We are a lively community of philosophers with a wide range of theoretical and practical interests. We offer a Master of Arts in Philosophy, a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, a minor in Philosophy, and a minor in Law and Philosophy. Our traditional strengths in ethics and epistemology are central to the Department. Our students operate the Philosophers' Forum, an organization for discussing philosophers, philosophical ideas, and career choices for philosophy graduates.
Department News
Sarah Boslaugh won an award at the UMSL Undergraduate Research Symposium for her presentation, Stigma Toward PrEP is Higher Among Men & on Subscales Referencing Sexual Behavior and Substance Abuse (Sarah E. Boslaugh, Brandon Park, & Dr. Rachel P. Winograd).
Maxi Glamour won the Excellence in Civic Engagement Award at UMSL’s Student Leadership Banquet.
Eleanor Grissom won the UMSL Philosophy Undergraduate Munson Essay Prize for her paper, “Rationalityism: A Hierarchy of Discrimination and Oppression”.
DeWitt 'Witt' Spiller won the UMSL Philosophy Graduate Munson Essay Prize for his paper, “Protecting the Partity: In Defense of Companions in Guilt”.
The Department now offers a Bioethics Graduate Certificate
Billy Dunaway was interviewed by U.S. News & World Report on why majoring in philosophy and other humanities can be a great career move.
Billy Dunaway and David Plunkett coedited their Meaning, Decision, and Norms: Themes from the Work of Allan Gibbard is out and available open access through Michigan Publishing Services.
Graham Renz (M.A. alumnus) wrote Being One’s Self, Trusting One’s Gut for the Blog of the American Philosophical Association about his philosophical journey through UMSL and WUSTL.
Lauren Olin's article "Comic Disagreement" appears in Dunaway's volume.
Jill Delston has published " Morality versus Mortality: The Meaning of (After)Life in The Good Place" in Better Living through TV (2022) and "The Ethics and Politics of Microaffirmations", Philosophy of Management vol. 20, 411–429 (2021).
Delston hosted the Philosophy and Activism conference at UMSL.
Delston was part of a dialogue at the APA Blog about the Dobbs decision.
Delston wrote a piece about abortion in the The Philosophers’ Magazine.
Delston presented “The Ethics of Precision Health” at the Eastern Division of the APA in 2022.
Eric Wiland is Visiting Research Professor at Tulane University in 2023-24.
Wiland presented "Moral Testimony and Moral Memory" at the APA-Central and at the Rocky Mountain Ethics Congress in 2023.
Wiland's article " What is Group Well-being?" appeared in the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy in 2022.
Wiland presented "Intensifying Well-Being" at the Bled Philosophy Conference and at the Edinburgh Workshop on Well-Being in 2022.
Wiland participated in an Author-Meets-Critics session on his book Guided By Voices: Advice, Moral Testimony, and the Forging of a "We" at the meeting of the Eastern Division of the APA in 2023.
More Philosophy Department news can be found on the News page .
