Philosophy

Welcome to the English pages of the Philosophy Department!

We are a fairly Anglophone department, and you will find that several of our web pages, too, are in English – for instance, those of several individuals (see here for a list of people), of our Doctoral Programme, and of the Chair of Practical Philosophy.

Since there’s a lot of material on our webpages and it keeps changing, we do not have the resources to provide English versions of everything. This page provides a quick guide in English that covers some essentials.

What is the department like?

Our department is small but friendly and active, with conferences, academic guests, and good students. We are in building C5.2 on the university campus, which is in a forest not far from the centre of Saarbruecken. We also run a little departmental library, which supplements the philosophy holdings of the university’s main library.

What kind of philosophy do we engage in?

Most of us practice some variety or other of analytic philosophy, with some of us employing the tools of formal logic. Most areas of practical and theoretical philosophy are represented, as you can see when you visit the pages of the four professorships or of individual people at the department.

We are also strong in some areas of the history of philosophy, among them Ancient Philosophy and the Enlightenment. Another specialty is interdisciplinary work: some of us are interested in (the philosophical aspects of) art history, computer science, economics, linguistics, mathematics, physics, and other disciplines – with good links to the corresponding departments of our university.

What kind of programmes do we offer?

We offer a B.A. and an M.A. in philosophy, and we train teachers of philosophy and ethics. There is a lively PhD programme in philosophy. We are also part of various interdisciplinary programmes.

What’s going on?

Over and above the courses, there is a steady flow of events in the department during the lecture period, including a colloquium in theoretical philosophy, a postgraduate colloquium in practical philosophy, workshops, discussion groups, and talks by guest speakers. During the lecture period, information on some such events is posted here.

What about the university as a whole?

The university as such runs many helpful webpages in English – including pages on getting to the campus and on questions of enrolment and, most importantly, the pages of the International Office.

What about Saarbruecken?

Saarbruecken is a very livable city right at the border to France – for more on it, see here. You reach Saarbruecken by train (2 hrs from Paris, 2.5 hrs from Frankfurt/Main) or by coach (80 minutes from Luxembourg) or by air, flying (typically) into Luxembourg or Frankfurt/Main; Saarbruecken also has a small airport of its own.

If I consider visiting the deaprtment as a student or as a scholar, whom should I contact?

We recommend that you contact either the department’s Fachrichtungsreferent or a professor or assistant professor whose areas of interest seem close to yours. We welcome visitors, and we will be happy to help.

But if I don’t speak German, what would it be like at your department?

• If you’re worried, contact us about your individual case, and we’ll explore and explain the possibilities.
• There are language courses at the university for those who want to learn some German while they are here.
• Some of our courses are in English, and even if a course is not in English, a student’s contributions to it and exams can be in English.
• Many of the texts read and discussed in the courses are in English.
• Many of us publish in English, and many of our PhD students write their dissertation in English.
• Students and scholars from abroad keep visiting, and many guest speakers give their talks in English.
• All our students and academic staff speak English and are delighted to interact with visitors. There is a lot of goodwill and openness. In practice, the language barrier is never a problem, and satisfactory solutions can always be found.