Part Two: Preliminary Requirements

8. Course Requirement

Each student in the program must pass fourteen University graduate level philosophy courses at the 500-, 600-, 700- and/or 800-level. Philosophy 699 (Master’s Thesis), 600 (Writing Practicum), 800 (Area Exam Practicum), and 899 (PhD Dissertation) may not be used to satisfy the Course Requirement. At most three of the required courses may be independent studies.

Courses used to satisfy the Course Requirement must be taken on a letter-grade basis (see Section 5 above), and may not be taken pass/fail.

9. Proseminar Requirement

Each student in the program is required to enroll in, and receive a passing grade in, Philosophy 700 (Proseminar) each time it is offered during their first two semesters in the program. This is an intensive course that covers foundational works in philosophy, and students will be required to make presentations and submit papers on a regular basis. (This course is only open to first-year students in the PhD program.) The Proseminar counts towards the Course Requirement (see Section 8 above) and Seminar Requirement (see Section 10 below).

10. Seminar Requirement

Each student in the program must pass at least six University philosophy seminars numbered 700 or above. (The proseminar counts each time it is taken.) No independent study or practicum course may be used to satisfy this requirement.

11. Distribution Requirement

Each graduate level course in philosophy—with the exceptions of the proseminar, independent studies and practica—will be designated with a distribution area. Each student in the program is required to take courses meeting the following distribution requirements:

1. At least one course in Value Theory;
2. At least one course in Logic;
3. Courses in at least three different subcategories within the broad M&E category. The subcategories are:
   • Metaphysics
   • Epistemology
   • Philosophy of Language
   • Philosophy of Mind
   • Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Mathematics
   • “Other” M&E
4. Courses in at least two of the three subcategories within the History of Philosophy category. The subcategories are:
   • Ancient philosophy (Classical Greek and Roman philosophy, roughly Thales to Boethius)
   • Modern philosophy (16th through mid-19th century European philosophy)
   • “Other” history of philosophy (includes history of analytic, medieval, American and non-Western philosophies)

At the beginning of each semester, the GPD will ensure that all students are made aware of which courses offered that semester satisfy which distribution requirement. The proseminar, as well as independent study and practica courses, do not satisfy the Distribution Requirement.

12. Transfer Credit

Graduate level philosophy courses at institutions other than the University and courses in fields other than philosophy may be used to satisfy the Course, Seminar, or Distribution Requirements only 2with Departmental approval (i.e., in virtue of a vote of the Philosophy Faculty). A course is eligible for transfer only if it was taken while the student was enrolled in a graduate program. Acceptance of non-Departmental courses as satisfying either the Seminar Requirement or the Distribution Requirement is unlikely, with the exception of the Logic Distribution Requirement.

A student may petition to take a course in a different formal method, including courses offered in other Departments at the University (Mathematics and Statistics, Economics, Computer Science, Linguistic, etc.) to satisfy the Logic Distribution Requirement. Such requests will be considered on a case by case faculty, and will only be accepted from students who can demonstrate competency in logic, at least including competency with the syntax and semantics of first-order logic.

The upper bound on non-Departmental courses accepted as satisfying the Course Requirement is six in the case of a student who had an MA in philosophy at the time of enrollment in our Program; the upper bound is three in the case of those who do not have philosophy MAs; these upper bounds will be reached only in exceptional cases.

If a student receives transfer credit for three (or more) courses taken prior to starting in the program, their Preliminary Decision Semester (see Section 7 above) will be moved up by one semester. In the very rare circumstances that a student receives transfer credit for six courses taken prior to starting in the program, their Preliminary Decision Semester will be moved up by two semesters.

The Department will consider requests for transfer credit only from students who have completed at least two semesters in the PhD Program.

See the addenda for more information on how to obtain transfer credit.

13. Starred Paper Requirement

Each student is required to receive a grade of PASS in the Writing Practicum, or have an INCOMPLETE changed to a PASS. This is done by writing a polished philosophy paper (a “Starred Paper”) and having it graded by a committee as described in the following two sections.

14. The Writing Practicum

Philosophy 600 (Writing Practicum) is a special 3-credit, mandatory pass/fail course, in which a student is expected to develop a paper (typically one written for another course), in order to improve it, with the goal of producing the kind of polished philosophical research that makes for good professional academic work in philosophy, and that is required to complete a satisfactory doctoral dissertation in philosophy.

In order to enroll in Philosophy 600, the student must receive approval from the GPD. To do so, the student the student must contact the GPD with a proposed title and abstract for the paper they intend to develop. Once the proposal is approved, and the student is enrolled in Philosophy 600, the GPD together with the Supervisory Committee will form a Starred Paper Committee, consisting of a Chair and two other members of the faculty. A student may request, when contacting the GPD for approval to enroll, that a specific faculty member serve as Chair of the Committee, but the Supervisory Committee will have final say on the constitution of the Committee.

Students enrolled in the Writing Practicum are expected to meet regularly (and required to do so at least once) with the Chair of the Starred Paper Committee, and are encouraged to meet at least once with other members of the Starred Paper Committee. This course does not count towards satisfying the Course Requirement

Students who are not writing a Starred Paper should not enroll in the Writing Practicum. A student who wishes to work with a faculty member and develop another paper for course credit may instead enroll in an independent study.

15. Starred Paper Results

Any student who has properly notified the GPD, enrolled in Phil 600 for a given semester, and has met with the chair of the Committee may submit a Starred Paper by the last day of that semester. The Starred Paper is submitted to the GPD. The GPD sees to it that all members of the appropriate Starred Paper Committees receive copies of papers promptly after submission.

Each member of a Starred Paper Committee assigns to the paper exactly one of the following grades: PASS, FAIL, NEITHER-PASS-NOR-FAIL (NPNF), and reports it to the Chair of the committee. The overall grade is determined by the following chart, depending on the combination of grades from the three individual members.

After consulting with other Starred Paper Committee members, the Chair of each committee produces a brief written statement of the committee’s evaluation of the paper. One copy of this statement is given to the student, another is placed in the student’s file together with the paper. Students are also encouraged to discuss their papers with committee members after receiving their grades.

A student who receives a grade of PASS on the Starred Paper will receive a grade of PASS in the Practicum.

A student who receives a grade of FAIL on the Starred Paper itself will receive a grade of FAIL in the Practicum. The student must then re-enroll in the Practicum, and restart the process, in order to complete the requirement.

A student who receives a grade of NPNF on the Starred Paper will receive a grade of INCOMPLETE in the Practicum. In such cases, the student may petition to resubmit a revised version of the paper. The Committee may decide to accept the resubmission after recommending substantial revisions, in which case the Committee will specify a deadline (no later than the end of the next semester) by which the revision must be submitted. Once the revision is received, each member of the Committee will then assign a grade, as above, to the new version, which will in turn determine the grade of the Practicum as above.

Failure to submit a Starred Paper by the last day of the semester will result in a grade of FAIL in the Practicum, save in exceptional circumstances, in which case a grade of INCOMPLETE may be given.

If a student receives a grade of INCOMPLETE in the Writing Practicum, the student will have until the end of the next semester to have this changed to a PASS. Otherwise, the grade will change to an IF and the student must re-enroll in the Practicum, and restart the process.

If a student receives a grade of INCOMPLETE in the Writing Practicum, the student will have until the end of the next semester to complete the requirement. Otherwise, the grade will change to an IF and the student must re-enroll in the Practicum, and restart the process.

For more information on what is expected of a Starred Paper, see the addenda.

16. Area Examination Requirement

A student satisfies the Area Examination Requirement if they receive a grade of PASS in the Area Exam Practicum, or have an INCOMPLETE changed to a PASS.

17. The Area Examination Practicum

Philosophy 800 (Area Exam Practicum) is a special 3-credit, mandatory pass/fail course. After a student has selected the area of their intended dissertation, they inform the GPD that they wish to enroll in the Area Exam Practicum (typically during the 6th semester in the program). The SC then forms a suitable Area Examination Committee composed of three members of the philosophy faculty, one of whom serves as Chair. Once the Committee is formed, the student may enroll in the Practicum.

Students enrolled in the Practicum are expected to meet regularly with the Chair of the Area Exam Committee until the Area Exam itself takes place. This course does not count towards satisfying the Course Requirement.

Once a student is enrolled, the process of completing the Practicum has two stages. The first involves the creation and approval of the Area Examination Document. The second involves the (oral) Area Examination itself.

The Area Examination Document: The student and the Committee members agree on a list of readings in the area of the intended dissertation. The student then prepares a document of approximately 10,000 to 12,000 words which demonstrates mastery of and critical engagement with the readings on the list. Such a document will typically take the form of a narratively coherent guide to the topic, containing summary exposition and brief discussion of the main doctrines and arguments in the readings on the list (it should not just be a sequence of summaries of each reading). But the Area Exam Committee may recommend a different format for the Document, such as a substantial draft of an eventual dissertation, or a position paper.

The Area Examination Document should be submitted to members of the Area Examination Committee, who then may either approve it or ask for modifications. When all members of the Committee have approved the document, the Chair proceeds to schedule the Oral Area Examination.

The Oral Area Examination: This is an oral exam lasting approximately 90 minutes. Questioning in the exam should be primarily focused on doctrines and arguments discussed in the Area Examination Document. Afterwards, the members of the Area Examination Committee determine the grade. Grading and reporting of grades on Area Examinations follow the pattern of grading and reporting on Starred Papers (outlined above in Section 17).

18. Area Examination Results

A student who receives a grade of PASS on the Area Exam itself will receive a grade of PASS in the Practicum.

A student who receives a grade of FAIL on the Area Exam itself will receive a grade of FAIL in the Practicum. The student must then re-enroll in the Practicum, and restart the process, in order to complete the requirement.

A student who receives a grade of NPNF on the Area Exam itself will receive a grade of INCOMPLETE in the Practicum. The Committee may require the student to retake the oral exam, or meet some other requirements, before the grade may be changed to a PASS.

If a student receives a grade of INCOMPLETE in the Area Exam Practicum, either because the oral exam was not able to be scheduled before the end of the semester, or because a grade of NPNF was given for the exam, the student will have until the end of the next semester to complete the requirements. (If they are not completed, the grade will change to an IF and the student must re-enroll in the Practicum, and restart the process.)

19. Preliminary Requirement

If, by the end of their Preliminary Decision Semester, a student has completed all components of the Course, Proseminar, Seminar, Distribution, Starred Paper, and Area Examination Requirements, then they will be certified as having completed the Preliminary Requirement for the PhD in Philosophy.

Any student who has not been certified as having completed the Preliminary Requirement by the end of their Preliminary Decision Semester, and who has not been granted an extension, will be deemed to be in bad standing in the program, and the student may be dismissed from the program.

20. Satisfactory Progress and Grades in Coursework

In order to complete the Preliminary Requiement on schedule, under normal circumstances a student must complete 3 or more courses per semester, and in order for the quality of that work to be considered satisfactory, a student must earn a grade of A or A− in the bulk of these courses.

At the end of each of their first four semesters in the program, any student who has not, in total, completed a cumulative total number of courses with grades of A or A− equal to or greater than twice the number of semesters they have been in the program (so 2 after the first semester, 4 after one year, 6 after three semesters, and 8 after two years) will be deemed to be in bad standing in the program, and the student may be dismissed from the program.

21. Starred Paper Rule

Any student who does not complete the Starred Paper Requirement by the end of their fourth semester in the Program will be deemed to be in bad standing in the Program, and the student may be dismissed from the Program.

22. Two Fail Rule

A student who receives grades of FAIL on Starred Paper submissions, or Area Exam attempts, twice (including one of each), will be deemed to be in bad standing in the Program, and the student may be dismissed from the Program.

23. Extensions and Exceptions

Extensions to complete the Starred Paper Requirement, or Preliminary Requirement, and exceptions to the Two Fail Rule, or other regulations, are sometimes granted. Extensions and exceptions require the vote of the Philosophy Faculty.

See the addenda for more information about extensions of milestones and financial aid eligibility.

24. Master’s Degrees

Students in the PhD Program may receive the Master’s Degree upon completion of all components of the Preliminary Requirement other than the Area Examination, as well as applicable requirements of the Graduate School.