The Philosophy Department of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offers undergraduate and graduate programs. Joint concentrations are offered between Philosophy and the Political Science, Physics, Psychology, Religion, Classical Studies, Anthropology, and Mathematics Departments. Students in graduate programs study philosophy and philosophers from all periods and areas, but current emphasis is on modern and contemporary philosophy. Students may also enroll in the Law, Medicine and Ethics Program. However, considering the precision of the vocabulary used in philosophical discourse, and the level of scholarship at the graduate level, original texts in major European languages are acquired in addition to translations of significant works.
Asian philosophy is collected selectively.
Reprints, new editions, and new translations of important works are obtained as necessary, or according to faculty requests. All items in these categories are housed in Mugar Memorial Library. Given the University's interdepartmental and interdisciplinary work in Philosophy, the library's Philosophy collection complements and supports many other parts of the collection. Definite rules determining which selector will acquire all such titles are impossible to fix. If, however, the selector for that subject does not acquire the title, the Philosophy Selector may elect to do so.