Department of Philosophy

The Department of Philosophy at the University of Kelaniya is one of its pioneering and oldest departments. It traces its roots back to the founding of Vidyalankara University in 1959, and the first Head of Department was Ven. Prof. Moratuwe Sasanaratana Thero, a renowned Buddhist and scholar of Eastern philosophy. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Philosophy, Psychology, and Peace and Conflict Resolution.

PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy (the original Greek word means ‘the love of wisdom’) is praised as ‘science of all sciences’ considering its antiquity in the history of systematic studies. Philosophy is a conceptual study which studies abstract concepts related to various other subject areas, like Philosophy of Science, Philosophy of law and Political Philosophy. At the same time, Philosophy studies certain areas such as logic, metaphysics, ethics and epistemology that are unique to the subject itself. Recently philosophy extended its boundaries to the new territories such as environment (Environmental Philosophy), psychology (Philosophical Psychology) and Peace Studies (Philosophy of Human Rights).

PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology as a study of human and animal behaviors studies various dimensions of the behavior such as general natural of the behavior (General Psychology) abnormal behaviors (Abnormal Psychology) Learning behaviors (Educational Psychology) work Behaviors (Psychology of organizational behaviors) and social behaviors (Social Psychology) Meanwhile child Psychology and Development Psychology studies developmental aspects of human behavior: physical development, cognitive development, socio-emotional development and moral development. As psychology studies behaviors of the individual person it has become a one of most attractive subject in the modern world.

PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Peace studies has become a highly demanded discipline in the modern society where wars and conflict is a common event. The Department introduced B.A Degree in Peace and Conflict Resolution for the first time in the South Asia. This Degree studies various dimensions of peace and conflict Resolution subject; styles and history of wars and conflict; Philosophy an Psychology of peace and conflicts; Conflict management techniques and skills. As a newly introduced subject area to the academic world “Peace and Conflict Resolution” play an important role in the university scenario in Sri Lanka. In a social context where conflicts are common, the study of issues in peace and conflicts is very important. Peace and Conflict