Philosophy, Ph.D

Admission

Admission to the Ph.D. program requires an M.A. in Philosophy or an equivalent degree. There is also a possibility for students enrolled in McMaster’s MA program in Philosophy to be accepted into the PhD program without completing the MA degree, subject to their satisfying certain conditions for excellent progress in their first year. Selection is made by the Ph.D. Program Committee of the Department of Philosophy, and any student admitted comes under the general regulations of McMaster University.

Requirements

Courses:

Ph.D. students take six one-term courses, one of which is the Ph.D. Seminar.

Comprehensive/Qualifying Exam:

McMaster University regulations require that Ph.D. candidates take a Comprehensive Examination; in the Philosophy Department, this consists in candidates successfully completing Area Requirements and passing the Ph.D. Qualifying Exam (QE) by the end of their second year in the program.

To satisfy their area requirements, all students must complete, as part of their PhD Program coursework, at least one graduate course, with at least a B+ or equivalent in each course, in each of the following three broad areas of philosophy:

1. Value Theory: broadly construed to include moral, social, political, and legal philosophy, and aesthetics.
2. Metaphysics and Epistemology: broadly construed to include metaphysics, epistemology, language, mind, logic, and science.
3. History of Philosophy: broadly construed to include all periods and traditions in the history of philosophy.

The Department’s PhD Advisor will determine, in consultation with the student, towards which of these three broad areas of philosophy each graduate course may count.

Candidates are required to successfully complete the QE, in which a written dissertation proposal is presented and defended in an oral exam. To be eligible to take the QE, the student must complete all their course requirements and have achieved (by the end of the 20th month in the program) a GPA on five graduate courses taken towards the Ph.D. of at least 9.5. Additionally, prior to taking the QE, some students may be required to demonstrate competence in one or more skills, which their supervisory committee, in consultation with the Ph.D. Advisor, decides is needed for their dissertation (e.g., a language other than English, logic). The supervisory committee, in consultation with the Ph.D. Advisor, decides what constitutes a demonstration of competence in the required skill. Should an exam (e.g., a translation exam in a language other than English) be required, the Ph.D. Advisor will help arrange it.

Dissertation

Students must also write a satisfactory dissertation and defend it at an Oral Examination.

A detailed description of the doctoral program is available at http://philos.humanities.mcmaster.ca/graduate-programs/ph-d-program/.