Le Moyne College

News and events

On Thursday, April 30th, the Department of Philosophy held its annual Honors Ceremony in the Reilley Room.  Inducted into Phi Sigma Tau were Kristina Baade, Anna Edinger, Carly Honors, Justin Karram, Matthew Keegan, Kelley Purcell, Cristina Quiñones-Betancourt, Sara Sirianni, Kristan Spencer, and Desireé Struppa.  Winners of the Phi Sigma Tau Essay Contest were Kevin Piper (first place prize of $100) and Ashley O'Mara (second place prize of $50).  Marc Grimes was announced as the winner of the 2009 Leonard P. Markert Medal in Philosophy, awarded at Le Moyne's Honors Convocation on May 16th.  Welcome to all ten new members of Phi Sigma Tau and congratulations to our prize and medal winners!

On Wednesday, April 22nd, Dr. Karmen MacKendrick was awarded Le Moyne's Joseph C. Georg Endowed Professorship, which she will hold for the next three years (2009-2012).  The award was presented by the previous Georg Professor, Dr. Mario Saenz, also from the Department of Philosophy.  Congratulations to both our outgoing and incoming Georg Professors!

James Macris (Class of 2010) had his paper, "Nietzsche's Moral Philosophy," accepted for the 11th Annual Midwest Undergraduate Philosophy Conference that was held at Creighton University (Omaha, Nebraska) on April 17th-18th.  Congratulations, James!

Dr. Thomas Brockelman's latest book, Zizek and Heidegger: The Question Concerning Techno-capitalism, was published recently by Continuum as part of their Studies in Continental Philosophy series.  "Through a highly innovative gesture, Brockelman introduces a unique way of reinterpreting the entirety of Zizek's oeuvre through the lens of his under-explored rapport with Heidegger. . . .  Brockelman makes an important contribution to our understanding of Zizek" (Adrian Johnston, Univ. of New Mexico). 

Why Philosophy?

Philosophy tackles questions that we all face as creatures alive to the world. The first question, perhaps, is how we should live our life. That question gives way to related questions about the nature of the world, what we can know, how words do things, our political arrangements, our belief in God, and our interest in the things we value (each other, the natural environment, works of art, music, movies, . . .). Many people think about these questions late in their life and anxiously, wondering about the life they've led. Those who study philosophy believe that the solutions to these questions are urgent and central to their happiness, and so they give their thinking over to them early and often.

Why Philosophy at Le Moyne?

At most colleges – and indeed at most graduate universities – philosophy departments are loyal to one of the two Western philosophical traditions of the past two hundred years: either continental philosophy (from the continent of Europe – chiefly Germany and France) or analytic philosophy (the dominant philosophical tradition in Great Britain and the U.S.). Le Moyne's department of philosophy is unusual in being strongly represented in both traditions, so our students gain exposure to the full range of philosophical approaches practiced today.

We are a large philosophy department for a small college with a small number of majors: the ratio of majors to full-time faculty is less than two to one. This means, for majors, a dozen full-time faculty from whom you can choose several to work with closely and get to know well. The department's areas of strength include social and political philosophy, aesthetics (i.e., philosophy of art), ethics, and the history of philosophy (particularly ancient and medieval philosophy).

Because of the prominence of philosophy in Le Moyne's core curriculum, our majors have a fairly open course of study compared to other majors, once their core requirements are out of the way. Thus, as a philosophy major, you have time to pursue interests related to philosophy – for example, in religious studies, political science, literature, or foreign languages – and to pursue other, possibly less-related interests – in theater arts or music, for example, or to satisfy the requirements for teacher certification.

There are several funded enrichment opportunities for philosophy majors at Le Moyne. These include travel to undergraduate philosophy conferences across the country, study abroad and post-graduate fellowships, and participation in Symposium, the student philosophy club.