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Academics / Departments & Programs / Philosophy / About Us

Seeking answers, enjoying the questions.

The human experience throws some pretty tough questions our way. In the philosophy department at Calvin, we don't shy away from these questions, but draw on our historic Christian faith as we explore them and look for answers.

We are not alone in our seeking. Throughout history, great philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Kant and Kierkegaard have wrestled with the most important questions that the human mind is capable of asking.

In philosophy classes, we study that tradition of strenuous, systematic thought, lay hold of its insights and grapple with its conclusions. In the process, we clarify for ourselves just what we believe and why.

Resources and technology

The expansive Hekman Library is unmatched nationally among Christian colleges and is recognized as one of the best research libraries in west Michigan. Its collection includes over 500,000 volumes, 13,000 electronic books, 30,000 journals, a vast collection of microform documents and access to over 100 research databases. Additionally, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library offers an online collection of books, essays and poems by Christian theologians and philosophers.

History of the department

The philosophy department of Calvin University houses one of the finest undergraduate philosophy programs in the nation. Calvin’s philosophy department was the undergraduate and/or teaching home of four American Philosophical Association presidents—Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff, William Frankena and O.K. Bouwsma.

To learn more see Nicholas Wolterstorff's history of the department: “How Calvin Fathered a Renaissance in Christian Philosophy.”

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