What is Philosophy?
Philosophy is an argumentative enquiry into fundamental issues of human life that the sciences do not address. For example, in philosophy courses you can expect to debate issues such as whether God exists, what the difference is between right and wrong, and whether truth is relative.
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Philosophy helps you to write logically and clearly, as well as to read challenging texts
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Philosophy enables you to exercise your freedom wisely
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Philosophy lets you interpret your life, society and world in an authentic and autonomous manner
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Philosophy promotes discerning observation of human behaviour
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Philosophy helps you to make up your own mind about complex issues, because it facilitates the analysis and evaluation of ideas and arguments
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Philosophy cultivates intellectual energy and enthusiasm
Our Mission
The University of Johannesburg (UJ) Department of Philosophy strives to be preeminent among philosophy departments in the developing world. It will improve on its notable diversity of students, staff and styles, devotion to quality teaching, and research impact.
Permanent academic staff members are working to build on the reputations they have already established in a variety of fields such as: aesthetics, African philosophy, environmental ethics, jurisprudence, metaphysics, philosophy of culture, philosophy of science and political philosophy. In particular, they are helping to enhance the global stature of South African philosophy by routinely publishing books with international presses and articles with leading journals, and by regularly hosting conferences and workshops that feature contributors from around the world and that develop fresh insights on a focused topic. Such events will help to constitute a first-rate research community, which will also continue to include visiting scholars, post-doctoral fellows and colloquia speakers.
UJ Philosophy will maintain its careful reflection on its teaching methods so as to provide challenging and enriching education to its metropolitan and rural undergraduates, and will sustain its strong cohort of post-graduate students, who come from a variety of backgrounds and who are instructed in African, Anglo-American and Continental perspectives. No department will do more to groom its postgraduates into becoming the next generation of professional philosophers by: providing funds to support presentation at overseas conferences, mentoring students to become responsible for lecturing their own courses, and vetting papers with an eye to publication in accredited journals.
Simply put, our aim is to make UJ Philosophy stand out as the department of choice in the Global South.