Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Ph.D. students entering with a master's in philosophy take 30 hours (10 classes) of coursework. Students entering the Ph.D. program without a master's in philosophy take 48 hours (16 classes) of coursework. All students, regardless of whether they enter with a prior master's, must take nine courses in the four historical areas. Students entering with a master's in philosophy will have their transcript evaluated to determine which of these requirements have been satisfied in their master's coursework. Ph.D. students earning a master's in cursu must satisfy the distribution requirement for the master's by the time they complete the qualifying paper requirement.
Students entering without a master's may take only three 5000-level courses. Students entering with a master's may only take 6000-level courses or above. To remain in the program, students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.5 (based on a 4.0 scale).
Students must obtain the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies when selecting courses.
CIP Code
38.0101 - Philosophy.
You can use the CIP code to learn more about career paths associated with this field of study and, for international students, possible post-graduation visa extensions. Learn more about CIP codes and other information resources.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| Two required courses in each of the below areas: 1 | 18 | |
Ancient Philosophy | ||
Medieval Philosophy | ||
Modern Philosophy | ||
| One required course in each of the below areas: | 9 | |
Contemporary Analytical Philosophy | ||
Contemporary Continental Philosophy | ||
Contemporary Continental (Other) Philosophy | ||
| Elective Courses | ||
| For students with a master's degree, one elective, totaling ten courses. For students with a bachelor's degree, seven electives, totaling sixteen courses. 2 | 3 to 21 | |
| Logic Requirement (or Department exam) 3 | ||
| Logic I | ||
or PHIL 0940 | Logic Examination | |
| Reading knowledge of 2 languages other than English (or Department exams) | ||
| Reading French Theory | ||
or FREN 5090 | French for Reading | |
or ZZGA 0941 | GSAS Language Exam 1 | |
| Grad.Readg.in German II | ||
or ZZGA 0942 | GSAS Language Exam 2 | |
| Proseminar, Comprehensive Exam, Qualifying Papers, and Dissertation: 3 | ||
| Proseminar: Philosophy Research/Writing | ||
| PhD Qualifying Papers—Philosophy | ||
| PhD Comprehensive Examination-Philosophy (Oral Reading List Exam) | ||
| Proposal Development | ||
| Proposal Acceptance | ||
| Dissertation Direction (Completion and public defense of the dissertation) | ||
| Total Credits | 30-48 | |
- 1
If these requirements are fulfilled with an M.A., you may substitute completion of the course with an additional elective.
- 2
Elective courses can be any graduate-level course in the Philosophy department. For students entering with a master's, courses must be 6000-level or above.
- 3
More information about these requirements are outlined on our page on the Fordham website.
Ancient Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PGAN attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 5001 | Introduction to Plato | 3 |
| PHIL 5009 | Introduction to Aristotle | 3 |
| PHIL 5209 | Ancient Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 6025 | Philosophy's Origins | 3 |
| PHIL 6101 | Presocratic Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 6420 | Expertise | 3 |
| PHIL 7009 | Plotinus | 3 |
| PHIL 7012 | Plato's Dialogues | 3 |
| PHIL 7018 | Ancient Psychology | 3 |
| PHIL 7310 | Self-Cultivation Philosophies | 3 |
| PHIL 7650 | Aristotelian Ethics | 3 |
Medieval Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PGMD attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 5010 | Introduction to St. Thomas Aquinas | 3 |
| PHIL 5012 | Introduction to St. Augustine | 3 |
| PHIL 6110 | Philosophy of the Islamic World | 3 |
| PHIL 6460 | Intentionality | 3 |
| PHIL 6505 | Medieval Philosophical Theories of the Fall | 3 |
| PHIL 7039 | Aquinas's Philosophy of God | 3 |
| PHIL 7042 | Buridan on the Soul | 3 |
| PHIL 7058 | Bonaventure's Metaphysics | 3 |
| PHIL 7060 | Varieties of Essentialism | 3 |
| PHIL 7069 | Medieval Logic and Metaphysics | 3 |
| PHIL 7071 | Aquinas: Questions on God | 3 |
| PHIL 7076 | Metaphysical Themes in Duns Scotus | 3 |
| PHIL 7080 | Medieval Views on Cognition and Certainty | 3 |
Modern Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PGCM attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 5002 | Nineteenth Century Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 5005 | Classical Modern Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 6104 | German Idealism and Freedom | 3 |
| PHIL 7106 | Kant I | 3 |
| PHIL 7110 | Descartes and Spinoza | 3 |
| PHIL 7120 | Philosophical Writings of Rousseau | 3 |
| PHIL 7140 | Kant and German Idealism | 3 |
| PHIL 7149 | Hegel's Phenomenology | 3 |
| PHIL 7161 | Nietzsche | 3 |
| PHIL 7164 | First Philosophy: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Presocratics | 3 |
| PHIL 7166 | Recognition and Intersubjectivity | 3 |
| PHIL 7370 | Moral Emotions | 3 |
| PHIL 7380 | Modern Philosophies of Property | 3 |
Contemporary Philosophy courses
Courses in this group have the PGCP attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 5002 | Nineteenth Century Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 6103 | Dialectical Thinking and Ideology Critique | 3 |
| PHIL 6440 | The Epistemology of John Henry Newman | 3 |
| PHIL 7031 | Alienation and Reification | 3 |
| PHIL 7153 | Husserl's Later Thought | 3 |
| PHIL 7156 | Husserl and Heidegger | 3 |
| PHIL 7159 | Kierkegaard | 3 |
| PHIL 7161 | Nietzsche | 3 |
| PHIL 7164 | First Philosophy: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Presocratics | 3 |
| PHIL 7203 | Merleau-Ponty | 3 |
| PHIL 7204 | Wittgenstein and Later Wittgenstein | 3 |
| PHIL 7210 | Whitehead | 3 |
| PHIL 7215 | Wittgenstein's 'Philosophical Investigations' | 3 |
| PHIL 7229 | Derrida | 3 |
| PHIL 7235 | Husserl's 'Ideas II' | 3 |
| PHIL 7459 | Heidegger's Being and Time, Black Notebooks | 3 |
Metaphysics and Epistemology courses
Courses in this group have the PGME attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 5051 | Existentialism and Critical Phenomenology | 3 |
| PHIL 5075 | Continental Philosophy and Faith | 3 |
| PHIL 5250 | Philosophies of Race | 3 |
| PHIL 6105 | Laws of Nature | 3 |
| PHIL 6109 | The Epistemology and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence | 3 |
| PHIL 6215 | French Philosophy of Education | 3 |
| PHIL 6251 | American Pragmatism | 3 |
| PHIL 6252 | American Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 6410 | Understanding and Wisdom | 3 |
| PHIL 6436 | Philosophy of Time and Persistence | 3 |
| PHIL 6457 | Mind-Body Problem | 3 |
| PHIL 6580 | Virtue Epistemology | 3 |
| PHIL 6805 | Topics in Phil of Rel. | 3 |
| PHIL 6850 | Hermeneutics | 3 |
| PHIL 7060 | Varieties of Essentialism | 3 |
| PHIL 7145 | Phenomenology and Religious Experience | 3 |
| PHIL 7157 | Phenomenology | 3 |
| PHIL 7236 | The Emotions and Moral Perception | 3 |
| PHIL 7340 | Humility and Arrogance | 3 |
| PHIL 7350 | Evidential Undermining | 3 |
| PHIL 7360 | Scientific Realism | 3 |
| PHIL 7465 | The Emotions | 3 |
| PHIL 7730 | Recent Work in Epistemology | 3 |
| PHIL 7752 | Divine Providence | 3 |
| PHIL 7857 | Topics in Contmp Metaphy | 3 |
Value Theory courses
Courses in this group have the PGVT attribute.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 5003 | Natural Law Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 5114 | Normative Ethical Theory | 3 |
| PHIL 5250 | Philosophies of Race | 3 |
| PHIL 5305 | Confronting Moral Controversy | 3 |
| PHIL 6102 | Human Rights | 3 |
| PHIL 6103 | Dialectical Thinking and Ideology Critique | 3 |
| PHIL 6106 | Autonomy and Paternalism | 3 |
| PHIL 6108 | Communitarianism | 3 |
| PHIL 6111 | Affective Injustice | 3 |
| PHIL 6120 | Democratic Political Economy | 3 |
| PHIL 6190 | Feminist Political Philosophy | 3 |
| PHIL 6270 | Pragmatist Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 6471 | Responsibility and Blame | 3 |
| PHIL 6472 | Responsibility, Blame, and Forgiveness | 3 |
| PHIL 6630 | Discourse Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 7031 | Alienation and Reification | 3 |
| PHIL 7035 | Recent Critical Theory | 3 |
| PHIL 7166 | Recognition and Intersubjectivity | 3 |
| PHIL 7236 | The Emotions and Moral Perception | 3 |
| PHIL 7240 | Contemporary Metaethics | 3 |
| PHIL 7245 | Moral Psychology of Anger | 3 |
| PHIL 7465 | The Emotions | 3 |
| PHIL 7580 | Biopolitics and Necropolitics | 3 |
| PHIL 7605 | Philosophical Aesthetics | 3 |
| PHIL 7664 | Philosophy of Literature | 3 |
| PHIL 7675 | Moral Genealogies | 3 |
| PHIL 7680 | Classics of Analytic Ethics | 3 |
| PHIL 7760 | Dimensions of Political Justice | 3 |
| PHIL 7770 | Philosophical Bioethics | 3 |