Our curriculum is designed to move from classical attempts to work with important philosophical questions to contemporary viewpoints and issues. The ideas of past thinkers shape contemporary thought and become the background for our analyses. Our students learn how to make sense not only of humanistic issues but of topics important to science and mathematics as well as the social sciences.
Students at NAU work in classes which are small enough to develop their reading, writing, and analytic skills. Class work becomes the context of a disciplined quest for clarity, understanding and self-expression. In this setting students enjoy the advantages of the individual attention of their professors.
In the final analysis, the study of philosophy prepares one for a life of learning—not in the sense of sitting in a classroom but in the sense of being able to improve one's ability to make sound judgments, given the vast array of information available. Much the same can be gotten from the other liberal arts. However, we believe (and empirical findings suggest*) that philosophy offers the best preparation because of its analytic nature and its careful attention to conceptual structure.
*Clifford Adelman, Standardized Test Scores for College Graduates.
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