Franciscan University’s M.A. in Philosophy has a distinctive character. It is firmly rooted in the Western philosophical tradition, especially Augustinian, Thomistic, and Franciscan philosophy. At the same time, the program takes very seriously all that has happened in modern and contemporary philosophy, especially Phenomenological Realism (the library contains a special collection of writings in this area). There is one modern development in particular which concerns us in a special way: in the last century the idea of human beings as persons has come into its own. Therefore, our program emphasizes the philosophy of the human person and issues of personalist ethics.