Philosophy
Philosophy
ACC’s Philosophy Department provides students with critical thinking skills that have a broad range of applications in professional, social, and personal life. Students who study philosophy with this department will develop as persons while learning from our passionate and engaged professors.
Faculty use numerous teaching methods and technologies in addition to traditional lectures, including online courses, classroom group work, supplemental instruction, open educational resources, and public service. The Philosophy Department also hosts a variety of events for students and faculty, including the Austin Philosophy Forum lecture series and the ACC Philosophy Club. These events are often developed in collaboration with faculty from other departments, especially the Humanities department, expanding the range of issues we explore, enhancing their public appeal, and helping to build interdisciplinary relationships. Overall, the Philosophy program teaches students to analyze ideas, assess the truth of claims, evaluate the validity of inferences, to articulate their own views, and support their assertions.
Courses
Philosophy courses cover a diverse group of questions and topics, spanning from classic investigations into the nature of reality, truth, and morality, to contemporary inquiries into freedom, identity, and justice. Philosophy courses place significant emphasis on the justification for holding one particular view or position over another.
The department’s entry level classes provide students with a foundation for more advanced courses, whether in Philosophy or other disciplines. PHIL 1301 introduces the basics of argument and the central areas of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. PHIL 2306 covers the three main branches of ethics: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. The Philosophy department has also developed several sections of our Introduction and Ethics courses with unique focuses on social justice, business, sexuality, or art for students specializing in those areas or with those particular interests.
Link to Courses.