Statue of thinking man

Become a Great Thinker.

Develop strong critical thinking, communication, and ethical skills at SRU

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Student reading outdoors

Explore important questions

Learn to reason, take positions, and express your ideas clearly

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Students ponder the meaning of life

Excel in life and work

Gain valuable skills that will serve you well both personally and professionally

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Philosophy

Offered by: Philosophy Department

Philosophy encourages you to critically examine what passes as "common knowledge," formulate well-reasoned positions on important issues, and express your ideas clearly and carefully. The Philosophy program at SRU fosters excellence in reading, writing, critical thinking, and ethical deliberation. SRU philosophy students have won more top awards at the annual statewide Association for Philosophy and Religious Studies (IAPRS) than any other university within the PA State System of Higher Education.

Why Choose Philosophy?

Why study philosophy? Majoring in Philosophy will benefit you in a number of ways:

  • Philosophy majors have the highest score on the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT), and have the highest acceptance rate to law school of any major.
  • On the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), philosophy students have the highest average score of all university majors. (Source: Educational Testing Service, 2013)
  • Want to get an MBA? Philosophy majors outscore all business majors (including management, accounting, and economics) on the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) (Source: Graduate Management Admissions Council, 2005-2010)
  • Interested in medical school? Philosophy majors have a higher acceptance rate into medical school than biology, chemistry, and biochemistry majors. (Source: American Medical Student Association, 2000)
  • The study of philosophy pays off in life and work. Students with a BA in philosophy earn more at midcareer than two-thirds of all other university majors. (Source: Payscale.com, 2014)
  • Through philosophy, you have the opportunity to explore important questions and to consider alternative points of view and ways of thinking.
  • By encouraging respect for reason and the critical examination of the grounds of your beliefs, philosophy teaches you to think for yourself in a responsible way, and to live a thoughtful life.

What Will You Learn?

Through SRU's Philosophy program, you'll learn to read carefully, write clearly, examine assumptions, think logically, and engage in ethical deliberation, all skills that are of great value to employers. You'll also learn to:

  • Inquire in a systematic way into fundamental questions about our lives and our relationships to others, society, and the world
  • Develop the critical thinking skills and dispositions essential to any academic pursuit and intelligent living
  • Critically examine assumptions about our society and the world, formulate logical positions on important issues, and express ideas intelligently
  • Pull your studies together into a unified project, and think about broader perspectives and implications, which are often lost sight of in specialized study

Careers In Philosophy

You might be surprised to learn many of the most important and well-known world leaders, business executives, scientists, novelists, artists, economists, activists, entertainers, Supreme Court justices, and Noble Laureates studied philosophy in college.

Philosophy students go on to excel in a variety of fields, including:

  • Actuarial science
  • Art
  • Business
  • Education
  • Health care
  • Information science and technology
  • Law
  • Nonprofit leadership
  • Scientific research

Clubs & Organizations

  • Philosophy Club
  • Phi Sigma Tau