Department of Philosophy:Graduate Program:Degree Requirements

Please note: These requirements are in effect for students entering the Ph.D. program in fall 2005 and thereafter. Continuing Ph.D. students may elect to get their degree under this new system, but are not required to do so.

Please also note: Application materials must be postmarked by January 15 to be considered for the following academic year (exception: if January 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, forms are to be postmarked by the following business day).

The department offers a graduate program leading to the master of arts (M.A.) and the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. The program, which is pluralistic in orientation, requires students to develop a broad knowledge of the history of philosophy, major fields, and various approaches and methods. Students are urged to concentrate in a specific area at the advanced level. In addition to the major periods in the history of philosophy, concentrations are supported in, but are not limited to, such areas as American philosophy, continental philosophy, social and political philosophy, feminist philosophy, ethics, environmental philosophy, philosophy of race, philosophy of language, philosophy of science, and aesthetics.

Although all graduate students are assigned to the Director of Graduate Studies when they enter the program, each student may choose an advisor from the Philosophy faculty at any time. The Graduate Director will monitor each student's progress toward their degree at least once every year.

Master of Arts

The master's program is designed to provide a broad knowledge of the history of philosophy and of recent developments in the basic fields of philosophy. There are two ways to earn a master's degree. The first involves satisfying the second language requirement and at least 48 credits of work, including the completion of the three distribution requirements associated with the Ph.D. The second involves satisfying the second language requirement, writing a master's thesis under the direction of a thesis advisor, and completing at least 45 credits of work, 9 of which can be taken as "thesis credits" (PHIL 503).

The distribution requirements (see description below under Ph.D. requirements) can be satisfied by receiving a mid-B or better in (1) three courses in each of the three sub-disciplinary fields; (2) one course from each of three historical periods; and (3) two courses from each of the four philosophical traditions that ground the diverse philosophical perspectives of the department. Each course taken may be used to satisfy up to two distribution requirements.

In addition to specific Philosophy Department requirements, master's candidates must satisfy all Graduate School requirements as listed in the following statement from the Graduate Catalog:

"To earn a master's degree, students must complete an integrated program of study through either a departmental discipline or a program of interdisciplinary studies totaling no fewer than 45 credits in courses approved for graduate credit. Of the total, 24 must be in University of Oregon graded courses passed with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 or better.

As noted above, some departments require more than 45 credits. The credits must be taken after admission to the master's degree program (conditional or unconditional) or approved by petition. A minimum of 30 credits in the major are required for a master's degree with a departmental major. In addition, at least 9 credits in courses numbered 600-699 must be taken in residence.

Students working toward a 45-credit master's degree with thesis must register for a minimum of 36 credits of course work and 9 credits in Thesis (503). Credit for thesis is given pass/no pass."

Doctor of Philosophy

The Ph.D. degree requires a minimum of 81 credits of graduate-level course work, of which 18 must be in Dissertation (PHIL 603). Students must demonstrate proficiency in a second language, complete the three course distribution requirements, and pass two comprehensive examinations -- one in history and one in the student's area of specialization.

The distribution requirements (see description below) may be satisfied by receiving a mid-B or better in (1) three courses in each of three sub-disciplinary fields; (2) one course from each of four historical periods; and (3) two courses from each of the four philosophical traditions that ground the diverse philosophical perspectives of the department. A single course may count toward each of the three categories, but no more than once in a single category. For example, a course may count in a sub-disciplinary field such as metaphysics, and, at the same time, apply to both the history requirement and the traditions requirement.

The comprehensive examinations are passed by completing two substantial research papers under the supervision of faculty. Students are advanced to candidacy upon completion of the comprehensives. A dissertation prospectus must be accepted by the candidate's committee after a preliminary oral examination. The written dissertation must receive the approval of the dissertation committee after a final examination.

Click here for Ph.D. Progress-to-Degree Checklist

Distribution Requirements

(1) Sub-Disciplinary Fields

Society and Value - courses in aesthetics, social and political philosophy, and ethics.

Knowledge, Rationality and Inquiry - courses in epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophy of language.

Metaphysics - courses in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion.
Field satisfaction will be determined by the Graduate Director, in consultation with the faculty member teaching the class, and this information will be posted in advance.

(2) History (click here for History Paper Certification form)

History courses will be offered in four areas: ancient and medieval; modern (16th, 17th and 18th century philosophy); 19th century philosophy, and 20th century philosophy.

(3) Traditions

Different traditions represent different approaches to the study of philosophy. Courses are taught in four traditions: American; Analytic; Continental; and Feminism.

Transfer Credit for Distribution Requirements

Subject to approval by the Director of Graduate Studies, a student may use transfer courses (i.e. graduate courses taken at another university) or graduate courses taken outside the Philosophy Department, as follows: (1) one course in each of the three sub-fields (the other two in each sub-field must be taken in the Department); (2) one course may be counted toward the history course requirement: (3) one course may be used under each of the four traditions (the other one in each tradition must be taken in the Department). However, in satisfying these requirements, the maximum number of transfer and/or outside the department courses that can be counted is five.

Click here for Approval Form for Transfered Courses

Language Proficiency

To graduate with an advanced degree in Philosophy from the University of Oregon (MA or Ph.D.), students must demonstrate proficiency in a second language equivalent to two years of study in that language at the college level. Proficiency may be demonstrated by providing an official transcript which shows a passing grade in second-year language coursework, or by successfully testing out (for more information on second-year language tests, contact Beki Holbrook in the UO Testing Center at rebecca@uoregon.edu or 541-346-3230). The language must be approved by the student's advisor and typically will be one relevant to the student's philosophical interests.

Note: When Ph.D. students have completed both the distribution and language proficiency requirements, they are eligible to apply for an MA and are encouraged to do so. The Philosophy MA requirements for Ph.D. students are the same as those for MA students, except that a Ph.D. student is encouraged to apply for the MA as soon as possible after the MA requirements have been met (the Graduate School has a policy of not granting MA and Ph.D. degrees at the same time, i.e. when the student has completed the Ph.D.).

Logic Requirement

As a condition for advancement to candidacy in the doctoral program, the student must satisfy the logic requirement in one of four ways: (1) Earning a grade of B or higher in one of the following three courses: PHIL 325 (Logic, Inquiry, and Argumentation), PHIL 555 (Philosophy of Logic), or PHIL 561 (Symbolic Logic); (2) Earning a grade of B or higher in an advanced undergraduate logic course taken before entering the doctoral program; (3) Completing (with a B or higher) an appropriate 4-credit reading and conference course (PHIL 605) in logic within the Philosophy Department; or (4) Earning a grade of B or higher in a logic course offered by another UO department (e.g., mathematics or computer science). Courses taken for logic credit under (2)-(4) above must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

During the winter of the second year, Ph.D. students will be asked to form a committee of two philosophy faculty members and submit to that committee for approval a research project in the history of philosophy. The proposal should be no more than five pages long and should concern at least two thinkers. Following approval of the proposal, a student will register for Phil 605, Research (4 credits). The paper itself should be the length of a substantial journal article, and must earn the approval of the student's committee. While it may reflect an interest developed in a class, the student should not simply hand in a term paper. In order to prepare for the history comprehensive, graduate students are encouraged to participate in an informal reading group on the history of philosophy during their first year of study. The student will be expected to work with relevant secondary literature (as well as primary sources). The proposal must be approved by the end of the winter quarter of the second year. The student should register for Phil 605 in the spring term. The student is expected to work independently on the history paper and submit the completed paper to the committee no later than the first week of fall quarter of the third year, for an oral defense. The oral defense must take place no later than week 5 in the term it is submitted.

Students will receive one of four grades: High Pass, Pass, Pass with Minor Revisions, Fail. Minor revisions must be completed immediately. The chair of the History Paper Committee is required to submit a written evaluation of the student's history paper and oral defense, to the GSC, no later than week 8 of the same term. If the student fails the history paper, there will be an opportunity to submit and defend it again, during the next term.

If the student fails the History Paper Defense a second time, upon consideration by the GSC and a two-thirds vote of the Faculty, the student will be asked to leave the Ph.D. program. Funding will be continued until the end of the academic year in which the student failed the history paper for the second time. If all of the MA requirements (the language requirement might otherwise be outstanding at the time of the history paper), have been completed, the student can leave the program with a terminal MA from the UO philosophy department. Students who have not successfully completed the history paper by week 5 of the spring term of their third year, will be evaluated by the GSC and upon a two-thirds vote of the faculty, may be asked to leave the PhD program (if they have completed the MA requirements, they may leave with a terminal MA, provided that the application for the MA has been submitted in time).

Upon completing distribution requirements and passing the history paper comprehensive, students are to constitute their Ph.D. thesis committee in preparation for their second comprehensive, a literature review in the Area of Specialization. This review is administered by the student's Ph.D. thesis committee (which need not include the outside member). It is designed to help develop a solid grounding in the student's area of specialization and to assist his/her three philosophy department thesis committee members decide on a theme or themes connected with the Ph.D. dissertation topic and area of specialization. They then must approve the list of articles and books submitted by the student for the literature review. When the review is finished and the committee reads it, the student may be asked to do more work on the review. The student should satisfactorily complete this literature review by the end of the last quarter of the third year.

Ph.D. students will be advanced to candidacy after they have completed their comprehensives (i.e. after successfully completing the distribution requirements, history paper, and literature review).

Once a student has advanced to candidacy and assembled the dissertation committee, they must prepare a prospectus describing their dissertation project. The prospectus must be approved by the dissertation committee through an oral examination to be taken during the second quarter following advancement to candidacy.

All candidates must submit a dissertation based on independent and original research. The dissertation must contribute significantly to knowledge, show a mastery of the literature of the subject, be written in acceptable literary style, and conform to the standards outlined in the University of Oregon Style and Policy Manual for Theses and Dissertations. Copies of the manual are available from the Graduate School. Preparation of the dissertation usually requires the greater part of one academic year.

Defense of Dissertation - Formal, public defense must take place on the campus at a date set by the committee chair and approved by the Graduate School. Tentative approval of the dissertation by the committee is recommended prior to formal defense. This evaluation is based on copies of the final manuscript, which the candidate provides for the dissertation committee and which must be approved by the committee as suitable for oral defense, at least three weeks before the formal defense. Four copies of the dissertation abstract (350-word maximum) must also be filed with the Graduate School at this time. The time and place of the defense must be publicly noted. The dissertation committee must be present at the defense, and the chair of the committee must certify to the Graduate School within two weeks following the defense that the defense was held as scheduled.

Completion of Dissertation - Within two weeks following the defense of the dissertation but before the dissertation is submitted in duplicate to the Graduate School, each member of the dissertation committee must confirm in writing either approval or disapproval of the final version. Approval requires a unanimous vote.

In addition to specific Philosophy Department requirements, doctoral candidates must satisfy all Graduate School requirements, as specified in the Graduate Catalog and on their website. Students need to take particular notice of the Graduate School residency requirement, which reads:

"For the Ph.D. degree the student must complete at least three years of full-time graduate-level academic work beyond the bachelor's degree. At least one academic year--the residency year--must be spent in residence on the Eugene campus after the student has been classified as a conditionally or an unconditionally admitted student in a doctoral program. During this year of residency the student is expected to make progress toward the degree by completing course credits and satisfying doctoral degree requirements. The residency year consists of three consecutive terms of full-time study, with a minimum of 9 completed graduate credits a term in the student's major.

A doctoral candidate may fulfill the residency requirement during the period in which he or she works toward a master's degree on the university campus as long as the student has been officially awarded the master's degree, the doctoral degree program immediately follows the master's degree program, and both the master's degree and the doctoral degree are in the same discipline.

Students working toward a Ph.D. or professional doctorate must register for a minimum of 18 credits in Dissertation (603). Credit for Dissertation is recorded P/N (pass/no pass). See Dissertation Registration for more information."

Each first and second year graduate student will be evaluated at a meeting of the department faculty in the spring quarter, and will be informed in writing of that evaluation, including whether he or she has been making satisfactory progress. Criteria for satisfactory progress include GPA, academic work completed in a timely fashion, promise for independent research and writing, performance in classes and GTF assignments, and philosophical competence. For each student judged as not making satisfactory progress, upon a two-thirds vote of the faculty, the student will be allowed to continue working towards a Ph.D. or asked to take an M.A.

Graduate Degree Requirements Department of Philosophy University of Oregon

Graduate Degree Requirements
Department of Philosophy
University of Oregon