Overview

Historically, philosophy has been at the heart of the Catholic intellectual tradition and a Jesuit education. The philosophy department at Wheeling Jesuit University seeks to continue this tradition by nurturing your natural wonder and emphasizing the development of leadership and critical thinking skills. As a philosophy major, aside from asking the difficult questions, you will be able to answer them. Our program promises to sharpen your mind, develop your communication skills and teach you how to persuade others, not through force or fraud, but through the strength of reason.

Why choose Wheeling Jesuit University?

At Wheeling Jesuit, we believe that philosophy is both an art and a science. As an art, philosophy teaches you how to seek out the right questions and how to arrange arguments with an eye to maximal persuasiveness. As a science, philosophy always has truth as its goal and it emphasizes rigorous analytical and qualitative approaches in an effort to secure that truth.

The Jesuit tradition of education always has championed the importance of philosophy, both for training the mind and for cultivating a love of truth and integrity in its pursuit. Philosophy invites you into dialogue with the significant truth-seekers of past and present. Thus it hopes to develop within you a respect for great ideas and great minds, and a life-long commitment to the search for truth, wisdom and justice.

We also believe that philosophy is both a theoretical and a practical affair. As a theoretical discipline, we teach about those ideas that are presupposed by and are at the foundations of our cultural, religious and scientific worldviews. As a practical discipline, the program strives to ensure that all of our theorizing is directed toward the articulation of what it means to be a human person, that is, what it is to be the sort of being that is engaged with, concerned about and finds itself in the world.

The rigorous curriculum makes philosophy one of the most versatile and exciting disciplines available. By equipping you with multiple transferable skills, a degree in philosophy is excellent as a stand-alone degree or as a supplementary field of study.

Our philosophy department is relatively small, yet diverse. Our size allows us to provide a personalized touch by knowing each of the students on a first-name basis, providing easy access to each faculty member and offering courses according to student interests. Our diversity enables us to provide a variety of courses on a regular basis.