Philosophy

The philosophy program at Covenant College studies the most influential philosophers and philosophical movements and tests them against the truth of God's Word. We read the works of both Christian and non-Christian philosophers, knowing that all truth is God's truth.

On this page Overview Graduate Outcomes Programs / Features Faculty Contact

Program Overview

Our students learn to read difficult texts, write insightful analyses, and encourage each other to grow both academically and spiritually. The philosophy major takes students from the fundamentals of philosophical inquiry, through the history of major philosophical movements and thinkers, to advanced work on theories of knowledge, ethics, and metaphysics.

Distinctively Christian philosophy seeks to study the ideas and concepts that compose a given worldview from the standpoint of biblical presuppositions. The end of such activity is to assist students in developing a Christian worldview that enables them better to live in a way that pleases God and that consequently provides for a more meaningful life. Philosophy majors complete a capstone project in their senior year that applies all they have learned to a problem or concern facing the Church or the broken world that the Church is called to love.

Graduate Outcomes

Philosophy alums excel in both the business world and non-profit ministries. Law, theology, philosophy, and business are commonly studied by our philosophy alums who pursue further schooling. Additionally, our students often obtain internship opportunities that serve to connect philosophy majors with employers, refining their analytic and communication skills to meet future employers' needs.

Employment positions acquired by philosophy alumni:

Speech Language Pathologist, University of Virginia Medical Center
Financial Advisor, Marotta Wealth Management, Inc.
Marketing & Communications Manager, CO.Starters
Biology and Philosophy Teacher, Providence Classical Christian School
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Tarrant County College
Research Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
Lead GIS developer, VSolvIT
Humanities Teacher, Oaks Academy
Research Assistant, Elevate Africa
Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, UVA
Professor of Philosophy, Erskine College
Instructor of Philosophy, Walters State Community College

Graduate schools attended by alumni:

Duquesne University
University of Virginia
University of Rochester
Covenant Theological Seminary
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
College of William & Mary
University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Recent student internship opportunities:

Maclellan Foundation
Harrison Center for the Arts
United States District Court
Fayette County District Attorney’s Office

Lauren Dishman ’09

Caroline Leo ’17

Teaching Philosophy at Covenant College is a delightful challenge. The students are academically gifted, spiritually serious, and culturally engaged. They ask hard questions, and sweetly push back when my answers are lame. Philosophy students at Covenant encourage and push each other, maintaining a community of inquiry and gospel insight that goes beyond even the ambitions plans that their professors have for them.

Bill Davis

Professor of Philosophy

Programs & Features

The philosophy major teaches students what philosophy is and how it has an inescapable relevance to their lives while increasing their skill in the logical analysis of ideas.

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The philosophy minor provides an intellectual overview of the history of human thought that equips students to have a better understanding of other academic disciplines.

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PHI 130 Contemporary Moral Issues
PHI 151 Non-Western Philosophy
PHI 199 Women in Philosophy
PHI 202 History of Philosophy II: Modern to 19th Century
PHI 302 Metaphysics
PHI 357 Formal Logic

“Reader Oriented Translation”
“Divine Command Theory & the Objection from Possible Evil”
“A Critique of Wittgenstein’s ‘Meaning to Use’”
“Leo Strauss & Liberal Democracy”
“Persons, Things, and Reciprocity: The Pertinence of I and Thou”
“Hannah Arendt: Philosopher and Jew”

Guided Capstone Requirements

Meet the Philosophy Faculty

Bill Davis Professor of Philosophy

John Wingard Professor of Philosophy

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