The aim of philosophy at the University of Dallas is to recover the possibility of a wisdom dealing with those "first things" which ground and locate human experience within the whole of being. Philosophy explores the totality of human existence. It analyzes the frameworks within which other human endeavors occur and recommends ways in which they might be situated so as to throw light on the character of the totality. Such illumination, in turn, affects those other human endeavors by giving them perspective. By reason of its location in a Catholic institution, the Department is particularly interested in the ways revelation has led to developments within a properly philosophic wisdom available to believers and nonbelievers alike.
The major tool of philosophic research lies in the careful study of classical texts from Plato and Aristotle to Heidegger and Wittgenstein. The cultivation of competence in logic and facility in at least one classical and one modern language are viewed as indispensable auxiliaries in the project. The underlying conviction is that texts which have continually attracted reflective minds throughout the centuries contain profound insights into the fundamental issues of being and thought, and that we neglect such insights at our own peril, especially since they have been instrumental in the formation of our own mental horizon. Hence polemical reaction takes second place to sympathetic dialogue. Not so much "Where do they go wrong?" as "What did they see?" governs the approach. Such an approach does not aim at the indifferent cataloguing of historical positions. Rather, it aims at understanding "the things themselves" through dialogue with the masters. The aim is to see the same things in different ways and thereby learn to assess the value and limitations of the differing ways with a view toward an ever-deepening wisdom of the whole.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, several members of the university community gathered to celebrate the completion of Course II of the Studies in Catholic Faith and Culture program, the first component of UD's Liberal Learning for Life initiative. The course is titled "The Person: Tradition and History."
+ Read MoreTo found the famous Core curriculum of the University of Dallas, as an education "best for the individual," Donald and Louise Cowan looked to John Henry Newman's The Idea of a University. He unapologetically promotes the Western classics -- precisely because so few know our own culture well enough to appreciate the depth of any other.
+ Read MoreThis summer, the University of Dallas invites students, alumni, faculty and staff to join its first-ever tour abroad of Russia, led by Professor of Physics Richard Olenick and Affiliate Instructor of Spanish, French and Italian Irina Rodriguez. From June 8 to June 16, 2020, Olenick and Rodriguez will guide participants through the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, taking them on a cultural and literary tour of the "Russian soul."
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