<p>What are some good schools for philosophy? (undergrad)</p>
<p>What kind? Analytic? Political? History of? Epistemology/phenomenology? Comparative? </p>
<p>If you don't know (and there is no particular reason why you should), any of the top 50 LACs or unis will be just fine - the faculty all come out of the same graduate schools, and where one is teaching is just as much a matter of what places opened up in years they were looking for a job as anything else. Probably makes more of difference whether you prefer small discussion classes by less well-known (but often quite excellent) teachers v. large lectures by well-known (but too-often very dry) profs.</p>
<p>to get you started....</p>
<p>LACs:
Barnard
Bates
Bowdoin
Bucknell
Claremont McKenna
Colgate
Colorado C
Connecticut C
Hamilton
Haverford
Holy Cross
Kenyon
Macalester
Oberlin
Pomona
Reed
Smith
St Olaf
Swarthmore
Trinity (CT)
Trinity (TX)
Wheaton (IL)
Whitman
source: Rugg's Recommendations</p>
<p>Universities:
Princeton
U Pittsburgh
Harvard
UC Berkeley
U Chicago
Stanford
U Michigan Ann Arbor
UCLA
MIT
Cornell
Yale
Brown
Columbia
U Notre Dame
Boston U
UNC Chapel Hill
U Wisconsin Madison
Indiana U Bloomington
U Mass Amherst
U Minnesota
Johns Hopkins
source : Gourman Undergrad</p>
<p>other Universities from Rugg's:
SUNY Binghamton
Boston C
Davidson
Duke
Fla St
U Fla
George Washington
Georgetown
NYU
New Col Fla
U Penn
U Rochester
Southwestern (TX)
Tulane
Washington U (MO)</p>
<p>Edited by Brian Leiter, The University of Texas at Austin</p>
<p>Graduate rankings based on reputational surveys completed by 266 philosophers throughout the English-speaking world</p>
<ol>
<li>NYU</li>
<li>Rutgers</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>University of Michigan</li>
<li>University of Pittsburg</li>
<li>Columbia </li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
</ol>
<p>This is what he has to say about undergraduate rankings.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/undergrad.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/undergrad.htm</a>
Over the years, many high school students or their parents have contacted me to inquire how to use the Report with respect to choosing an undergraduate institution. The first point to make is that the focus of this Report is on graduate study only: Pittsburgh may have an outstanding philosophy department, but it might make more sense for a good student interested in philosophy to do his or her undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins or Amherst, where student-faculty ratios are more favorable, and where there is a stronger focus on undergraduate education. Many faculty at major departments did not do their undergraduate work at institutions with top-ranked PhD programs. The tenured faculty at Michigan , for example, did undergraduate work at Harvard (2), Swarthmore (2), Wesleyan, Tulane, Oberlin, Amherst, Berkeley, and John Carroll, among other places. Texas faculty did undergraduate work at Yale (4), Princeton (3), Haverford, Drew , Cal Tech, Missouri , Michigan State , Brown, UVA, and Columbia , among other places. There are eminent philosophers--who have held or now hold tenured posts at top ten departments--who did their undergraduate work at the University of New Mexico, Queens College (New York), and the University of Pittsburgh. It is possible to get good philosophical training in many undergraduate settings.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What kind? Analytic? Political? History of? Epistemology/phenomenology? Comparative?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Comparative philosophy? Phenomenology?</p>
<p>Here is an actual list:
Philosophy of Language
Philosophy of Mind
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Philosophical Logic
Philosophy of Action (incl. free will)
Philosophy of Religion
Normative Ethics and Moral Psychology
Metaethics
Political Philosophy
Philosophy of Law
Applied Ethics
Philosophy of Art
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Biology
Philosophy of Physics
Philosophy of Cognitive Science
Philosophy of Social Science
Decision, Rational Choice and Game Theory
Philosophy of Mathematics
Mathematical Logic
Ancient Philosophy
Medieval Philosophy
Early Modern Philosophy: 17th Century
Early Modern Philosophy: 18th Century
Kant & German Idealism
19th Century Continental Philosophy after Hegel
History of Analytic Philosophy (incl. Wittgenstein)
20th Century Continental Philosophy</p>
<p>
[quote]
- the faculty all come out of the same graduate schools
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, they do not.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Probably makes more of difference whether you prefer small discussion classes by less well-known (but often quite excellent) teachers v. large lectures by well-known (but too-often very dry) profs.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not really, since most higher level philosophy courses at any decent department tend to be esoteric, and thus draw much fewer students. </p>
<p>For the most accurate advice, tsdad's appropriation of Brian Leiter's website is best.</p>
<p>Be chary, however, since overall rankings for philosophical programs are misleading. The most helpful tool, in my opinion, is <a href="http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/breakdown.htm</a>, which ranks philosophy departments according to discipline.</p>
<p>All relevant for GRADUATE programs.</p>
<p>But check the graduate degrees of folks teaching undergraduates at the top 50 LACs and unis and you will see tremendous overlap. </p>
<p>And, yes, having myself taught undergraduate philosophy (medieval) at a top 10 university, but having attended a small LAC myself (and one that has Oxford-style tutorials), I can say with some certainty that the differences in teaching styles and class sizes, at least for the first two years will vary much wider than anything else (at the upper levels, there will be fewer students in either case.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
But check the graduate degrees of folks teaching undergraduates at the top 50 LACs and unis and you will see tremendous overlap.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, but 'tremendous overlap' is not the same as being coextensive.</p>
<p><a href="at%20the%20upper%20levels,%20there%20will%20be%20fewer%20students%20in%20either%20case.">quote</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is my point.</p>
<p>Philosophy at MIT?
Wow, that's difficult to believe. I get the impression that if you're not majoring in science or technology, you'd waste your money going there...hmmm. I just wouldn't expect a recommended Philosophy program in a technological/science university...does MIT actually have an undergraduate philosophy program worth acknowledging?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Wow, that's difficult to believe. I get the impression that if you're not majoring in science or technology, you'd waste your money going there...hmmm. I just wouldn't expect a recommended Philosophy program in a technological/science university...does MIT actually have an undergraduate philosophy program worth acknowledging?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, MIT has best known for philosophy of language/linguistics. As you probably know, Noam Chomsky, a prominent linguist, is emeritus there.</p>