Department of Philosophy

I Think, Therefore I’mpact

What is substance? Where does the body end and the mind begin? Which agreements stand behind human society and the political entity? Morals, justice, and law—are they relative or absolute principles? What are the boundaries of knowing?

Throughout history, humans have utilized philosophic thinking to explore and comprehend their world, their fellow humans, and themselves. Chemistry, physics and new technology; biology, medicine, and bioethics; arts, music, and aesthetics—philosophy has a crucial impact on the development and understanding of all fields of knowledge and is material in how human culture has been shaping throughout history. Thus, those who accumulate the philosophical tools of thinking have the potential to impact our reality today and our future progression.     

The Department of Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University introduces its students to all the principles issues that forever captivate human existence. We emphasize building students’ intellectual capabilities, which are serviceable in any profession and research work. Our graduates enjoy empirically proven advantages in the modern labor market, which they leverage in varied positions in academia, medicine, law firms, security forces, and more. 

Discovering the Philosophic Idea—A Formative Experience

The BA program exposes students to the core fields and history of Western thinking and its many philosophers and streams. Students delve into the fundamental issues that ignite humanity’s everlasting passion for knowledge; they practice philosophical analysis tools and implement critical thinking.

Our prominent scholars research numerous topics, publish their articles in prestigious academic journals, and lecture at conferences worldwide. With personal attention, they harness their vast experience and teach their students to be independent readers and researches, skilled at presenting original arguments fluently written and spoken; the faculty are highly attentive and encourage expression of diverse opinion.    

Thanks to our faculty members’ varied interests, the department can offer intriguing courses and seminars, academic events, and meetups with guest lecturers and delegations that explore relevant questions such as morality in wartime, philosophy and psychology, feminist philosophy, philosophy of time, and more. This diversity is also apparent in the vast scope of the research open to our master’s and doctoral students. Specifically, the department stands out in research in the fields of ethics and bioethics, esthetics, perception, and skepticism, philosophy of time, language, and Leibniz’s and German philosophy.

Adding Value with Philosophy

Recognizing the benefit of philosophy studies and their practicality to all other fields of knowledge and occupation, we have built a weekends and afternoons MA program to cater to full-time workers.  

• Lawyers and jurists will enhance their professional skills hone their reading abilities to identify loopholes and logical fallacies in the Law and verdicts, and better their legal argument formulation capabilities. Following universities abroad, we have established a unique program that combines a BA in Law with an MA in philosophy.  
• Medical and nursing teams can specialize in our MA and doctoral bioethics program, one of its kind in Israel. This program addresses their many professional day-to-day challenges: Is there any valid justification for providing medical care against the patient's will? How do we determine the time of death? Which principles can guide us in formatting a moral public policy of distributing medical resources in shortage?
• High-tech entrepreneurs and scientists can improve their ability to examine R&D processes and point out their weaknesses while indicating ways to upgrade them.   

Joining our community of knowledge-seekers creative students and scholars will enable you to initiate independent projects, such as learning, deliberating, and peer review groups; write Facebook posts or establish a podcast for topical philosophy;; and contemplate the next great idea.

See the department’s projects and activities on our Facebook page.