Philosophy/Practical Philosophy

Philosophy/Practical Philosophy explores basic questions regarding reality, the world, life, actions and knowledge. Thus, the history of philosophy is the history of human thought that asks itself philosophical questions and continually seeks to answer them. It is not by chance that philosophy is called “fundamental science.”

The objective of the program is to first awaken students’ understanding for the classical problems and questions of philosophy. To that end, they start with the most important historical positions and periods of philosophy and become acquainted with the working methods of philosophy with regard to systematic and historical aspects. In addition to the general history of philosophy—from the philosophy of antiquity and the Middle Ages, the modern period and German Idealism to the most recent contemporary philosophy—subfields such as the philosophy of religion, aesthetics, the philosophy of the mind, the modern philosophy of science and nature or modern logic are also important parts of this degree program. Highly topical areas of philosophical application, e.g. bioethics, are also explored.

In teaching degree programs for grammar and comprehensive schools, students choose two school subjects. Thus, in addition to Philosophy/Practical Philosophy, students are enrolled for a second subject as well as educational sciences.

Possible lines of work:

Teaching at grammar and comprehensive schools.

To teach at a German public school, candidates must follow up their bachelor’s degree with a Master of Education degree program as well as practical teacher training.

Non-academic ethics institutes, academic/political and cultural organizations, policy consulting, journalism, book industry (archives, libraries, publishers), media work, adult education, management, academia (teaching/research at universities, research institutions, etc.)