Philosophy asks questions about the nature of reality, the limits and possibilities of knowledge, how to lead a good life (both individually and socially), and the meaning and value of human freedom. These are complex questions that call for reflection and examination. The philosopher goes beyond the question of how the world is and asks questions about whether, why, and how the way the world is matters. By studying knowledge, existence, and value, philosophy students also learn how to think, how to provide reasons for a point of view, and how to grapple with objections and diverse perspectives.

Because philosophers ask whether reality and our understanding of it can be or ought to be different from how it currently is, philosophers throughout history have had a great influence on how we think about and act within the world. Students of philosophy will have the opportunity to reflect on enduring questions concerning the human condition, to study the origin and historical transformation of questions and concepts, and to learn the methods deployed to investigate them.

The M.A. is a two-year program designed to provide both broad competencies in the history of philosophy and depth in specific areas of student choosing. The department is pluralist, with particular strengths in 19th and 20th Century Continental Philosophy, Ancient and Modern Philosophy, Feminist Theory, and Epistemology. By providing a rigorous grounding in philosophy, we prepare students for further graduate study. Miami University has been very successful at placing our graduates in selective Ph.D. programs, usually with funding.

The philosophy faculty as a whole has a diverse array of interests, although many of them have research and/or teaching focus in the history of philosophy (especially Ancient, Modern, 19th Century, and 20th Century) and the program emphasizes the development of historical competence. Miami’s various interests and specialties allow them to offer courses in the traditions of both Continental philosophy and Analytic philosophy, as well as in the history of philosophy generally, understood as the common ground of both traditions. Miami’s graduate students are similarly diverse in the range of their philosophical interests.