The word “philosophy” originates from the Greek word φιλοσοφία (philosophia). Literally, "philosophy" means "love of wisdom": “philo” means to love, and “sophia” means wisdom.
As an academic discipline, philosophy is concerned with the study of fundamental problems, such as those about the nature of knowledge, reality, existence, mind, language, science, and morality. It involves the broad and systematic critical questioning of the foundations underlying other disciplines.
Some typical questions philosophers ask are:
Philosophers are often concerned with specific questions that have direct applications in other fields:
Career Prospects
The unique perspective that philosophy offers makes its students potentially fit for any profession.
Philosophy trains its students to question fundamental assumptions, argue logically, and think through issues as comprehensively as possible. In this way, philosophy shapes the way we think and act. It also heightens our sensitivity towards the nuances of life, and enhances our ability to engage with them. The study of philosophy typically cultivates the following abilities:
These skills are extremely useful in a broad range of disciplines such as anthropology, biology, business administration, computer science, history, law, literature, media, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, and sociology. Many philosophy students have benefited from concurrently pursuing another degree in the above disciplines.
Expected January, August 2024
College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
48 Nanyang Avenue,
HSS-05-62, HSS Building,
639818, Singapore
Students must have completed at least 12 years of general education or will be taking High School national examinations in the year of application in order to be considered for admission.
Submission of IELTS (a minimum Overall 6, writing 6) or TOEFL (a minimum of 90) or SAT (a minimum of 1250 for SAT taken for March 2016 onwards) or Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) (a minimum of 55) or ACT with Writing (a minimum of composite score of 30 in ACT with Writing in one sitting) or Cambridge English Advanced (CAE) are only compulsory for applicants
With PRC Gao Kao qualification (i.e. Applicants who will be taking Gao Kao in June 2020 and those who have already taken Gao Kao) OR
With Taiwan General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) qualification OR
With South Korean College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT)/High School Diploma qualification OR
Who do not take up English language in Junior and Senior High School or taken English language only as a 2nd language.
For IELTS, TOEFL and PTE Academic, only scores obtained in the 2 years leading up to the application deadline will be considered. The validity period for SAT and ACT is 5 years.
*There may be different IELTS requirements depending on your chosen course.
