The mission of the philosophy department is to foster students' familiarity with a significant range of philosophical problems, concepts, arguments, and figures, and to prepare students for a variety of careers, ranging from law to teaching to writing to finance to medicine. The department provides this preparation by teaching transferable skills such as analyzing and appraising arguments, constructing original arguments, and writing clearly about complex material. In addition, some courses enable students to understand the relevance of philosophy to social problems, especially issues in ethics and public policy.