Philosophy
Established in 1853, the Philosophy program has fostered generations of outstanding students and researchers.
Many of our brightest students have gone on to have a major international impact on philosophy, including David Armstrong, Frank Jackson, Mark Johnston, Kate Manne and Peter Singer. Others have gone on to distinguish themselves in the arts, government and other areas of public life.
Our research strengths, ranging from ethical and political philosophy to philosophy of language and logic, have been recognised as among the best in the world. Our research is supported in part by the Barry Taylor and David Lewis Philosophy Fund, which commemorates the strong friendship of the influential metaphysician and distinguished philosopher.
We offer undergraduate and graduate research degrees, including, Honours, Masters and PhD, to give students at every level the opportunity to advance their expertise in this vibrant discipline.
Explore our research
The Philosophy program is internationally renowned for research strengths in logic, metaphysics and philosophy of language; ethics, moral psychology and metaethics; and applied ethics and political philosophy.
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Gender Diversity Narratives in the Australian Context
Do Australians think workplace gender diversity is important? In this project, Philosophy academics Professor Cordelia Fine and Dr Holly Lawford-Smith join an interdisciplinary team to explore reasons offered across a corpus of articles published in the Australian print media in the 25-year period between 1995-2020.
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Constructing Social Hierarchy
In this ARC-funded project, a team of Philosophy academics aim to integrate recent developments in the philosophy of mind, language, emotion, and action to better understand how social hierarchies are created and maintained and how they can be disrupted.
Study with us
Philosophy involves the critical examination of big questions – foundational questions – about the nature of the world and our place in it. Follow your curiosity and advance your knowledge in Philosophy with our undergraduate and graduate programs. Find out more about our:
Explore our stories, news and events
Delve into our student profiles, research articles, academic interviews, news, events and more.
Meet our Philosophy staff
Our academics are leading researchers, and dedicated teachers.
Professor Howard Sankey
Associate Professor Daniel Halliday
Associate Professor Holly Lawford-Smith
Dr Andrew Inkpin
Dr Jenny Judge
Banner image: Ian North b. 1945
The World is All that is Not the Case (detail), 2006
Synthetic polymer and pigment ink on canvas
Canvas 140.0 x 405.0 cm
The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Commissioned by the Department of Philosophy, 2006.
2006.0001