Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2017 Graduate Catalog 
    
2016-2017 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

Philosophy, MA


College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences  > Department of Philosophy  > Philosophy, MA

Admission Requirements

For unconditional admission to the Master of Arts program in philosophy, applicants must normally have completed 18 semester hours in philosophy at an accredited institution, including courses that are the equivalents of those required for our bachelor’s degree:

  1. Two courses in the history of western philosophy, one of which must cover either Ancient Philosophy or Early Modern Philosophy
  2. Ethics
  3. Logic II

Applicants must have a grade point average of at least 3.33 (A=4.00) on the last 60 hours of course credit. Unconditional admission also requires that applicants have acceptable scores on the Graduate Record Examination. Admission is possible if some course requirements have not been met, provided that GPA and GRE scores are strong. However, these requirements will need to be completed early in the student’s graduate career and lower division course work done in satisfying these requirements will not count toward the semester hours required for the master’s degree.

Applicants who do not have the course requirements for unconditional admission may be admitted conditionally, on the understanding that such requirements must be satisfied after entering the program; Conditional admission may also be granted to applicants who do not satisfy the grade requirements for unconditional admission if 1) their overall grade point average on the last 60 hours of course credit is at least a 2.67 (A=4.00); 2) their grade point average in philosophy courses is at least a 3.00 (A=4.00), and 3) their scores on the Graduate Record Examination are high enough to indicate probable success in the program.

Degree Requirements


Candidates must complete either 30 or 36 semester hours in courses numbered 6000 or above for which graduate credit is accepted by the department.  These courses must include 18 semester hours in regular graduate seminars in the department.  Courses taken outside the department will count toward the required hours only with the approval of the director of graduate studies.  An arrangement exists with Rice University’s Philosophy Department that allows students in our program to take graduate level courses they offer.  These courses qualify as being taken in our department, but they do not qualify as seminars.

Plan I (Thesis Option)


Candidates choosing this plan must complete a thesis, and the 6 hours of thesis courses will count as part of the 30 hours required for the degree. At least 24 of the required 30 hours must be taken in the Department of Philosophy.  Students taking the thesis option must have an A- average in their first year of graduate study in the program

Plan II (Non-thesis Option)


Candidates must complete 36 semester hours of approved courses, of which 30 hours must be taken in the Department of Philosophy. In addition, candidates must submit to the director of graduate studies, by the middle of their final semester, a copy of the seminar paper they judge to be best. The paper should be revised and corrected in light of further consultation with the professor in the seminar.