Philosophy Department records

Philosophy has been taught at Mount Holyoke since the early days of the Seminary. A requirement for graduation, work in mental and moral science was given by the principal of the Seminary until 1882. In 1883, a permanent instructor in mental and moral science joined the faculty. Mental and moral science was listed as a course of study until the 1889/1890 academic year. Beginning in 1887/1888, Logic was listed as a course of study and was taught concurrent with mental and moral science. In the 1890/1891 academic year, however, Logic and Philosophy was the only course of study listed in this area. The following year, it was simply called Philosophy. In 1901, the Philosophy Department expanded to include two instructors and a new psychological laboratory. Another instructor and a laboratory assistant joined the department in 1904. At this time, the study of philosophy was divided into seven areas: the history of philosophy, logic, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, the philosophy of religion, and psychology. The development of a significant number of courses in psychology led to a renaming o the department to the Philosophy and Psychology Department in the 1904/1905 academic year. The aim of the department was to cultivate the habit of clear and independent thinking and to give the student an acquaintance with philosophical problems in order to enable her to understand better the aims of science, the spirit of literature and other forms of art, the meaning of larger social and political movements, and the significance of moral and religious life. After years of discussion about the separation of philosophy and psychology, the department divided in the 1939/1940 academic year to form the Philosophy Department and the Psychology Department.