PhD - Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy

The doctoral program in the Department of Philosophy is committed to preparing students to work in all major areas of Philosophy, but has particular strengths in bioethics, ethical theory, and the history of philosophy (especially medieval philosophy and 19th & 20th century German philosophy), the Roman Catholic philosophical tradition, the philosophy of language & mind, and political philosophy. The doctoral program in Philosophy emphasizes both history and theory in its approach to contemporary issues. The program has regularly scheduled courses on the major figures and periods in the history of philosophy, and the special fields of logic, metaphysics, and epistemology so that students can understand the broader foundations of various philosophical positions, no matter what their specialization may be. The program is also distinctive in its pluralism, which reflects the Department's belief that philosophy is nourished by friendly interchange between different viewpoints, traditions, approaches, and styles, and in its interdisciplinary orientation, which is reflected in the diverse affiliations of its Faculty and its special programs of study. The Department aims to form students who can readily understand intelligent viewpoints that differ from their own and that have the technical skills - logical, linguistic, exegetical, and phenomenological - to do so.