Program Overview

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Philosophy, MA

The Department of Philosophy offers work leading to the doctor of philosophy with a major in philosophy. The MA is granted to PhD program students when they pass their preliminary examinations and become a dissertator. When a student must leave the program early and is unable to complete a PhD, a terminal MA is granted upon satisfying the department's criteria for a master's degree.

Admissions

This masters program is offered for work leading to the PhD. Students may not apply directly for the masters and should instead see the admissions information for the PhD.

Funding

Graduate School Resources

The Bursars Office provides information about tuition and fees associated with being a graduate student. Resources to help you afford graduate study might include assistantships, fellowships, traineeships, and financial aid. Further funding information is available from the Graduate School.

Program Resources

We offer five years of support to all incoming graduate students, beginning their first fall semester, and continuing for at least nine additional semesters, provided the student makes satisfactory academic progress and carries out duties acceptably as graduate assistants. The support may vary from year to year between assistantships and lectureships.

Note to International Students

Please be advised that all students who are not United States citizens must prove that they have the financial means to live and study in the U.S. before they are granted a visa.

Additional Financial Aid

Citizens of the United States and permanent residents should contact the Office of Student Financial Aid for more information on eligibility, how and when to apply, and types of aid.

Minimum Graduate School Requirements

Review the Graduate School minimum degree requirements and policies, in addition to the program requirements listed below.

Major Requirements

Mode of Instruction

• Face to Face: Yes
• Evening/Weekend: No
• Online: No
• Hybrid: No
• Accelerated: No

Mode of Instruction Definitions

• Accelerated: Accelerated programs are offered at a fast pace that condenses the time to completion. Students typically take enough credits aimed at completing the program in a year or two.
• Evening/Weekend: Courses meet on the UWMadison campus only in evenings and/or on weekends to accommodate typical business schedules. Students have the advantages of face-to-face courses with the flexibility to keep work and other life commitments.
• Face-to-Face: Courses typically meet during weekdays on the UW-Madison Campus.
• Hybrid: These programs combine face-to-face and online learning formats. Contact the program for more specific information.
• Online: These programs are offered 100% online. Some programs may require an on-campus orientation or residency experience, but the courses will be facilitated in an online format.

Curricular Requirements

• Minimum Credit Requirement: 34 credits
• Minimum Residence Credit Requirement: 21 credits taken in PHILOS seminars (courses numbered between 800 and 989).
• Minimum Graduate Coursework Requirement: 30 credits must be graduate-level coursework.
• Overall Graduate GPA Requirement: 3.50 GPA required.
• Other Grade Requirements: Philosophy requires a grade of B or better in all PHILOS seminars.
• Assessments and Examinations: None.
• Language Requirements: No language requirements. Students in the History of Philosophy area may find it important to take additional language courses in consultation with their advisor.

Required Courses

Philosophy courses in our department are divided into two categories. Students are expected to complete courses in both categories:

1. Ethics, aesthetics, and social and political philosophy; and
2. Metaphysics, epistemology, logic, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, or philosophy of science.

First year graduate students may not register for PHILOS 599 Directed Study, PHILOS 699 Directed Study, or PHILOS courses numbered 990-998. No more than one course numbered between 400-600 may satisfy the minimum credit requirements for the MA.

Course List

• Proseminar: 3 credits
  • All students are expected to take the first year proseminar in their first semester in the program.
  • PHILOS 902: Proseminar in Philosophy
• Teaching Seminar: 1 credit
  • Students must take this course during the first year of teaching.
  • PHILOS 904: Teaching Philosophy
• Other Seminars: 30 credits
  • Students must also complete 30 credits or 10 seminars from the following:
    • PHILOS 701: Reading Seminar 1
    • PHILOS 903: Seminar: Epistemology
    • PHILOS 911: Seminar-Logic
    • PHILOS 916: Seminar-Philosophy of Language
    • PHILOS 920: Seminar-Philosophy of Science:Causation, Explanation & Probability
    • PHILOS 941: Seminar-Ethics
    • PHILOS 951: Seminar-Philosophy of Mind
    • PHILOS 955: Seminar Social and Political Philosophy
    • PHILOS 960: Metaphysics Seminar
• History of Philosophy Requirement (6 credits)
  • Within the 10 seminar requirement, students must complete 6 credits of History of Philosophy courses.
  • PHILOS 830: Advanced History of Philosophy
  • PHILOS 835: Advanced History of Philosophy
• Logic
  • Students must select one of the three options to complete this requirement.
  • Option 1: Pass a proficiency exam administered by our Logic Committee.
  • Option 2: Pass an advanced UW logic course like those listed below. Students may apply one of the following courses toward the seminar requirement.
    • PHILOS 511: Symbolic Logic
    • PHILOS 512: Methods of Logic
  • Option 3: Pass a course at another institution that includes or surpasses the content of PHILOS 511 or PHILOS 512. The Logic Committee will review documentation related to the relevant course's content and determine whether the student thereby satisfies the logic requirement.

Graduate School Policies

The Graduate Schools Academic Policies and Procedures serve as the official document of record for Graduate School academic and administrative policies and procedures and are updated continuously.

Major-Specific Policies

Prior Coursework

• Graduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions: With program approval, students are allowed to transfer no more than 6 credits of graduate coursework taken as a graduate student from other institutions. Coursework earned ten or more years prior to admission to a masters degree is not allowed to satisfy requirements.
• Undergraduate Credits Earned at Other Institutions or UW-Madison: No credits from a UWMadison undergraduate degree are allowed to transfer toward the degree.
• Credits Earned as a Professional Student at UW-Madison (Law, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Veterinary careers): Refer to the Graduate School: Transfer Credits for Prior Coursework policy.
• Credits Earned as a University Special Student at UWMadison: With program approval, students are allowed to transfer no more than 9 credits of coursework numbered 500 or above taken as a UWMadison University Special student. Coursework earned ten or more years prior to admission to a masters is not allowed to satisfy requirements.

Probation

• Students who have four or more grades of Incomplete may not register for further work until these Incompletes have been removed. It is the policy of the philosophy department not to give Incompletes, except when illness or events beyond the students control prevent the completion of course work.
• If a student who is not making satisfactory progress (a) has at any one time three or more Incompletes that have been on the students record for one semester or more, or (b) has not passed the dissertation prospectus examination by the end of the ninth semester of residency, or (c) has at any time a cumulative GPA of less than 3.5 in philosophy graduate seminars (those numbered 800 and above), then the student will be placed on probation; and if after two semesters there is still a deficiency, the student will be removed from the program.

Advisor / Committee

• Every graduate student is required to have an advisor. An advisor is a faculty member, or sometimes a committee, from the major department responsible for providing advice regarding graduate studies.
• Students can be suspended from the Graduate School if they do not have an advisor.
• To ensure that students are making satisfactory progress toward a degree, the Graduate School expects students to meet with their advisor on a regular basis.

Credits Per Term Allowed

• 12 credits

Time Limits

• The program of study that you work out will be designed for completion, normally, by the end of the sixth or seventh semester of full-time graduate studies.
• To make satisfactory academic progress, a student must attempt to complete the logic requirement by the end of his or her first year. If the student does not fulfill the requirement, then another attempt must be made in the third semester. If the student fails to satisfy the requirement again, another attempt must be made in the fourth semester. If the student fails to pass the requirement by the end of his or her fourth semester, then this will constitute failure to make satisfactory academic progress.

Professional Development

Graduate School Resources

Take advantage of the Graduate School's professional development resources to build skills, thrive academically, and launch your career.

Learning Outcomes

1. Expert ability to think critically about arguments.
2. Expert ability to interpret complex texts accurately and analyze them logically.
3. Ability to communicate very precisely and concisely in both writing and in speech.
4. In-depth familiarity with the history of Western philosophy and the major debates within that tradition.
5. Interpretative charity, and intellectual honesty, which includes appropriate attribution to others of their ideas, and recognition and frankness about the limitations of one's own ideas.