Philosophy poses such fundamental questions as: What can we know? How should we live? and How do the results of human inquiry, obtained so far, hang together? It is an excellent preparation for professional studies such as law and medicine; it provides perspective on other disciplines such as psychology, mathematics, literature, and political science; and it centers on a set of questions that thinking people cannot avoid. At Johns Hopkins, philosophy can be studied in a variety of ways.
When Johns Hopkins University was founded in 1876, it was the first university in the United States designed as a center for research and doctoral education. Among its earliest graduate students were Josiah Royce and John Dewey; C.S. Peirce was an early faculty member.
The Department of Philosophy maintains a distinctive character, providing its students with a broad but analytically rigorous philosophical education. Continuing a long Hopkins tradition (the tradition of Dewey, Lovejoy, Boas, Mandelbaum, and Schneewind), we offer programs that combine the systematic study of philosophical problems with sensitivity to their history.
What can you do with your degree?
The philosophy major is excellent preparation for professional studies such as law and medicine.
Graduate students are prepared to make original contributions to the field and to pursue careers in college and university teaching.