Department of Philosophy

Welcome from the Chair

Greetings from the Department of Philosophy at The George Washington University! We are a pluralist department with ten full-time faculty and ten part-time faculty offering courses in the history of philosophy, ethics, social, political, and legal philosophy, logic, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, analytic, American, continental philosophy, and philosophy of race and gender. 

Our philosophy majors in both tracks have enjoyed a wide range of post-graduate careers both in and outside the academy and find that the analytical skills they develop as philosophy majors help them to be successful in many different professions including law, medicine, teaching, business, and public policy. We offer two different majors in our department: 

• A traditional track that provides a strong background in the history of philosophy (especially recommended for students who intend to pursue a graduate degree in Philosophy).
• A philosophy and public affairs option that emphasizes value theory and social and political philosophy.

Our department is distinctive in offering an MA in Philosophy and Social Policy, an interdisciplinary graduate program that takes full advantage of our downtown Washington, D.C., location. In addition to their philosophy and policy graduate courses, our MA students choose among a wide variety of offerings in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration and interact closely with graduate students from all over the University. Many of our MA students obtain policy internships in Washington while they are enrolled in the program, creating an exciting synergy between their coursework and their employment experience. These internships have frequently led to full-time positions in prominent policy organizations upon graduation. 

The GW Department of Philosophy prides itself on offering our philosophy majors and minors the personal attention usually associated with smaller, liberal arts colleges. We are a research-active, congenial group of full and part-time faculty and enjoy sharing our work and exchanging ideas in department brown bag presentations. We also have an annual endowed lecture series that regularly attracts some of the top philosophers in our profession to GW to speak to our students and faculty.

We hope you enjoy browsing our website and invite you to attend one of our departmental events if you are in the area!

Gail Weiss
Chair, Department of Philosophy

Professor of Philosophy and Human Sciences