PHILOSOPHY – PONDERING LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS
IT’S THAT SENSE OF DIFFICULTY AND OF BEING ENGAGED IN A NEVER-ENDING QUEST THAT IS SO APPEALING WHEN DOING ACADEMIC PHILOSOPHY. DR CHAD HARRIS
The impossibility of producing perfect work in philosophy keeps him coming back for more, says Dr Chad Harris, Head of the Department of Philosophy. “I like that we are crazy enough to revisit problems people discovered thousands of years ago, which have not been resolved yet. I also like that even the work of the best philosophers is constantly under scrutiny and threatened with revision or refutation. Even better, the fiercest critics of philosophical works are often the people who produced them in the first place! “It’s that sense of difficulty and the sense of being engaged in a never-ending quest that is so appealing when it comes to doing academic philosophy,” he says. In short, philosophy is for anyone who likes to ponder life’s big questions, the mysteries of the universe, or the intricacies of human existence. If you believe all problems are clear-cut and solutions exist in black-and-white with no grey areas, if you skip to the back of the book to find all the answers, philosophy will be a severely frustrating study field. A broad church The Department of Philosophy takes pride in being a ‘broad church’ type of environment with expertise in analytic, continental, and African philosophy. It has students and staff who started their careers in the legal profession, the sciences, media, finance and education. While undergraduates are exposed to various sub-disciplines and topics, the salient point is that the department’s teaching is grounded in fundamental philosophy skills such as critical and ethical thinking, says Dr Harris. “Students are guided through the gamut of philosophical topics, including ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of mind. We start with the most transferable skills rather than foregrounding content, because we think a philosophical education should be useful regardless of your career. “Our most significant achievement is how we have grown our postgraduate programmes and become the department of choice for South African and African students wanting to do an Honours, MA or a PhD in philosophy. An indication of this is how many of our former students take up academic positions at other universities.”
Dr Chad Harris
Centres of philosophy The Department’s centres of philosophy consolidate certain clusters of research expertise and maximise opportunities for research output, international collaboration and grant funding. The African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science (ACEPS), directed by Prof Veli Mitova, aims to decolonise knowledge through African voices in philosophy and strengthen knowledge systems in both the North and the South. The Centre for Philosophy of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Public Health (CPEMPH) is a joint venture between Durham University in the United Kingdom and UJ. UJ-based co- director Prof Ben Smart believes perspectives from outside the Global North will be critical sources of new insight and they seeks to build North-South and South-South partnerships. The Karl Mittermaier Centre for Philosophy of Economics (KMCPE), directed by Dr Michael Stettler, is dedicated to exploring the philosophical foundations of economic thought. KMCPE’s approach to the philosophy of science applied to economics is to gain new insights to improve economics.
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