Study Philosophy at St. Mary’s University
The Department of Philosophy at St. Mary’s University teaches and guides students in philosophical inquiry, helping them to integrate the study of philosophy as an academic discipline with the practice of philosophy as a way of life.
Through coursework, research and rigorous inquiry, students study the processes of human living and thinking to understand the perennial issues of morality, religion, social and political life, culture, science and metaphysics and cognition.
Through careful study of the history of philosophy, majors and minors begin to understand and take their place in the centuries-long conversation about the structure and meaning of existence, the nature of knowledge and the principles of morality.
The St. Mary’s University Department of Philosophy teaches and guides students in philosophical inquiry, helping them to integrate the study of philosophy as an academic discipline with the practice of philosophy as a way of life.
As integral to our mission, we as a faculty attempt to embody the meaning of philosophy through the pursuit of critical inquiry in the classroom, and in our professional and social lives. Through teaching courses in the Core Curriculum, we also bring philosophical inquiry as a way of life to all students at St. Mary’s, where philosophy sits alongside theology at the authentic core of a Marianist education.
Department Mission
Ethics Bowl
The Texas Regional Ethics Bowl (TREB) is an annual event at which teams from different universities present and defend positions on ethically provocative cases.
The competition style is rather like a formal debate except that teams may end up arguing for the same position.
The winning side is the one that presents the clearest, most thoughtful treatment of the ethical dimensions of the cases.
The top-placing teams will earn a trophy, and their schools will qualify for the national competition (the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl), sponsored by the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Only one team per qualifying school will receive an invitation to the national competition.
The St. Mary’s ethics bowl team will begin preparing early in the Fall semester, and cases will be available in September. The TREB competition takes place in mid-November of the Fall semester.
For more information, contact Andrew Brei, Ph.D., Director of the Texas Regional Ethics Bowl and the Center for Professional Ethics at abrei@stmarytx.edu.
Academic Programs in the Department of Philosophy
Faculty in the Department of Philosophy
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Andrew T. Brei, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy -
Stephen Calogero, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy -
Eric Chelstrom, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy -
James Greenaway, Ph.D. Professor of Philosophy -
J. Colin McQuillan, Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Philosophy -
Lisa Widdison, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor -
Erika Grimm, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Philosophy