Department of Philosophy

Utrecht University has a tradition of philosophy scholarship dating back to the early 17th century and remains today a leading centre of philosophical research and study. The department is part of the Faculty of Humanities and plays an active role in several university-wide, national, and international research and educational consortiums — in addition to housing the university's Ethics Institute.
This strong research focus, together with extensive engagement with other disciplines and with the wider society, is further reflected in the high quality of the educational programmes offered by the department.

Research

The Department of Philosophy is home to a range of research programmes within the ZENO Research Institute of Philosophy. This includes research in:

• History of Philosophy (ancient philosophy; early modern philosophy, in particular Descartes and Spinoza; 18th and 19th century, in particular German idealism; the relationship between history of philosophy and the history of science)
• Theoretical Philosophy (logic, foundations of computation, philosophy of mathematics, analytical metaphysics, and the nature of (scientific) reasoning)  
• Practical Philosophy and Ethics (with specialisations in foundational issues of dignity, autonomy, and human rights, as well as applied issues related especially to public health and to animals). Many of these issue are addressed in the context of the Ethics Institute, which is housed in the Department of Philosophy.

Education

The Department of Philosophy also offers a variety of degree programmes within its School of Philosophy and Artificial Intelligence and the Graduate School of Humanities, including:

• Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (in Dutch)
• Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence (in Dutch) 
• Master of Arts in Applied Ethics
• Master of Arts in Philosophy (in Dutch)
• Master of Arts in Philosophy (Education and Communication) (in Dutch)
• Research Master of Arts in Philosophy 

The department is also involved in the Bachelor's programme Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as the Master's programmes Cognitive Artificial Intelligence and History and Philosophy of Science.

Staff

View a full list of the members of department, including links to their individual web pages.

Contact & Address

The department is located at Janskerkhof 13A, in the historical city centre of Utrecht. See Contact for full address and contact information.