Graduate School Bulletin

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree in Philosophy

The doctoral program is designed to be completed in five years of full-time work. In addition to the minimum degree requirements of the Graduate School, the following are required:

A. Seminars

Seminar coursework will be required from the following three areas: history of philosophy (three seminars covering three of the following disciplines: ancient philosophy, medieval/Renaissance philosophy, modern philosophy, and 19th-century philosophy), interface studies (two seminars), and contemporary philosophy (five seminars, which must include PHI 630 and PHI 631). The student will also take at least two additional seminars in one of the three areas to fulfill the concentration of studies requirement, for a total of 12 seminars. 

Students also take PHI 623 Teaching Practicum and participate in a series of prospectus workshops aimed at producing a dissertation prospectus.

B. Non-seminar Requirements

1. An examination in the History of Philosophy, which must be passed by the end of the second year. A style essay, judged acceptable by a committee of two department faculty, in one of the areas of contemporary philosophy.
2. An interface essay, judged acceptable by a committee composed of at least one Philosophy faculty member and a faculty member from the relevant second discipline.
3. Demonstrated competence in symbolic logic.
4. Demonstrated competence in a foreign language.

C. Ph.D. Candidacy

Official Ph.D. candidacy is attained when a student fulfills the requirements listed above, submits a dissertation prospectus (10-15 pages), and passes an oral defense of the prospectus before an examining committee of three faculty.

D. Dissertation

When the dissertation is completed, there is an oral defence before a committee of four or five faculty members. Doctoral students may be awarded the M.A. degree upon completion of 30 graduate credits of graded coursework.

Courses

Detailed course descriptions for the doctoral program are available on the the Philosophy Department website each semester.

Requirements for the MA Degree in Philosophy

Given its commitment to philosophical pluralism and its triple focus on the history of philosophy, interdisciplinary studies, aesthetic and the philosophy of art, Stony Brook's Master of Arts in philosophy has been recognized throughout the profession as distinctive and innovative. The curriculum of the program embodies this commitment and focus.

A. Administration

The administration of the MA Program is carried out by the MA Director in consultation with the Chair of the Philosophy Department, the Graduate Program Committee, the Graduate Coordinator and the core faculty of the Philosophy and Arts program.

B. Course of Study

The primary purpose of the Master of Arts Program in Philosophy is to prepare students for original and independent research and scholarship in the field, and to prepare them for further postgraduate work in either philosophy or other humanistic disciplines. As an MA Program with special emphasis on the fine arts, it is also designed to provide artists with access to philosophical and intellectual resources not generally available in the art field.

In order to graduate, the student must have earned a total of 30 credits. Of these 30 credits:

1. 6 credits may be transfer credits (so long as they were not used toward earning another degree).
2. 6 credits may be earned either by taking 2 independent study courses, or by taking 1 independent study course and PHI 599 (Master’s Thesis Research).
3. In order to be able to register for the MA Thesis course, students must fill out the MA Thesis Approval form, and have it signed by the MA Program Director as well as the Advisor of the MA thesis. The MA Thesis Advisor must be a permanent faculty member of the Philosophy Department.
4. All MA students must take at least one 500 or 600 level seminar on the Stony Brook University Campus
5. First year MA students may not take either Ph.D. seminars or independent studies. A second year MA student wishing to enroll in a PhD seminar must first obtain approval from the program director to request permission from the teaching faculty member. Only the teaching faculty member can give permission to enroll in the seminar.
6. If students enroll inPHI 520, it must be done with a permanent faculty member of the Philosophy Department.

Note the difference between PHI 520: Advanced Studies in Philosophy (3 credits, ABCF grading, variable and repetitive credit) and PHI

521: Independent Study (may be repeated for credit, S/U grading). If the Independent Study is intended to reach the required 30 credits for graduation, enrollment in PHI 520 is recommended (as only ABCF graded courses count towards cumulative credits).

C. The MA Thesis Option

Students are strongly encouraged to fulfill all of their MA degree requirements by taking the regularly scheduled graduate courses. Under certain conditions, however, a student may wish to pursue the MA thesis option by requesting the formation of a faculty committee for the thesis project. Such a Thesis Committee will consist of a thesis advisor, and at least one other member of the departmental faculty or a reader from the faculty of another discipline. The MA Thesis Advisor is selected by the student, while the Second Reader (and possibly third reader) is selected by the advisor and student together. The Thesis Committee must be approved by the MA Program Director upon submission of the appropriate form and a brief thesis proposal summary. This form must be submitted to the MA Program director at least four weeks before the beginning of the semester in which the student is registering for PHI 599: Masters Thesis Research. The student will not be able to register for the MA thesis course without this form having been fully filled out and signed.

An MA student who takes the thesis option (see above) must notify the MA Program Director when submitting the thesis document to her/ his thesis director. Once a student has submitted the thesis, the faculty thesis director has 3 weeks in which either to approve it for graduation purposes or require further revisions. In either case, the thesis director will notify the MA Director of the decision to approve or to require revisions. In the event that a thesis director fails to act within the time frame just specified, the MA Director will notify the student of her/his right to be assigned a different thesis director. The MA Director will also inform the Department Chair in case further administrative action is required.