The department offers courses on systematic philosophy and the history of philosophy. The courses cover a wide variety of topics, including ontology, epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics; in this context, they examine the philosophical discussions of the pioneering figures in the Western and Islamic philosophical traditions. The department consists of five sub-fields: Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Renaissance Philosophy, Early- Modern Philosophy, and Modern Philosophical Trends. Each sub-field focuses on specific philosophical topics. Ancient Philosophy introduces a survey of ancient Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Topics include ontology, epistemology, ethics, politics, and the like. One may find the seeds and earliest
versions of many later philosophical theories within the discussions of the ancient Greek philosophers. Medieval Philosophy aims at articulating topics that include the relationship between philosophy and religion, the relationship between reason and revelation, and proofs for the existence of God. Such topics are examined in the writings of central philosophical figures of the period in the West (Anselm, Augustus, Aquinas, etc.), in comparison with the discussions of the Medieval Muslim philosophers (al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, etc.) on the same topics. Renaissance Philosophy focuses on the discussions of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler,
and Bacon, while Early-Modern Philosophy concentrates on the major metaphysical and epistemological writings of Descartes, Locke, Hume, Leibniz, and Kant. Topics include
the nature and limits of human knowledge and the relation between science and philosophy. Modern Philosophical Trends introduces a survey of the discussions of the philosophers of the post-Kantian period.