Columbia University Department of Philosophy


The Columbia University Department of Philosophy is ranked 9th in the US and 10th in the English-speaking world, in the 2018 ranking of philosophy departments by The Philosophical Gourmet Report. It has particular strengths in logic, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, philosophy of law, philosophy of biology, general philosophy of science, philosophy of social sciences, philosophy of physics, 17th-century early modern philosophy, and 19th- and 20th-century continental philosophy.
The department is distinguished by its being prone to promote philosophical domains not considered as "mainstream" in other philosophy departments. Not only does it offer advanced research in the wide range of subjects in analytical philosophy but it also has particular strengths in the history of Western philosophy. It also benefits from the presence or activity nearby of other departments' faculty such as Souleymane Bachir Diagne from French and Romance Philology, Joseph Raz and R. Kent Greenawalt from Law School, or Jon Elster from Political Science. Many cross-registered courses allow students to enlarge their scopes in other departments.
The philosophy departments of City University of New York, which is a few blocks away, and New York University have close relations with the faculty. Enrolled doctoral students are able to take courses offered at these universities. The Graduate School is also a member of the Inter-University Doctoral Consortium which provides for cross-registration among member institutions. Participating schools are CUNY Graduate Center, Fordham University, New School for Social Research, New York University, Princeton University, Rutgers University, and Stony Brook University.
Every year Columbia University and NYU philosophy graduate students organize the Annual NYU/Columbia Graduate Student Philosophy Conference.
Columbia University is also the home of the Journal of Philosophy.

Faculty