The faculty in philosophy offers a comprehensive program of
doctoral studies covering the principal branches of the subject. The
program is organized to give students breadth of background before they
specialize. The curriculum, which provides a wide range of options in
the later stages of study, is complemented by related advanced-study
courses in other disciplines at the Graduate School-New Brunswick. The
program leading to the Ph.D. requires 48 credits, or 16 courses, taken
at the rate of four courses a term. Teaching assistants take only three
courses a term. In addition, the program requires 24 credits of
research. There is no residency requirement.
Applicants with
distinguished undergraduate records who lack certain prerequisites for
graduate study in philosophy may be accepted if they remedy these
deficiencies by taking undergraduate courses without graduate credit.
There are five requirements in the doctoral program in philosophy. The
first, the course requirement, specifies that the student must pass 16
courses (worth 48 credits) that have been approved by the department.
The second, the distribution requirement, ensures that students have a
broad background in philosophy. To meet this standard, students must
earn a grade of B or better in one designated 500-level course in each
of six areas of the subject. In addition, they must earn a B or
better in another two 500- or 600-level courses taken in four of the
six specialty areas. These areas of distribution are
1. ancient/medieval philosophy (up to 1600 a.d.)
2. modern philosophy
3. logic and philosophy of language
4. epistemology and philosophy of science
5. metaphysics and philosophy of mind
6. ethics and value theory
Successful completion of the next two requirements constitutes passing
the qualifying examination. These two requirements are the literature
review and the area-of-concentration requirement, which measures a
student`s specialized knowledge. To complete the area-of-concentration
requirement, students must pass a comprehensive examination in one of
the six specialty areas listed above.
As soon as possible
after passing the area examination, the student chooses a
predissertation adviser and then meets with the graduate director to
begin satisfying the predissertation requirements. The graduate
director, in consultation with the student, appoints a pre-dissertation
committee of three members of the graduate faculty, including the
adviser. The predissertation requirements are a predissertation paper
("proto-chapter"), a dissertation proposal, and a predissertation oral
examination.
By successfully completing the predissertation requirements, the student qualifies to advance to the candidacy stage.
After a student has met the first four requirements, the final
requirement is the dissertation. To be accepted, the dissertation must
be judged publishable as measured by style, scholarship, and
originality.
When a student has reached the dissertation
stage, the director of the graduate program, in consultation with the
student, appoints a dissertation committee, with one member designated
as dissertation adviser, to direct the student`s work on the
dissertation. This com-mittee must approve formally the dissertation
proposal, and all members of the committee must approve the completed
dissertation.
To obtain a master of arts degree, a student
must (1) satisfy all of the master`s degree area-distribution course
requirements (including nine courses in philosophy); (2) pass with
grades of B or better 30 credits of courses approved by the
philosophy department; and (3) pass the area-of-concentration
requirement. The latter requirement constitutes the comprehensive
examination.
Normally, the master of arts in philosophy is not
offered as a terminal degree and is taken only by students enrolled in
the Ph.D. program.
