Welcome to the Philosophy Department

Look around and get acquainted with our faculty. Check out speakers and other events in philosophy. Explore our programs. We offer both a major and a minor in philosophy at the undergraduate level. At the graduate level, we offer both the M.A. and the Ph.D. degrees.  For information about the graduate program, contact Richard Aquila, Director of Graduate Studies. 

Building on existing strengths in ethics, value theory and bioethics, we have created a department specializing in value theory and applied ethics.  In addition to our graduate concentration in bioethics, we now offer concentrations in environmental ethics and business ethics.  (When you think about it, it really doesn’t make sense to study bioethics or environmental ethics apart from business ethics.  In the U.S., at least, for-profit corporations will have to be a major part of any solution to our healthcare or environmental problems.)  There is also an opportunity here at UT to study and teach professional ethics, research ethics, ethics in public administration, engineering ethics, legal ethics, and ethics in agriculture.

Two semester-long clinical practica have been central to our graduate program in bioethics: a three semester-hour M.A. practicum and a nine semester-hour Ph.D. practicum.  Our graduate students find these practica enormously educational and rewarding. Partly as a result of this major dose of hands-on experience, our graduates who specialize in bioethics have been able to get jobs in philosophy departments, in professional schools, and outside of academia in hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, etc.  We will retain this central practicum experience.  We will also offer practica --- hands-on experience --- in business ethics, environmental ethics, and perhaps other areas of applied ethics, as well.

Contact Information

Philosophy Department
801 McClung Tower
Knoxville, TN 37996-0480

Phone: (865) 974-3255
Fax: (865) 974-3509