UNI Department of Philosophy and Religion

Philosophy

Friedrich Nietzsche- Is life not a hundred times too short to be bored in it? One would have to believe in eternal life to...

Amborse Bierce- cogito cogito ergo conito sum( I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)

Douglas Adams-I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.

Eleanor Roosevelt-I think that somehow, we learn who we really are and then live with that decision.

Homer- If you are very valiant, it is a god, I think, who gave you this gift.

William Shakespear- Love all, trust a few. Do wrong to none.

Plato- Wise men talk because they have something to say, fools, because they have to say something.

Plato- Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.

Philosophy cultivates an intellectual capacity sharply distinguishing this major from many other disciplines. Philosphy enables students to grasp the principles of human self-understanding, methods by which to interpret the thoughts of others, systems that integrate knowledge, and ways of enhancing their own powers of self-expression. In a world with proliferating technologies and ever more narrow and complex specialties, philosophy provides a vantage point from which to see both connections and tensions among other fields.

Philosophy encourages the personal and intellectual flexibility so necessary for coping with a highly unpredictable future--a future in which more than half of all college graduates wind up working in areas different from their undergraduate majors. These abilities and viewpoints are quite apparent in the superior performance of Philosophy students in such graduate admissions tests as the GMAT, GRE, LSAT. The skills of the philosophy set the foundation for many different jobs requiring analysis and jugement, as well as for graduate and professional study toward college teaching, law, medicine, business, and other professions.

Philosophy Major

36 credit hours

9 hours required courses (Ethics, Elementary Logic, Knowledge and Reality);
9 hours from the History of Philosophy Series (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance through Enlightenment, Modern);
18 hours of electives in philosohpy such as Aesthetics, Existentialism, Ethics in Business, Philosophy of Religion, and Environmental Ethics.

Career Opportunities

With these majors as a foundation, students from the department have entered successful careers in law, counseling, the ministry, college teaching, and various fields of business. Our students have been accepted in premier graduate programs in the United States and abroad. The two majors, together with the Ethics minor, supply the fundamentals of many different careers having to do with values, responsibility, and meaning in life. Often the essentials of these majors come into play especially in the careers of professionals at administrative and managerial levels.

Philosophy Minor

21 credit hours

650:021 Philosophy: Basic Questions
Two courses in the History of Philosophy series (Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance through Enlightenment, Modern)
12 hours of electives in Philosophy

Department of Philosophy and Religion
Jerome P. Soneson, Acting Department Head
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls IA. 50613-0501
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Page last updated December 21, 2004 by the Department Webmaster.