Requirements

Students may enter the Ph.D. program directly from their undergraduate studies and are awarded an M.A. along the way to the Ph.D. when those requirements are successfully completed (see below). The program is designed to be completed in 5 years.

Students with an M.A. in philosophy are also encouraged to apply to the Ph.D. program, and may be given credit for work completed elsewhere. These students are normally given a reduced set of requirements designed to enable them to complete the Ph.D. in 4 years—one year sooner than is otherwise possible (see 1a below).

For fuller information about all of these requirements and a detailed timetable of study, please consult the Guide for Graduate Students of Philosophy.

The following is an overview of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in philosophy:  

I. Course Requirements for students entering with a B.A. degree:

Credit requirement: Students must accumulate a minimum of 45 course credits in philosophy with satisfactory grades; normally this is equivalent to 15 graduate courses. At least 24 of the 45 credits must be for courses at the 600 level. At least 27 of these credits must be earned while in residence.

Distribution requirement: Students are required to pass the following 500-level courses:

• Logic Requirement: PHI 510

• Ethics Requirement: PHI 530 or 533

• One course from the Epistemology and Metaphysics Group: PHI 540-545

• Two courses from the History Group: PHI 560-583

Research requirement: Students are required to enroll in and complete 15 credits of PHI 730 (Doctoral Dissertation Research).
 

I.a. Course Requirements for Students entering with an M.A. Degree in Philosophy:

Credit requirement: A student who enters the program with an MA degree in philosophy from another university must earn at least 27 course credits* from the University of Miami, at least 15 of which must be derived from 600 level courses. All 27 of these must be earned while in residence.

Distribution requirement: Such students must either pass the 500-level courses listed above, or, through transcripts and consultation with the DGS, apply for and receive transfer credit for equivalent graduate courses passed as part of their M.A. degree.

 (*Note: if no distribution transfer credits are received, students entering with an M.A. will need to take at least 30 credits from U.M. in order to fulfill both the distribution requirement and the 600-level requirement).

Research requirement: Students are required to enroll in and complete 15 credits of PHI 730 (Doctoral Dissertation Research).

II. The Qualifying Examination

Each Ph.D. student must pass a qualifying examination on a general area of philosophy close to the student’s proposed dissertation topic or intended area of specialization, for example, epistemology, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, or ethics and political philosophy. (The area need not be confined to a single traditional sub-discipline, however; where a student’s intended specialization overlaps with more than one traditionally-defined area, the qualifier may be designed around relevant material from each area.) After declaring their area of specialization during their fifth semester, students are given a reading list of core texts in the area, chosen for each student individually.

The qualifying exam is then held towards the end of a student’s sixth semester. It is an eight hour written examination, held for four hours on each of two consecutive days. Each day the student is given essay questions to write on, based on the individualized reading list. The examinations are designed to measure the student’s philosophical skills and sophistication, knowledge of the main issues and literature in the area of specialization, and preparation and overall ability to write a good dissertation in that area.

III. The Proposal and Dissertation

Students who have finished their course requirements and passed the qualifying exam proceed to work on a dissertation proposal in consultation with faculty members. They may then submit the proposal for formal approval. Once they have passed the proposal, they may go on to write the dissertation. The dissertation must be passed by the committee and defended orally.

IV. The Language Requirement (may be waived)

The language requirement is designed to ensure that students have the tools they need to conduct research in their area of choice. Thus a student who submits a dissertation proposal must possess the foreign language proficiency (if any) required by the proposed dissertation topic. This is determined by the dissertation proposal committee on the basis of examinations or coursework.

V. Requirements of the Graduate School

Students must also satisfy the requirements of the Graduate School as stated in the Graduate School Bulletin.

The following is an overview of the requirements for the M.A. degree in Philosophy:

The requirements for the Master of Arts degree can be satisfied in two ways, by passing the course credit requirements for a Ph.D. degree and the qualifying examination, or by satisfying a reduced course credit requirement and presenting and successfully defending an M.A. thesis.

A. The first option: M.A. in progress to the Ph.D.

This option is designed for students working towards the Ph.D. to acquire their M.A. degree along the way. Students who originally intended to pursue the Ph.D. but elect to leave the program early may also be awarded the M.A. by satisfying the following requirements:

1. Course credit and distribution requirements as in I above.
2. A qualifying examination as described above under II.
3. The general requirements of the Graduate School as specified in the Graduate Bulletin.
 
B. The second option: Terminal M.A.

This option is designed for students who are interested only in pursuing the M.A. degree. It may be completed in as little as two years. Students who enter the Ph.D. program may also under certain circumstances (with faculty approval) opt to switch to the terminal M.A. program. 

1. A reduced course credit requirement: at least 24 course credits (normally, 8 graduate courses), at least 12 of which must be at the 600 level. 

2. Presentation and defense of an acceptable Master’s thesis based on original research.

3. The general requirements of the Graduate School as specified in the Graduate Bulletin.

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