Tulane Philosophy
The Philosophy Department at Tulane offers the following degrees and programs:
We offer courses in ethics, political philosophy, ancient philosophy, modern philosophy, philosophy of mind, logic, metaphysics, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, aesthetics, and philosophy of religion. Our current courses can be found on the Tulane Schedule of Classes website and our course catalogue is on the Philosophy Course Catalogue web page. Our PhD Program includes a Specialty Track in Moral Philosophy, and our Undergraduate Major includes specialty tracks in Law, Morality, and Society as well as in Language, Mind, and Knowledge. We are also affiliated with the Cognitive Studies Coordinate Major.
Our Mission Statement.
Ethics and Political Philosophy at Tulane
The department specializes in contemporary and historical approaches to ethics and political philosophy, and has an exceptionally lively intellectual life in political philosophy and ethics. We have a specialty PhD track in Moral Philosophy.
The department is closely connected with The Murphy Institute's Center for Ethics and Public Affairs,
The Murphy Institute sponsors an active lecture and seminar series featuring prominent ethicists and political philosophers. Recent visitors have included Allen Buchanan, Ruth Chang, John Doris, Niko Kolodny, Michael McKenna, Dana Nelkin, Peter Railton, Mark Schroeder, Kieran Setiya, Russ Shafer-Landau, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Michael Smith, Stephen Stich, Sharon Street, Sara Stroud, Mark Timmons, J. David Velleman, and R. Jay Wallace.
The Murphy Institute also sponsors the New Orleans Workshop on Agency and Responsibility, the Politics, Philosophy, and Economics Conference, and the New Orleans Invitational Seminar in Ethics.
The department currently has 8 faculty members with research interests in contemporary and historical approaches to ethics or political philosophy:
- Caroline Arruda
- Bruce Brower
- Ronna Burger
- Oliver Sensen
- Chad Van Schoelandt
- Richard Velkley
- Mario Juarez-Garcia
- Lucia Schwarz
In addition to the seminars, lectures, and conferences notes above, the Murphy Institute's Center for Ethics and Public Affairs also supports three to four faculty fellows each year. These are visitors from other universities who work in ethics, political philosophy and allied fields, spend the entire academic year at Tulane, and are active participants in the Center's lectures, seminars, and conferences.
In addition, each year the Murphy Institute sponsors several one-year dissertation completion fellowships for Tulane graduate students writing dissertations in ethics or political philosophy, allowing them to devote themselves full-time to finishing their dissertations. Students on these fellowships also assist in planning the Murphy Institute's activities for the year and nominate visiting scholars in their fields. Graduate students working in political philosophy are also eligible for a one-year editorial fellowship with Politics, Philosophy and Economics, which provides a stipend and tuition waiver.
Philosophy of Mind at Tulane
The department has 5 faculty members with research interests in philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of neuroscience, metaphysics of mind, and issues at the intersection of philosophy of mind and ethics:
Recent course offerings in philosophy of mind and related areas include Philosophy of Neuroscience, Moral Psychology and Metaethics, Philosophy of Perception, Metaphysics of Mind, Metaphysics, Consciousness, Imagination.