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Our undergraduate programs

The philosophy programs at the Université de Montréal are intended to give students a thorough grounding in the essential themes and main avenues of philosophical reflection.

Drawing on its historical roots, philosophy makes it possible to arrive at an integrated understanding of human culture, at the same time as it trains students in analytical methods and critical thinking.

Program structure

All the Department's programs are based on 4 teaching and research streams:

  • The historical foundations of philosophy
  • The philosophy of language and of science
  • Contemporary western philosophy
  • Ethics and political philosophy

Several programs include (often as optional courses) the study of one of the main languages in the philosophical tradition:

  • Ancient Greek
  • Latin
  • German
  • Italian
  • Chinese
  • English

See the student guide for the Department of Philosophy (in French).

Job outlook

Philosophy students do not receive any professional training, strictly speaking, but a general education based on analytical skills and methods and critical thinking. They acquire writing and speaking skills and the ability to grasp and respond to other's arguments, in addition to honing their critical thinking ability and originality.

Philosophy graduates work in many fields, including:

  • Journalism
  • Communications
  • Public administration
  • Politics
  • Diplomacy
  • Education

According to the latest study by the Quebec ministère de l'Éducation, de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, La Relance à l'université (in French), fewer than 40% of undergraduate philosophy students join the job market as soon as they graduate.

Of those who do, 83% find employment that draws more on their intellectual skills than on their knowledge of philosophy. In other words, acquiring skills in another discipline (journalism, communications, etc.) may also prove advantageous and help to open up more employment possibilities.

Generally speaking, over 60% of master's graduates in philosophy work in a field directly related to their studies, and fewer than 3% of them are seeking work.