PhD in Philosophy

The department is primarily but not solely an Analytic Philosophy department. Courses of study typically focus on philosophy of psychology and mind, philosophy of language and philosophical logic, ethics or political philosophy, or Africana Philosophy. However, students can plan a dissertation on metaphysics, history of philosophy, epistemology, or other areas. Students are able to work closely with the faculty at every stage of progress from the initial construction of a plan of study to the completion of a dissertation. The Ph.D. degree requires eight graduate seminars beyond the M.A. level. Generally students admitted to the Ph.D. program do our M.A. first.The General Examination consists of three papers, normally seminar papers, in the three areas of philosophy we have defined, namely (1) Metaphysics and Epistemology, (2) Social and Political Philosophy and Ethics, and (3) History of Philosophy.