Department of Philosophy

The Department of Philosophy is closely associated with the Department of Gender and Social Justice; our staff administrates both programs and many of our faculty teach in both areas. For more information on the Gender and Social Justice Department, visit their website.

Philosophy addresses some of the most fundamental and difficult questions there are, such as:

  • What is the nature of the human mind?
  • What makes knowledge trustworthy?
  • What are the standards of good reasoning?
  • What is a just society?
  • What is the best way to live?

Philosophy as an academic discipline attempts to answer these questions with a combination of creativity and analytical rigor.

Events

overlapping circles
Friday, September 26, 2025 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Dan Zeman

The Philosophy department welcomes Dan Zeman on September 26th, delivering their talk titled: 

A Polysemy Descriptive/Ameliorative Account of Gender Terms

Joint work with Andreea Popescu (University of Bucharest)

line drawing of Peirce's graph
Friday, November 14, 2025 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm EST (GMT -05:00)

Nathan Haydon

Join us as we welcome UW Philosophy alumnus Nathan Haydon. Haydon will share his research on Modernizing Peirce's Existential Graphs, which is the November instalment of the Philosophy Colloquium Speaker Series.

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