probably the greatest is Confucius.

Mao Zedong’s thought lives on, however, as the motivating philosophy behind an insurgency operating in large areas of rural India. While China has increasingly distanced itself from Mao, mostly so far in favor of a sort of authoritarian capitalism, economic polarization and political corruption in India have made Mao’s ideas, including the sharing of a country’s wealth by all, and the parallel governments set up by insurgents, appealing to many of India’s poor. This is philosophy in action, for good or ill. Why does democracy not deliver better results in India?

Confucius Plaza, New York, NY