| In its traditional sense, philosophy is understood as the love of wisdom. In its more modern form, philosophy can be described as a search for permanent answers to perennial, basic questions: what is real? (metaphysics); what can I know? (epistemology); what should I do and how should I live? (ethics). While we do explore each of these questions—of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics—to some extent, Philosophy at CMU also involves the ongoing task of rethinking the very idea of philosophy. Our approach tends to be textual, historical and interdisciplinary; we frequently engage works of literature—like Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, for example—as philosophical texts. |
