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Why Study Philosophy?

Philosophy is traditionally defined as the love of wisdom, the ability to think well about the foundations of human action, the nature of reality, and the purposes and priorities of life.

The department offers the opportunity for a systematic study of the philosophies of past and present, of East and West, a study that deepens and broadens one's outlook on the world and on human affairs, and thus provides a more secure basis on which to develop one's own philosophy.

Department Contact

Hours: Mon-Thur, 8:30am-5pm
Fri, 8:30am-1:30pm

E-mail: phlsphr@sfsu.edu

Phone:(415) 338-1596

Address:1600 Holloway Avenue San Francisco, CA 94132, Humanities Building, Room 388

Campus Map

Department of Philosophy

Philosophy Department Alumni and Friends of Philosophy page more..

Professor Anita Silvers wins the APA's 2010 Quinn Prize more...

SFSU students publish papers and present at conferences more...

PHILOSOPHY B.A. DEGREE HOLDERS IN TOP MID-CAREER EARNERS more...

CRITICAL THINKING CHALLENGE EXAM more...

Philosophy Students Excel on Standardized Tests more...

UPCOMING PHILOSOPHY TALKS more...

News

OUT-OF-STATE PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE APPLICANTS NOW ELIGIBLE FOR PROVOST SCHOLARS TUITION AWARD

The Philosophy Department has been invited to join the list of SFSU departments able to nominate graduate applicants for Provost Scholar Awards that are applied to tuition. Applicants for the Philosophy M.A. program who do not reside in California are eligible.

Out-of-State applicants who wish to be considered for this award should be sure to have their university application, including transcripts, complete in the Graduate Division office by the end of January. The Philosophy Department application should also be complete by the end of January and should include a statement of interests and plans in Philosophy that indicates the intention to follow up the M.A. with a doctorate in order to research as well as teach in the field and three letters of recommendation testifying to their abilities and commitment, as well as the usual writing sample. To be eligible, Provost Scholar Award nominees must have been admitted to the university, so early completion of your application is a necessity.

SF State ranked among the top Philosophy MA programs in the nation

This year’s Philosophical Gourmet Report lists SF State’s program among the top nine Master’s degree programs in the United States.

CONGRATULATIONS to Philosophy MA Candidates Sylvia Kocieda and Victor Ma for receiving the 2011-2012 Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholars award!

CONGRATULATIONS to Kaia Grgich, for her Philosophy Undergraduate Student Award for Distinguished Achievement and election to Phi Beta Kappa.

CONGRATULATIONS to Philosophy Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Achievement Recipients: Tyrus Fisher, Andrew Peterson and Helen Sakkaris.

CONGRATULATIONS to Undergraduate Philosophy Major Richard Toomer, who has been accepted for study abroad. Richard will do research on issues in African Philosophy in the Philosophy Department at the University of Ghana..

The Department of Philosophy has donated the papers of two of its faculty members from the last century to archives. The papers of Prof. Nancy Tilden will be available to scholars of intellectual history at the California State Library and the papers of Prof. V.J. McGill will be at the Tamiment Library at New York University.

With regret, the Philosophy faculty reports the passing of emerita/emeritus colleagues Professor Mary Anne Warren on August 9, 2010 and Professor John Glanville on November 19, 2010. There was a memorial session celebrating Professor Warren's work and a reception honoring her memory during the meeting of the Pacific Society of Women in Philosophy, November 6-7, 2010, at SFSU. Plans to memorialize Professor Glanville are pending.

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING PHILOSOPHY MAJORS WHO HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE CERTIFIED SFSU EXCHANGE PROGRAMS AND CSU INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS DURING THE 2010-2011 CYCLE:

Fleming, Ryan (Germany)

Greene, Travis (Germany)

Groth, Kelly (The Netherlands)

Kim, Matthew (France)

Pasley, Chelsea (France)

Weaver, Erin (Ghana)

Wiley, Hunter (France)

Werndorf, Sigmund (United Kingdom)

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO PHILOSOPHY FACULTY:

Ásta Sveinsdóttir and Shelley Wilcox have been awarded tenure. They began their new terms as tenured professors in the Fall of 2011.

Congratulations to Assistant Professor David Landy, who has won an SFSU Presidential Award for a Fall '11 research leave to complete a full draft of his book on modern philosophy.

Isabelle Peschard has been awarded a National Science Foundation fellowship to study the interplay between the theoretical, experimental and normative elements in scientific modeling. more...

Professor Anita Silvers, the Department Chair, has been awarded the Quinn Prize, in recognition of her service to philosophy and philosophers broadly construed, by the APA Board of Officers. She will receive the award on December 28th at the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The APA also will sponsor a panel discussion of her contributions to philosophical scholarship and a reception in April 2010 in San Francisco at the St. Francis Hotel. Silvers's research focuses on justice theory, nondiscrimination and inclusiveness.

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO PHILOSOPHY STUDENTS:

Congratulations to SFSU 2005 Philosophy M.A. recipient Jose Jorge Mendoza, now a doctoral student at the University of Oregon, who won the APA's annual award for the best 2010 essay in Latin American Thought. The essay's title is "The Political Philosophy of Undocumented Immigration".

Congratulations to Carol Radkins (MA candiadate) for the publication of her paper, "Cognitivism and Prescriptivity", in the new on-line journal, Theoretical and Applied Ethics.

Congratulations to Philosophy undergraduate student Brian Lanier, who has been awarded several scholarships to facilitate his transfer to Stanford University.

 

Congratulations to successful PhD applicants

This year our students were offered admission and financial support by several doctoral programs, including UC Irvine, University of Washington at Seattle, Bowling Green, UC Davis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Edinburgh, York University, and University of Texas. Students were also offered admission to several law schools.

 

Campus adds philosophy of science emphasis more...

Attention: ALL STUDENTS!!! Win a scholarship! Apply Today! Click here for resource options!

Administration and Advising

Last Update: 1-03-12