Philosophy engages questions such as:

• Is the human mind just a very complicated machine?
• Can we have free will if the mind is a machine?
• Must we have free will in order for life to be meaningful?
• What makes an act moral or immoral?
• When, if ever, can a government mandate moral acts or outlaw immoral acts?
• Is it ever permissible to start a war with a preemptive strike?
• Is the design in the world evidence that there is a God?
• Do the world?s evils show that a good God cannot exist?
• What is the role of philosophy in dealing with questions about God?
• What is knowledge?
• Can we know anything with certainty?
• Are warrants for knowledge relative to particular cultures?

The philosophy program at St. Thomas will introduce you to distinguished philosophical work over the centuries and into our own time. While attending carefully to philosophers whose works are foundational to the Catholic intellectual tradition, particularly Aristotle and Aquinas, the program is committed to broad integration of our understanding of reality. As you work to construct a philosophical worldview you will engage a variety of traditions, including non-Western, and confront questions prompted by the study of such subjects as the natural and social sciences, mathematics, medicine, business, law, theology, the fine arts, and literature.