Philosophy addresses the fundamental issues of human life, including the nature of reality, the secret of beauty, the criteria for knowledge and truth, and the difference between right and wrong. Philosophy classes generally use the Socratic method, which encourages students to develop and express their own views on philosophical questions and to critically analyze and discuss the views of others. The study of Philosophy builds critical thinking skills, which are useful in any job or profession requiring logical reasoning and responsible decision making. The Department of Philosophy at UH Hilo offers the full range of courses approved by the American Philosophical Association for a bachelor’s degree with a major in Philosophy.

Mission

The mission of the undergraduate degree program in Philosophy is to enable the students to understand the role and importance of philosophical inquiry, and to develop skills in its use. The program is designed to provide exposure to the philosophical perspectives of great thinkers, past and present, and to help students increase their abilities to think clearly, logically, and critically both about philosophical issues and about issues in other fields of learning.

Goals for Student Learning in the Major

Students who successfully complete the major in Philosophy are expected to:

• Be able to think critically about philosophical issues and express philosophical ideas in an articulate and well reasoned manner
• Be able to recognize valid and invalid inferences expressed in ordinary language, and to recognize a range of formal and informal fallacies of reason
• Be familiar with the range of philosophical ideas within traditional as well as contemporary Western Philosophy
• Be familiar with the range of philosophical ideas within traditional as well as contemporary Eastern Philosophy

Training in Philosophy will enable a student to appreciate the points of view of others. Philosophy students gain skills in understanding arguments, including complex arguments, and in expressing their own opinions in clear and accurate ways. Evidence of superior reasoning skills can be seen from the fact that Philosophy majors have among the highest overall scores of any major on entry exams for graduate schools, even for specialty areas such as law school that have no direct relation to the subject matter of Philosophy.