The Department of Philosophy dates from the beginnings of UBC, being founded in 1915 as one of the original departments in the Faculty of Arts. Its aim over its history has been to use the study of philosophy to develop students’ critical-thinking abilities for essential questions about life, thought, knowledge, and social and intellectual traditions and help prepare them to be successful in academic and professional fields. Today, the Department offers significant, minor, and honours degrees in philosophy and combined majors in philosophy and economics, philosophy and political science, history and philosophy of science, and cognitive systems. Masters and Ph.D. programmes are also offered.
James Henderson was the sole member of the Department from its establishment until 1920 when H.T.J. Coleman was appointed head. Coleman was succeeded by J.A. Irving in 1940, followed by S.N.F. Chant in 1945. The Department was re-named Philosophy and Psychology in 1936 to reflect the expansion of psychology course offerings. Psychology became a separate department in 1958, and Barnett Savery was appointed Head of Philosophy that same year and remained in that position until 1969. Other Department heads over the years have been Peter Remnant (1970-76, 1986-87), Robert J. Rowan (1976-80), James C. Dybikowski (1980-84), Edwin Levy (1985-86), Howard Jackson (1988-94), Earl R. Winkler (1995-98), Mohan Matthen (1999-2004), Margaret Schabas (2005-09), Paul Bartha (2009-12, 2017-18), Alan Richardson (2013-16), and Matt Bedke (2019- ).