What are the best colleges for philosophy in undergrad?
Both of these are trying to measure grad programs, so neither may be accurate in assessing the undergrad experience. For example, LACs can be great places to study philosophy but they are left out. And a dozen other deficiencies if you take the time to uncover the methodologies.
Could you suggest some good colleges for philosophy undergrad? Wouldn’t a graduate program be decent representation of the undergrad program?
I would say Notre Dame.
Pitt
NYU, Pitt, Rutgers and Harvard are ranked in the top 10, for philosophy.
http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2015/philosophy#sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search=
Generally, Catholic universities are good in Philosophy, so try Georgetown, BC, Fordham, ND, CUA.
The rankings in post #6 are for graduate programs. As Londondad noted, the Catholic schools are probably best because all undergraduates take one or several classes as a core requirement so the departments are pretty robust. Holy Cross is another good option.
Which is more accurate of two philosophy rankings - names lost when threads were merged?
Merged two very similar threads that will have the same recommendations
“Best” for what purpose? To prepare a student to enter a top Ph.D. program? To have a robust, well-rounded undergraduate experience that can translate into any number of career options?
Philosophical Gourmet is a ranking which folks argue about, but it can give you a fair sense of what is going on in departments around the country. The thing is, at a graduate level, programs are highly specialized and tend to excel in particular areas though they will offer courses across the tradition. Rutgers and Pitt excel in certain areas as does UC Riverside – not schools one ordinarily think of as “elite” but they are in terms of graduate study of specific fields in philosophy.
A student applying to undergrad is not likely to know if they want to study metaphysics, ethics, 20th C or something else. And, as a parent, I am well aware that students going into college often revise their plans and change their major once they get into an area of study.
For a well-rounded undergraduate program, most reputable LACs will offer a range of courses over an undergrad’s 4 years, though given how small most LAC philosophy departments are, a course in a particular area may only be taught once or twice over those 4 years.
Pitt
“Wouldn’t a graduate program be a decent representation of the undergrad program?” (#3)
I’d say no because you would be 1) using them outside their designed purpose and 2) they could lead you to missing a potentially optimal undergraduate program at a college that does not have graduate programs.
Yes, small schools including LACs should be fine if the departments are large enough to offer a sufficient selection of courses at reasonable frequency. For junior/senior level courses, once every two years is the bare minimum for the student to have a chance at taking the course; more frequently is better, since it gives more chances to take the course (in case a chance is missed due to schedule conflict or something like that). Course offerings and frequency can often be checked by looking at the school’s on-line catalog and schedule.
“given how small most most LAC philosophy departments are” (#10, #13)
Can small be defined for this context? A solid LAC philosophy department will have at least half a dozen professors and offer several dozen courses, most at reasonable frequency. Departments below these thresholds could of course be too small for some students.
NYU isn’t on the NRC Rankings in Philosophy I’m looking at, is there a newer one?
Tufts is rated as the number one terminal masters program by the Philosophical Gourmet.
There is no boundary between undergrad and masters programs, so this makes a wider variety of advanced courses available to undergrads without the professors having to dedicate lots of time to Phd students.
Tufts tends to be very liberal in terms of theology, which may or may not be what you are looking for - it was founded by Universalists in the mid 1800’s and has an active Freethought Society.
http://www.tuftsfreethought.org/
Daniel Dennett is one of the top living philosophers - here is some background on him
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett
http://ase.tufts.edu/cogstud/dennett/