Harvard University philosopher Stanley Cavell once asked if mere philosophy can do anything?  Philosophy is certainly abstract, and it asks you to stop and think, but that’s exactly why it so effectively develops the skills that help you successfully evaluate and apply knowledge in any field. Studying Philosophy helps develop the mental habits and attitudes that help us be more curious, creative, flexible, and self-disciplined in every aspect of our lives.

Philosophy classes help you practice key professional skills:  formulating questions, imagining alternatives and their consequences, clear and empathetic reasoning, wise caring, noticing, considering alternative points of view, systematic evaluating, creative decision-making, and communicating your ideas and reasons clearly.

In Philosophy classes you’ll join some of the greatest minds in human history to reflect on perennial “big” questions such as

• What is the meaning of life?
  

• Are values – truth values, moral values, aesthetic values – relative and contingent or absolute?
  

• Do we have souls, or are we purely physical?
  

• What’s at stake in the way we ask questions?  In the way we answer them?
  

• What’s the difference between knowing and believing?  Do we know what we think we do?
  

• Do we have free will (and consequently responsibility) or are we determined biologically, historically, theistically, or culturally?
  

• What is consciousness and who/what has it?
  

The Philosophy minor at NMT requires 18 credit hours in Philosophy, including PHIL 231, a comparative introduction to the western philosophy that has shaped so much of western science and its applications.  Up to 6 of those credit hours may be in courses other than Philosophy but which have substantive philosophical content. 

For more information on the minor and course descriptions, see the Tech catalog or email Dr. Susan Dunston at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .