University of Santo Tomas
Faculty of Arts and Letters
Department of Philosophy
Center of Excellence in Philosophy
Philippine Commission on Higher Education
Why study philosophy?
Philosophy comes from the Greek words philein (love) and sophia (wisdom) referring to a fraternal love shared by those bounded by the same pursuit of attaining wisdom. This should not mean that the emphasis is solely on the end but, more important, the process of wisdom's disclosure made possible by critical thinking, objections, and discourses.
Philosophy is a dialogical activity--struggling with a concept, struggling with another view of wisdom's whole.
In a world where dissent is silenced and critical views shunned aside, Philosophy perseveres in its noble task of forming minds and hearts.
The study of Philosophy in the University of Santo Tomas emanates from the Medieval emphasis on studia humanitatis, a humanistic education reminiscent of Plato's emphasis on musicae and gymnasticae (The Republic, VI), of Aristotle's stress on the political imbeddedness of each individual, of Thomas Aquinas' understanding of the inseparability of faith and reason. Philosophy in the university is rooted in the great intellectual traditions that attempt to form human beings according to cultural, moral, and aesthetic ideals derived from a diversity of cultures and civilizations.
The Department of Philosophy oversees
the administration of the civil Philosophy programs of UST, separate, but an
offshoot, from the University's Ecclesiastical Faculty of Philosophy which
administers the Ecclesiastical degrees. The Department of
Philosophy services the whole university via the administration of the
General Education Philosophy courses, and forms an integral part of the Faculty
of Arts and Letters where the Bachelor of Arts (AB) in Philosophy program is being offered. Moreover, the
Department of Philosophy supervises the graduate Philosophy programs,
Master
of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD),
offered at the UST Graduate School.
The Department at a glance
Academic year 2020-2021 celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Department of Philosophy as a unified department under the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
A year-long celebration with the title
"1DESKURSO: ISANG DEKADANG DISKURSO"
features various events in commemoration of this milestone.
more information about the Department:
