Philosophy

Carleton’s Department of Philosophy has two broad strengths: philosophy of mind, language and knowledge, on the one hand, and moral, social and political philosophy, on the other. Courses and research are also available in history of philosophy.

Our unique MA program combines both coursework and original research over two years. Students begin tackling graduate level work in a supportive and collegial proseminar, followed by a research seminar in which they develop plans for a thesis or research essay. An exciting variety of graduate seminars is offered, with new topics added every year. They have included: Kant, women and early modern philosophy, the Stoics on emotions, consciousness and agency, justice and equality, health and distributive justice, artificial intelligence, nature and critical theory, development ethics and philosophical naturalism. Students can also explore their research interests in small groups or one-to-one graduate tutorials with a faculty member.

The two-year program provides a solid grounding in the contemporary state of the literature and equips students with the abilities needed to do original research. The breadth and depth provided through the MA program has allowed our students to secure admission into prestigious PhD programs, to have their papers accepted for conference presentations, to succeed in being awarded external scholarships, and to publish their research in scholarly articles.

A collaborative Specialization in Digital Humanities is also available.

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Fields of Specialization

• Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy
• Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Science and Epistemology

Faculty Research Highlights

Our faculty are highly-regarded researchers with numerous grants, awards and citations to their credit. Some prominent research interests in the department are:

• Action theory
• Philosophy of mind, psychology and cognitive science
• Philosophy and Economics
• The epistemology of testimony
• Comparative ethics
• Development and global ethics
• Distributive justice
• Bioethics
• Ancient and early modern philosophy
• 19th and 20th century European philosophy
• Critical theory
• Feminist philosophy
• Epistemic injustice
• Postcolonial and decolonial approaches
• Philosophy of life

Other faculty research can be found here.

Capital Advantage

As home to the federal government, Parliament and Supreme Court of Canada, a world-class array of museums, galleries, and cultural festivals, multiple post-secondary educational institutions and many non-governmental organizations of academic interest, Ottawa provides students of Philosophy with unique opportunities for expansion of the mind.

In collaboration with Carleton, the nation’s capital also regularly hosts visits and public lectures from intellectual luminaries such as Martha Nussbaum, Noam Chomsky, Margaret Atwood, Peter Singer, Michael Walzer, John Perry, Angela Davis and Daniel Dennett.