A student with notes in front of class holding a binder with a projection on the wall that says Changing Lives.

Department of Philosophy News

The Department of Philosophy offers students a balanced curriculum of courses in the history of philosophy and in the most recent philosophical theories. Philosophy applies reasoning and rigorous argumentation to questions central to human life: What is ethical? What is just? What is art? What is knowledge? What is real?

Current Philosophy News

smiling man on outside patio
People |

The Eileen McGarry Career Champion of the Year focuses on the 'how' and 'why' of career readiness.

woman seated on round chair in preschool classroom surrounded by children's books
People |

Kids and everyday people make the best philosophers, according to professor Amy Reed-Sandoval.

Students doing goat yoga on SRWC lawn.
Campus News |

Students examine what it means to live 'the good life.'

Amid a sea of red graduation caps, a 2023 tassel stands out in the crowd
Campus News |

UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield honors six graduates for their unwavering commitment to excellence.

group of women pose while sitting in front of window
Campus News |

Program includes workshops, activities to awaken participants’ inner 'warrior queens.'

group of students stands behind the model they used as part of a presentation
Campus News |

LutumPotentia wins first place in business competition with their idea for making composting easier.

Philosophy In The News

Hill

Large numbers of U.S. Latinos are signing up for jobs in immigration enforcement. Roughly half of all U.S. Border Patrol agents self-identify as Latino, as do 30 percent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

Dozens of people gathered near Red Rock Sunday to rally against federal plans to round up wild horses and burros in Nevada. Protesters said the Bureau of Land Management is preparing to remove thousands of animals statewide between now and June, with particular concern for herds in the Spring Mountains. Advocates say this period overlaps with foaling season.

Climbing Magazine

Bill Ramsey got on rock before sport climbing existed. Now, he’s using the screaming barfies, discontinued climbing shoes, and more hacks to send 5.14 at age 65.

Salon

Simone de Beauvoir argued in her 1949 book “The Second Sex” that “humanity is male and man defines woman not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being.”

Filosofie Magazine

There’s an intimacy in the way people experience borders,” says Amy Reed-Sandoval, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “Borders help shape people’s identities . I once spoke to a woman who had traveled from Canada to New Mexico for an abortion. It was a horrible situation where the baby wouldn’t survive the birth. Because of the controversy surrounding abortion in the United States, she was afraid of being questioned at the border and sent back. She said afterward that the fear of the imaginary border agent had robbed her of the opportunity to grieve for her unborn child. The border changed this woman’s feelings and her life story.”

Las Vegas Review-Journal En Español

Combining the education of children with that of future professionals is the perfect combination for the practice of UNLV philosophy students who have a joint preschool program on campus where they encourage children under 5 years old to do or think about big questions and interact with the world around them daily.

Philosophy Experts

An expert in political philosophy, philosophy for children, and Latinx philosophies.

Recent Philosophy Accomplishments

Amy Reed-Sandoval (Philosophy) and Grecia Sánchez from Unlearning Filosofía, co-presented a webinar entitled "Philosophy for Children in the Borderlands" for the Philosophy of Education Society's Public Engagement program.
Dave Beisecker (Philosophy) has edited and contributed an introduction to a special issue of the Journal of the Philosophy of Emotion, which focuses upon Mariana Alessandri’s Night Vision: Seeing Ourselves Through Dark Times. 
Amy Reed-Sandoval (Philosophy), Lauren Freeman (University of Louisville), and Avery Kolers (University of Tennessee-Knoxville) presented a webinar entitled "Medicine and Resistance Under Non-Ideal Conditions," which was hosted by the American Philosophical Association and the North American Society for Social Philosophy. The webinar focused on…
James Woodbridge (Philosophy) has his article (co-authored with Bradley Armour-Garb of SUNY-Albany), "The 'Unacceptability' of Alethic Nihilism," published (online first) by the journal, Analysis, on Sept. 30, 2026.
Klaus Ladstaetter (philosophy) presented a paper, “This Is So,” at the 47th International Wittgenstein Symposium in Kirchberg am Wechsel, Austria, hosted by the Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society. The paper will be published in the Proceedings of the International Wittgenstein Symposia by De Gruyter.
Amy Reed-Sandoval (Philosophy) gave a presentation on her recent book Intimate Borders: Feminist Migration Ethics to the Department of Philosophy at the University of Washington, Seattle.