Department of Philosophy

Mission

The mission of the Philosophy program is to educate its students in the history and major subdisciplines of philosophy and the role of philosophy in the Catholic intellectual tradition, to cultivate their ethical sensibility and logical rigor, and to equip them with critical and analytical skills essential for success in a wide array of careers.

The Philosophy Department at Marian University offers students the opportunity to study philosophy, from contemporary, historical, and specifically Catholic perspectives. To that end, it offers the B.A. in Philosophy, as well as the minor in Philosophy. The Department also provides the intellectual formation for seminarians enrolled at the Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary. For these seminarians, it offers a specialization in pre-theology designed to prepare them for major seminary, as well as ensure compliance with the Program for Priestly Formation. The Department also offers an interdisciplinary Ethics Specialization, consisting of a core of Philosophy courses, together with interdisciplinary electives, and a capstone research project.

Distinctive Features of the Philosophy Program

• We offer a comprehensive set of courses. All major periods in the history of philosophy are regularly taught, as well as all major philosophical subdisciplines.
• The program offers an interdisciplinary specialization in Ethics. Students take three philosophy courses, a variety of non-philosophy electives, and conclude with a capstone research project in ethics overseen by a faculty mentor.
• The program offers two enhancement courses. In PHL 110 – Philosophical and Cultural Debates – students earn academic credits for participating in weekly lunchtime conversations about big questions and current events. In PHL 115, students practice ethical analysis of contemporary case-studies, as preparation for competing in the Central States Regional Ethics Bowl, hosted annual at Marian.
• The program offers a course dedicated to the employment prospects of Philosophy majors. PHL 200, Philosophy and the Professions, is an innovative 2-credit hour course offering students the opportunity to work with Marian’s career preparation service, The Exchange, to develop their resumés, and practice interviewing and social skills valuable for their future employment search and/or graduate school admissions. Students learn about the marketability of their degree, the ways in which Philosophy majors have been successful in applying to graduate school, how to present oneself as a job candidate, as well as different career paths open to someone with a Philosophy degree
• As the only Catholic university in Indianapolis, the Department offers the only course of studies in Philosophy in Indianapolis that takes seriously the Catholic intellectual tradition and the relationship between philosophy and theology.
• The Department has historically had a close relationship with the Indiana Philosophical Association, and many of our students have presented papers at conferences – some of them award-winning submissions.

The Value of a Degree in Philosophy

• Philosophy Major perform well on Graduate Entrance exams:
  • GRE: Philosophy majors have the highest average score on the Analytical Writing portion of the GRE (4.4/6). They also do well on Verbal portion (160/170), and come seventh in the Quantitative portion (153/170)

• Average GMAT score: 599/800
• Average LSAT score: 175.4/180
• MCAT: Philosophy majors score the highest on the Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills portion of the MCAT.
  • Plus, 50.2% of Philosophy majors were accepted to medical school vs. 39.9% of Biology majors.
• The median salary for Philosophy Majors, midcareer without advanced degree $81,200.

Bottom line: A degree in philosophy does not prepare you for one specific job (it’s not like going to Engineering school or Nursing school), but it does prepare you to succeed in a variety of different professions and grow your income over time.