In 1951 when the University College of Addis Ababa was inaugurated, several courses of philosophy were part of the curricula of the different departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.All first and second year students of the University College were required to take courses in Logic, Epistemology and Ethics as “general courses.” Moreover, Metaphysics and Philosophical Psychology were given as “common courses” to third and fourth year students.

On 31 October 1961 the Department of Humanities was established comprising three sections; namely, Philosophy, Ethiopian Languages, and European Languages. Philosophy became an autonomous department on 30 January 1963. For over a decade up to the end of the 1976/77 academic year, philosophy functioned as a ‘Minor Department.’  Beginning in the 1977/78 academic year, the Department of Philosophy started enrolling the first batch of students majoring in philosophy.

At the end of the 1989/90 academic calendar, its degree programme was suspended because of government policy changes. It was noted that between September 1977 and 1990, ideological inclinations and external, governmental political influences greatly limited the aims and activities of the Department. The curriculum of the B.A. programme, although not entirely “Marxist-Leninist” in content, was decidedly so in its overall orientation.  Moreover, there was no place in the old curriculum for non-Western philosophical traditions. Since 1991, the Department of Philosophy has been catering to certain Faculties and Colleges of the AAU, offering two 100-level courses, namely, “Logic” and “Introduction to Philosophy.”

The intellectual and social life of the Department includes teaching and research, international conferences and invited professors.  Worth mentioning in this regard are three international conferences on African philosophy, viz. A Pan-African Seminar on the Problematics of an African Philosophy hosted by the Department in 1976, A Pan-African Symposium on the Problematics of an African Philosophy: Twenty years After 1976-1996 again hosted by the Department in 1996 and “The 7th Annual Conference of the International Society for African Philosophy and Studies (ISAPS) under the title "African Philosophy at the Threshold of the New Millennium." The proceedings of all the three international conferences were published and distributed. Research interests in the Department cover all the main areas of philosophy. The Department encourages research in both the pure and the applied areas of philosophy.  Given the diverse areas of interest and expertise surprising synergies have developed which have taken research in new directions.

The curriculum that was revised in 2002 has been in operation for the last five years. It is time to draw lessons from the experiences of the last five years, evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of this curriculum and come up with a new programme. There is a genuine desire to make the philosophy programme more liberal and pluralistic as well as cognizant of important contemporary philosophical trends. 

History of Philosophy, Logic and Philosophy of the Sciences, Epistemology and Metaphysics, Moral Philosophy and Political Philosophy are core or essential areas of discipline; without some familiarity with these subjects, students cannot reasonably qualify for a degree in philosophy. 

There are other areas of philosophy, which would importantly enrich an Ethiopian programme of study in philosophy - for example, Applied Ethics, Philosophy of Education, Philosophy of Religion, Gender Issues and Philosophy, Intercultural Philosophy, non-Western philosophical traditions and schools of thought.  These courses are classified as elective courses. Eight elective courses will be offered of which students are required to choose four.