The Philosophy Department contributes to the liberal arts mission of Hiram College both in its Core Curriculum course offerings and through its major and minor programs in Philosophy.

The department cultivates intellectual and ethical abilities in its students in three primary ways:

1. Logical skills and Critical Thinking: Throughout all of our course offerings emphasis is placed upon the development of logical skills and the ability to think critically about arguments. Throughout the 2500 year history of philosophy these skills have been the essential part of a specifically philosophical education.
   
2. Ethical Awareness and Rigorous Reflective Thinking: Our courses in ethics involve both the study of the great ethical theories of the philosophical tradition and the rigorous investigation of the most pressing ethical dilemmas of our time.
   
3. Understanding of the great metaphysical problems of human existence: Through the study of the greatest texts of the greatest philosophical thinkers, the enduring and ever renewed questions and problems of human existence, reality, and their connections are rigorously investigated and explored.