Department Home

Faculty & Staff

Ezra A. Hale Chair
in Applied Ethics

Coming Events

Reading Group

Φ Major

Φ Minor

Φ Concentration

Φ Course offerings for
   the next few years

Φ Course Descriptions

RIT Info Center / SIS

Philosophy Timeline

Some External Philosophy Sites

College of Liberal Arts

Dept mailing address:
Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts
Rochester Institute of
   Technology
92 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester NY 14623-5604

Dept email:
philosophy@rit.edu

Webmaster:
dbsgsh@rit.edu

Copyright ©2008
Department of Philosophy,
Rochester Institute of Technology

The Department of Philosophy at the Rochester Institute of Technology offers a large variety of undergraduate philosophy courses plus graduate courses in Philosophy of Art/Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind, and the Philosophy of Vision and Imaging. Beyond our introductory level courses, students may take philosophy as Liberal Arts electives or as part of a Concentration Area in Philosophy, a Minor in Philosophy, or a Major in Philosophy. The Department also develops a rich annual program of outside speakers, symposia and colloquia.

The Philosophy Department is motivated by a dedication to excellence in teaching. Most of our faculty have received teaching awards, and many of our faculty have received multiple teaching awards. The Eisenhart Award for Outstanding Teaching is RIT’s highest tribute to successful pedagogy, and the Department of Philosophy is home to eight of these awards:

John T. Sanders (1979-1980)
James I. Campbell (1991-1992)
Timothy Engström (1993-1994)
Dane R. Gordon (1996-1997)
James I. Campbell (1999-2000)
John T. Sanders (2000-01)
David B. Suits (2002-03)
Timothy Engström (2007-2008)

The Philosophy Department is also motivated by a strong commitment to scholarship, as evidenced by the scholarly activities of the individual members of the Department, by the Department’s speaker series and colloquia, and by the scholarship awards which have been won. Each year two Paul A. and Francena L. Miller Fellowships are awarded to assist faculty in the College of Liberal Arts in the pursuit of their scholarly and professional projects. The Department of Philosophy has been the home of four of those prestigious Fellowships:

Timothy Engström (2002-2003)
Brian Schroeder (2003-2004)
John Capps (2005-2006)
Evan Selinger (2007-2008)

Some of the recent accomplishments of the faculty include:

• Lawrence Torcello, “A Precautionary Tale: Separating the Infant from the Fetus”, Res Publica (forthcoming in 2009).


• Timothy Engström, Rethinking Theories and Practices of Imaging (co-edited with Evan Selinger) (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming in 2009).


• Jesús Aguilar (with A. Buckareff), Philosophy of Action: 5 Questions (Automatic Press/VIP, forthcoming in 2008).


• John Capps, “Addressing Controversies in Science Education: A Pragmatic Approach to Evolution Education” (with David Hildebrand and Kimberly Bilica), Science and Education (forthcoming in October, 2008).


• Wade Robison, “The Great Right: Habeas Corpus”, in Coercion and the State, ed. David A. Reidy and Walter J. Riker (Springer, forthcoming in 2008), pp. 161-173.


• Brian Schroeder (ed. with Silvia Benso), Levinas and the Ancients (Indiana University Press, 2008).


• Evan Selinger, New Waves in Philosophy of Technology (co-edited with Jan Olsen and Soren Riis) (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming in 2008).


• Katie Terezakis (ed), Engaging Agnes Heller: A Critical Companion (Lexington Books, forthcoming in 2008).


• Evelyn Brister, “Darwinism”, in Lachs and Talisse (eds.), American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia (Routledge, 2007).


• Dane R. Gordon, Saint Petersburg (FootHills Publishing, 2007).


• John T. Sanders, “Contracting Justice”, in Malcolm Murray (ed.), Liberty, Games, and Contracts: Jan Narveson and the Defence of Libertarianism (Ashgate, 2007).