UTexas

Degree Requirements, Philosophy

Graduate handbook information is updated and maintained by each program. Graduate handbooks are available within each program's office and online at https://utexas.box.com/v/UTAustinGraduateHandbooks. Please contact the program with concerns or questions.

Master of Arts

The master’s degree program with report requires completion of Philosophy 384F and 398R, and 27 additional semester hours of graduate coursework in philosophy or 21 additional semester hours of graduate coursework in philosophy and six hours of upper-division or graduate coursework in a supporting subject. The master’s degree program with thesis requires completion of 30 hours of graduate coursework in philosophy, or 24 hours of graduate coursework in philosophy including Philosophy 698 and six hours of upper-division or graduate coursework in a supporting subject.

Doctor of Philosophy

In addition to the general requirements given in Degree Requirements, the requirements for the doctoral degree are as follows:

  1. Philosophy 384F and 389, completed in the first year of graduate study.
  2. A graduate course in each of the following: history of philosophy (any period up to or including Kant), metaphysics and epistemology, and ethics.
  3. Philosophy 398T, a one-semester teaching internship.
  4. Five additional graduate courses in philosophy.
  5. Proficiency in a language other than English, or two additional graduate seminars in philosophy, or two additional upper-division or graduate seminars in a related area approved by the Graduate Studies Committee chair. Proficiency in a foreign language may be shown by completion of four semesters of coursework, or the equivalent, either before or after admission to the program.
  6. Completion and defense of a dissertation prospectus, by the end of the third year.
  7. Completion and defense of a dissertation.