Core Knowledge

We train our students in core areas that are relevant for Logic and Philosophy of Science and also provide them with knowledge about connections to general philosophy and to the special sciences.
  • Students will demonstrate basic knowledge about the history of philosophy in the following four areas: Modern Rationalism (Descartes, Leibniz, Malebranche, Spinoza), modern empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume Hobbes, Bacon), Kant, and 20th Century Analytic Philosophy.
  • Students will acquire knowledge of logic and mathematical logic, especially in set theory, metalogic, Godel’s incompleteness theorems, and computability theory.
  • Students become familiar with moral philosophy and metaphysics/epistemology.
  • Students demonstrate competence in philosophy of science, from general philosophy of science to the philosophical study of particular sciences (e.g., physics, biology, linguistics, psychology, or economics).
  • Students demonstrates specialized knowledge and skills in fields that are connected to their dissertation (such as language skills for historians, mathematical skills for logicians, and knowledge and skills about special sciences for philosophers of science).

Independent Research and Professional Development

We provide ample opportunities to our students for developing their own research programs and communicate them effectively to other members of our professional community.
  • Students will develop independent research skills by a step-by-step process that leads from seminar papers to journal publications to the writing dissertation.
  • By the end of their education, students are expected to be independent philosophers pursuing their own research projects.
  • Students learn to present and communicate their work in seminars, reading groups, at meetings of professional organizations, at workshops, and at university colloquia.

Teaching and Pedagogy

Our students are acquiring classroom skills as TAs and as instructors of classes.
  • Students learn to develop classroom experience with faculty mentors.
  • Students who have advanced to candidacy learn to develop their own classes.
  • Students will learn to design their own courses and select course materials, lecture in class, lead group discussion, and make use of suitable technology.

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