TCNJ Home / Explore Programs / Philosophy
Philosophy
Degree
BA in Philosophy
At a Glance
As a philosophy student, you’ll examine profound questions about the nature of reality, knowledge, and ethics. Our program focuses on developing critical thinking, close analysis, argument, and counterargument to equip you with the skills and insights to succeed in a range of meaningful pursuits — including law, medicine, healthcare, business, education, and postgraduate philosophy work. Throughout your studies, you’ll be supported by dedicated and accomplished faculty who are passionate about teaching and research.
Undergraduate Program Options
MAJOR
THREE-YEAR OPTION
Philosophy Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree
SPECIALIZATIONS
MINORS
Accelerated/Dual-Degree Program Options
Get a jumpstart and enter the workforce with a master’s or professional degree. Accelerated options get you there faster and more affordably through fewer semesters of classes. Dual degrees offer a streamlined path to earning two degrees, often with direct admission to the graduate portion.
LAW
Philosophy + Law, BA/JD
Third-year juniors may follow a six-year (3+3) accelerated pathway and graduating seniors may follow a seven-year (4+3) traditional pathway to gain direct admission to law school in this highly selective dual-degree program with Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law.
MEDICINE
Philosophy + Medicine, BA/MD
First-year applicants can gain direct admission to New Jersey Medical School in this Seven-Year Medical Program (3+4).
You’ll Benefit From:
- A flexible, customizable curriculum for tailored study according to goals
- Accommodation of double majors, a self-designed major, and minors
- Accelerated degree options (e.g., business, education, public health, public policy)
- Small, engaging classes that foster collaboration and discussion
- Opportunities for faculty-mentored research and internships
- Study abroad programs and faculty-led study abroad tours
- Exceptional preparation for law or graduate school, if desired
- Dedicated instruction and mentorship from renowned faculty scholars
- Access to an alumni network of accomplished professionals
Careers
You’ll graduate with the skills, insights, and experience to attract prospective employers and top graduate programs. Roughly 50% of our majors go on to law school, with others pursuing business, government, journalism, counseling, education, medical school, and more. A foundation in philosophy translates to almost any profession and endeavor.
We equip our students for the coming challenges of automation, AI, ethical issues, and misinformation, with extensive preparation to handle ethical challenges in the workplace. A philosophy degree prepares you for the job you want now and for the roles you’ll have in the future.
Recent Career Paths
- District attorney’s offices
- Healthcare firms
- Hospitals
- NJ Board of Education
- Private law firms in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
- Self-employment in healthcare, law, accounting, and marketing
Recent Graduate Schools
- Brown
- Chicago
- Columbia
- CUNY
- Duke
- NYU
- Rutgers (Camden and Newark) law schools
- UCLA
Course Sequence
Our curriculum is designed to cultivate intellectual agility, reasoning, ethical thinking, and persuasive arguing — and to support their application in a fluid and complex world.
Many students who choose to major in philosophy do so late in their sophomore year or even early in their junior year, and some courses are offered only in alternate years. To ensure that students entering the major in their sophomore or junior year complete the program on a timely basis, specific requirements may be waived if pertinent subject matter has been covered in other ways. Many courses in the Honors and Scholars Program will satisfy one or another philosophy requirement and, where necessary, students can complete course requirements on an independent study or special arrangement basis. The substitution of another course for a specific requirement does not reduce the total number of units required for the major.
TCNJ also offers minors and self-designed majors in religious studies and classical studies — furthering the quest to more deeply understand ourselves and our world.
Undergraduate Research Opportunities
You can choose to pursue faculty-mentored research opportunities or design independent research projects for academic credit. TCNJ philosophy faculty are deeply committed to their research and to engaging interested students in participation; you could very well find yourself co-authoring an academic paper for publication, creating posters, or presenting your work at a conference.
Internships
Thanks to invaluable resources like TCNJ’s Career Center, the college’s alumni network, and other personal connections, philosophy students have gained significant practical experience by interning at a wide variety of organizations.
Recent internship sites include AmeriCorps, Cooperman Scholars, Legal Aid Justice Center, New Jersey Department of Education, New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, New Jersey Primary Care Association, Newark Department of Law, Planned Parenthood, and the Rockland County Public Defender’s Office.
Faculty
TCNJ has a very strong philosophy faculty, covering a wide range of philosophical areas and philosophical orientations. Our professors have PhDs from Bowling Green, Claremont, Columbia, CUNY, Illinois, Penn, Rutgers, Syracuse, and UMass and have published several books and numerous articles. All are highly respected as scholars in their fields, and many have distinguished international reputations; some have taught by special invitation at major universities in England, Holland, Germany, Japan, and South Africa. First and foremost, all are dedicated teachers who consistently receive high marks on student evaluations.
