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Doctor of Philosophy

  1. A student admitted to the School’s doctoral program who has not completed either a Ph.L. or an M.A. in philosophy from a program that includes an M.A. thesis as a degree requirement must first complete an M.A. or Ph.L. degree in the School of Philosophy (see above ) before qualifying fully as a Ph.D. student.
  2. A student admitted to the Ph.D program who has completed an M.A. in philosophy elsewhere that did not involve the writing of a thesis must first complete an M.A. or Ph.L. degree in the School of Philosophy before qualifying fully as a Ph.D. student. Upon completion of the degree, up to six philosophy courses from the student’s first M.A. degree would then be counted toward the Ph.D. degree course requirements.
  3. For students completing an M.A. or a Ph.L. in the School of Philosophy on the way toward earning the Ph.D., continuance in the Ph.D program is contingent upon the unanimous approval of a committee of the faculty made up of the four examiners for the student’s Master’s or Licentiate oral examination, who will assess the student’s overall performance in the program to date, and take a vote at the conclusion of that exam.
  4. Candidates for the doctorate who earned the Master’s or Licentiate in philosophy from the School of Philosophy are required to take a minimum of ten three-credit graduate courses. Those whose Master’s or Licentiate was earned at another institution must take a minimum of twelve three-credit graduate courses.
  5. Those seeking an ecclesiastical Ph.D. in philosophy must have satisfied all requirements for the Ph.B. and Ph.L. degrees, as specified in the 2017 Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium. They must also acquire a knowledge of a foreign language not previously studied or advanced knowledge of one of the foreign languages previously studied. 
  6. All course selections require approval of the Dean and aim to achieve, in the totality of required courses, both breadth and depth in the history and problems of philosophy. Students may not repeat a graduate philosophy course in order to raise their grade.

Ph.D. candidacy follows upon:

  1. Completion of all coursework for the doctorate.
  2. Passing one part of the two-part Graduate Reading Program Examination.

The Ph.D. dissertation:

  1. Within two years of attaining Ph.D. candidacy, the student must have a doctoral dissertation proposal approved by the student's dissertation committee, which is composed of a director and two readers.
  2. The proposal is then submitted to the Dean for approval by the faculty of the School of Philosophy and the university.
  3. The candidate must present a dissertation that gives evidence of power of research, of ability to do independent scholarly work, of mastery of the candidate's part of the chosen field, and is of sufficient merit to warrant publication.
  4. When the dissertation is completed and tentatively approved by all members of the committee, a public oral examination will be conducted by an oral examination board. The board will consist of a chair and a secretary, who will be appointed from university faculty outside the School of Philosophy, plus the director and the two readers of the dissertation.
  5. The completed doctoral dissertation must be defended no later than five years after admission to Ph.D. candidacy.
  6. The defense of the doctoral dissertation cannot take place until all other requirements for the doctorate have been fulfilled.
  7. Final approval of the dissertation is realized after the defense, when all conditions on the part of the defense board have been met and any objections satisfied.

Candidates must pass the following examinations:

  1. Regular examinations in all courses.
  2. Written examinations on both parts of the Graduate Reading Program.
  3. Written examinations administered by the School of Philosophy in which the candidate demonstrates an ability to read both French and German.
  4. A public oral examination on the doctoral dissertation.

After all of the above requirements have been fulfilled, all outstanding non-academic obligations to the university have been met, and the candidate has deposited the approved dissertation with the office of the Dean of Graduate Studies, the faculty of the School of Philosophy and the Academic Senate of the university must vote to approve conferral of the Ph.D. degree.