Department of Philosophy and Religion

Mission Statement

Philosophy has traditionally been recognized as an integral part of liberal education. It offers answers to fundamental questions which arise from reflection upon life and its varied experiences. Philosophy aims ultimately at the enhancement of life through the exploration and clarification of ideas and values. Philosophy of religion studies the beliefs and commitments at the core of religious experience including faith, the existence of God, immorality of the soul, and good and evil.

The Department of Philosophy and Religion offers a major program in philosophy and minor programs in philosophy and religion. Advanced electives, graduate courses in philosophy, and courses in General Studies are also offered.

Philosophy traditionally aims at expanding the social value of reasonableness and critical reflection by teaching and revising worldviews. It is the task of philosophical inquiry to motivate the students to consciously examine their values and form their own worldviews.

Under the humanities rubric, the disciplines we strive to teach our students represent the humanizing influence of higher education. Inevitably in our technological society we must develop specialized disciplines. Our task is not to teach students to be specialists but to lay the foundations for developing transferable problem solving skills which are applicable across multiple disciplines and can be adapted to new situations.

The skills and disciplines philosophy emphasizes enhance the intellect, creativity, empathy, breadth of view, and imagination. Philosophy inculcates qualities which are pertinent across the gamut of specialties. Philosophical education serves students for all professions as well as for the art of living. The goal of the Philosophy and Religion Department is to educate the whole person for the whole of life.

Our more definite goals address specific areas of competence. In the first place, we aim to impart skills in logical, rational, and critical thinking. We also strive to develop the moral and aesthetic sensibility of our students. We orient our courses around metaphors as “journey” and “exploration.” We strive to acquaint our students with the ideas of the great thinkers and the classical problems of philosophy: the mind-body problem, theories of truth, the debate on free will, the nature of scientific method, problems of aesthetics, and social and political philosophy.

The question of cultural diversity is central to current discourse. Our courses in philosophy of religion aim to heighten the students’ awareness of diversity in religious and spiritual traditions. We seek to engage students on issues of fundamental importance in theory of religion such as conflicting truth claims and the debate between science and theology.

To summarize, two aspects of our general objective as a department may be distinguished: the skills and the knowledge content of specific courses such as “Issues in Religion,” “Philosophy: Persons and Problems,” “Critical Thinking,” “Great Philosophers,” “Symbolic Logic,” “Contemporary Moral Issues,” and “Comparative Religion” and the broader ideals and values we hope to impart to students.

We aim to inspire our students to value the greatness of the Western, Eastern and indigenous contributions to world culture. We aim to awaken in the students an historical sense and a comparative eye for diversity. Our courses aim to equip students with skills and values essential to civic and individual life. We believe that the skills, ideals and values we stress are essential to democratic traditions and pluralistic society.

 Finally, we seek to awaken the students’ sense of wonder and imagination and to cultivate independence and creativity of thought. Our hope is to awaken in our students qualities of mind and spirit which will serve the individuals and the community. We believe that this task makes the contribution of the Department of Philosophy and Religion to this institution both challenging and significant.

 For more information on the Department of Philosophy and Religion, please check out the department website at:

http://www.njcu.edu/dept/poli/philos.htm.