Students with any academic background are prepared for business when they can educate themselves and can continue to grow without their teachers, when they have mastered techniques of scholarship and discipline, and when they are challenged to be all they can be. (Wall Street Journal, February 2, 1981.)
It seems to me that philosophers have acquired skills which are very valuable to a member of Congress. The ability to analyze a problem carefully and consider it from many points of view is one. Another is the ability to communicate ideas clearly in a logically compelling form. A third is the ability to handle the many different kinds of problems which occupy the congressional agenda at any time. (Lee H. Hamilton, 9th District, Indiana, March 25, 1982.)
Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Degree Requirements
Logic Requirement: by the end of year 2
Language Requirement: by the end of year 3
Distribution Requirements: by the end of fall term of year 3
History Paper Proposal: by the end of fall term of year 3
History Paper: by the end of winter term of year 3
Literature Review: by the end of fall term of year 4
Prospectus: by the end of winter term of year 4
PhD Dissertation: by the end of spring term of year 5
Philosophical Traditions
Two courses from each of the four philosophical traditions that ground the diverse philosophical perspectives of the department
Continental Philosophy
Analytic Philosophy
American Philosophy
Feminist Philosophy
Subdisciplinary Fields
For students entering fall before: three courses in each of the three sub-disciplinary fields listed below.
For students entering fall after: two courses in each of three sub-disciplinary fields listed below.
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.
Historical Periods
One course from each of the four historical periods:
ancient and medieval
modern (16th, 17th and 18th century philosophy)
19th century philosophy
20th century philosophy.
ARNL: Asian, Race, Native American, Latin American
For those entering in Fall, one course in one of the four ARNL requirement areas:
Asian Philosophy
Philosophy of Race
Native American Philosophy
Latin American Philosophy
Earning a grade of B or higher in PHIL 325 (Logic, Inquiry, and Argumentation);
Earning a grade of B or higher in an advanced undergraduate logic course taken before entering the doctoral program;
Completing (with a B or higher) an appropriate 4-credit reading and conference course (PHIL 605) in logic within the Philosophy Department; or
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.
The completed literature review should be no more than 50 and no less than 30 pages long, double-spaced, 12 pt. font.
The review should be written in narrative style (i.e. the student should avoid simply handing in an annotated bibliography, though he/she may well complete such a bibliography in preparation for writing the literature review).
Each work that is addressed in the literature review should be discussed in terms of its relation to an articulated philosophical question or problem related to the area of the dissertation project, rather than simply summarized.
When the review is finished and the committee reads it, the student may be asked to do additional work on the review.
The selection of the dissertation advisor should be made with the following considerations in mind: First, the advisor should have a research focus in the central area of the proposed topic. Second, the advisor should be someone that the student can work with. Third, the advisor has the responsibility for the reading and evaluation of initial drafts of the dissertation.
The membership of the committee should be formed in consultation with the dissertation advisor, who can provide suggestions about the selection of the outside member. Typically, other committee members will read a draft of (parts of) the dissertation when the thesis advisor considers them to be ready for other committee members to see them and comment.
After preliminary discussions with a thesis advisor, students should prepare a draft of the Prospectus and submit it to the thesis advisor.
When the advisor and student agree that the Prospectus is ready for submission to other members of the Ph.D. committee, a version of it should be presented to them; committee members may request revisions of the Prospectus, and students should allow time for these revisions (in order to be in compliance with Departmental expectations).
A Prospectus Examination should be scheduled (for about sixty minutes) in consultation with the thesis advisor and other members of the committee. The Examination is expected to be attended by the candidate and all of the members of the dissertation committee. It should be held only when the advisor and the committee members believe that there is a workable project, something they determine after their evaluation of a submitted draft of the Prospectus.
Master of Arts degree program in History and Philosophy of Science