PHILOSOPHY

Chair of the Department: R. G. Wengert

Correspondence and Admission Information: Inquiries and correspondence should be directed, as appropriate, to either the chair, the director of graduate studies, or the Admissions and Financial Aid Committee, Department of Philosophy, 105 Gregory Hall, 810 South Wright Street, Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 333-2890; E-mail: phildept@uiuc.edu

URL: www.phil.uiuc.edu

Graduate Degree Programs

The normal program of graduate study in philosophy is directed toward the Ph.D., but students who wish to work only for the master of arts degree may also be admitted.

Admission

The Graduate College admission requirements apply. For the master's program, applicants need not have done the coursework in philosophy expected of applicants to the Ph.D. program, but must show some evidence of aptitude for graduate study in philosophy. For the doctoral program, applicants should have had a course in symbolic logic and general courses in the history of ancient and early modern philosophy. Students deficient in these areas may be admitted, but they are required to remedy their deficiencies by taking such courses in their first year. Applicants should also have done some coursework in such central areas of philosophical inquiry as ethics and the theory of knowledge. All applications for admission must be supported by three letters of recommendation from persons qualified to comment on the applicant's aptitude for graduate study in philosophy. All applicants are also required to take the general aptitude portion of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and to submit their scores. They are further required to submit a sample of their written work. Int ernational applicants whose native language is not English must take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and submit their scores; a score of at least 600 on the paper-based test (250 on the computer-based test) is required for regular admission.

Applicants seeking fall admission and expecting to be considered for financial assistance should file their applications before January 15. Later applications will be considered, depending on the space and support available. Admissions in the spring are discouraged.

Graduate Teaching Experience

Although teaching is not a general Graduate College requirement, experience in teaching is considered an important part of the graduate experience in this program.

MASTER OF ARTS

Students in the master of arts program may qualify for the degree by earning at least eight units of graduate credit with at least a 3.0 grade- point average (A = 4.0), six of which must be earned in regularly scheduled courses (this excludes PHIL 483 and 490); by satisfying a one-year residence requirement; by submitting a substantial essay; and by passing an oral examination on this essay. There are no area, logic, or foreign language requirements for this degree. A master's degree earned in this way is usually a terminal one. Students admitted to the master's program may, however, petition to the department for admission to the Ph.D. program either before or upon completion of their requirements for the master's degree. (Students in the Ph.D. program are automatically awarded the master of arts degree when they complete the second stage of the Ph.D. program and are not required to submit the substantial essay or to pass the oral examination required for the terminal master's degree.)

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

The Ph.D. program has three stages. The first stage is completed when a student has earned eight units of graduate credit or is deemed completed if the student has received a master's degree in philosophy elsewhere. The second stage is completed when the student has earned eight additional units (or, having received a master's degree previously, has earned and has been allowed transfer credit for a total of 16 units) and has satisfied the preliminary examination requirement, a course distribution requirement, a foreign language requirement, and a logic requirement (see below). At least 12 of the 16 units must be earned in regularly scheduled courses and seminars (this excludes PHIL 483 and 499), and at least five must be earned in seminars. The third stage is completed when the student has earned another eight units of graduate credit (usually in seminars and thesis research) and has satisfied the thesis and doctoral oral examination requirements (see below). A minimum grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) is required for the Ph.D. degree. Candidates must also satisfy the Graduate College residence requirement.

Candidates need not take work in a minor field outside the department. In cases in which advanced study in philosoph y would be enhanced by study in a related discipline, students may use such related coursework to satisfy the credit requirements for the degree. Credit toward the satisfaction of these requirements in such cases is limited to two units. If a student wishes the work to count as an extra-departmental minor, the minimum number of units accepted is two and the maximum is four.

The department offers three main fields of concentration: (1) the history of philosophy (including recent Anglo-American philosophy and Continental philosophy); (2) the theory of knowledge (including philosophy of science and philosophy of language) and metaphysics (including philosophy of mind and philosophy of religion); and (3) ethics and value theory (including social and political philosophy and aesthetics). Students may specialize in any of these areas but must demonstrate competence in all of them. Two graduate-level courses must be taken in each of these three areas (the course distribution requirement). The two-part prelimin ary examination covers the latter two areas, with a knowledge of the history of philosophy to be demonstrated in each part.

Students must also demonstrate a basic reading knowledge of two of the following languages: German, French, Greek, and Latin. (Substitution of another language requires the permission of the chair of the department.) In addition, students must demonstrate competence in symbolic logic, either by passing an approved course in the subject or by passing a proficiency examination administered by the department.

After satisfying these requirements, a candidate for the Ph.D. must submit an acceptable dissertation and pass a final, oral examination on the thesis. The acceptability of the thesis is judged and the final examination administered by the candidate's doctoral committee.

Ph.D. candidates who wish simultaneously to pursue advanced degrees in other disciplines (e.g., medicine or law) are permitted to do so. (For example, see the description elsewhere in this catalog of the Medical Scholars Program.)

FINANCIAL AID

Financial aid is available to many students in the form of fellowships, assistantships, and waivers of tuition and service fees. The maximum period for which students may expect to receive financial aid is five years; exceptions may be made in some cases (e.g., when students are pursuing several advanced degrees simultaneously). Each year, the department reviews the performance of students receiving financial aid in order to determine whether their support should be continued. Students entering the Ph.D. program with a master's degree in philosophy from elsewhere lose one semester of eligibility for financial aid for each four units of credit they have been allowed to transfer.