Philosophy

For the M.A. degree, students must complete, with grades of B or better, at least nine upper division or graduate courses (36 units), excluding Philosophy 199, of which five courses (20 units) must be in the Philosophy 200 series, numbered between 200A and 290. The total course requirement must include Philosophy 200A-200B-200C and one designated course in logic. Students should consult the Manual for Graduate Students in Philosophy for the list of designated courses. Courses in the 500 series may not be applied toward the course requirements for the M.A. degree in Philosophy.

Teaching Experience

Not required.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

Students working toward the M.A. degree must pass the master's comprehensive examination, which consists of three different examinations. One of the three examinations is scheduled after each of the three first-year seminars. The comprehensive examination is passed or failed as a whole; this does not necessarily require passing of all three parts. In case of failure, the examination may be repeated by permission of the department. Students should consult the Manual for Graduate Students in Philosophy for further information about this examination.

Thesis Plan

None.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students with no deficiencies upon admission to graduate status in the department should be able to complete the M.A. requirements in three academic quarters.

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Advising

The purpose of the departmental advising program is three-fold: (1) to ensure that students are aware of all the relevant requirements, opportunities, safeguards, perils, and prospects; (2) to assist students in making normal progress toward the degree through a regular sequence of steps; and (3) to provide intellectual guidance and advice in the area of the students' interest. Advising for first-year students begins with an orientation meeting held during the first week of fall quarter. Students are encouraged to consult the graduate adviser of the department at any time and for any academic purpose.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Consult the department.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Required Philosophy course work: A Ph.D. candidate must complete, with a grade of B or better, the three first-year seminars, plus 11 additional upper division and graduate courses in philosophy (not including individual studies courses), distributed as detailed below:

Logic. Students must pass a departmental examination in logic, at the level of Philosophy 31 and 132. They must also take one upper division or graduate course in logic by the end of the first year, unless preparatory work for the departmental examination is necessary: either Philosophy 135 or one other designated course in either the Philosophy or Mathematics Department. Students should consult the Manual for Graduate Students in Philosophy for the list of designated courses.

History of Philosophy. Two graduate courses in the history of philosophy (prior to the twentieth century), at least one of which must be a graduate seminar, plus enough graduate or undergraduate courses (taken here or elsewhere) to make up an equivalent of Philosophy 100A-100B-100C. Specifically, each student must have studied (or now study) Plato, Aristotle, some important medieval philosopher, Descartes, some British empiricist, and Kant.

Ethics and Value Theory. One graduate-level course.

Metaphysics and Epistemology. One graduate-level course.

Special Area Requirement. One designated graduate course in one of two areas: metaphysics and epistemology or ethics. Students should consult the Manual for Graduate Students in Philosophy for further details.

Electives. As many courses as needed to fulfill the requirement of 11 additional upper division or graduate philosophy courses.

Group classification of a course is generally given by its catalog listing, but final classification of a course is determined by the instructor on the basis of its content and the departmental guidelines. Normally no substitutions for these courses are allowed, but students who have done graduate course work elsewhere as graduate students may be permitted to substitute previous graduate course work in exceptional cases.

Additional course work: In addition, a Ph.D. candidate will complete two courses which may be taken on an S/U basis, bringing the total courses taken to 16. These two additional courses may, with the approval of the graduate adviser, be taken in a field outside of Philosophy. One of these additional courses may be waived by passing a departmental exam to demonstrate reading knowledge of German, French, Greek, or Latin, or, when relevant to the student's doctoral research, another language.

Law and Philosophy

Students who are interested in the Law and Philosophy specialization or in the concurrent degree program (below) should consult with and apply through the Director of the Law and Philosophy program. In order to specialize in Law and Philosophy, students must complete four law courses (of at least two semester units each) with a grade of B or better in each qualifying courses. Students should consult with the Director for a list of approved courses. Students must also complete a substantial research paper on a topic in law and philosophy.

Philosophy, Ph.D./Law, J.D.

For this concurrent degree program, three law courses from an approved list may be double-counted toward the elective course requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Students should consult with the program director regarding course selection.

Teaching Experience

A teaching requirement of three quarters of teaching assistant experience while enrolled in Philosophy 375 is required for the Ph.D. degree.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The department does not require a separate written examination to be passed by students as a condition of advancement to doctoral candidacy. It does, however, require each student to take all three parts of the master's comprehensive examination by the end of the student's first year (according to the description and schedule given above) to give the department evidence of proficiencies and deficiencies. This examination therefore serves as the doctoral written qualifying examination. For advancement to candidacy, students must pass a preliminary oral qualifying examination as described below.

In the second and third years, students must satisfy two special area requirements: one in metaphysics and epistemology and one in ethics. Students must take one specially designated graduate course in one of the two areas and write a paper prepared in accordance with a specific format called a "proposition" in the other area. The special course requirement in either metaphysics and epistemology or in ethics should be completed in the second year, and the proposition requirement covering the remaining area should be completed in the third year. Students should consult the Manual for Graduate Students in Philosophy for further details.

In the fourth year, students begin a new series of individual studies courses (Philosophy 596) in consultation with the dissertation supervisor to develop a well-defined dissertation project. A doctoral committee is chosen and the University Oral Qualifying Examination is scheduled. The primary purpose of this examination is to determine whether the student is able to complete the dissertation successfully. The scope of the examination varies according to the definiteness of the dissertation topic and the extent of the student's preliminary investigations. In case of failure, the doctoral committee makes a recommendation for or against allowing a second oral examination.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy and awarded the Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil.) degree upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

Full-time students with no deficiencies upon admission to graduate status in the department should be able to complete the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in 18 academic quarters. The normative time-to-degree is six years, with the following timeline:

First year: Students complete Philosophy 200A-200B-200C and six other courses, with a view toward satisfying the course distribution requirements. Students take the master's comprehensive examination.

Second year: Students complete five of the remaining required courses in such a manner as to satisfy the course distribution requirements. Students begin teaching.

Third year: Students write a proposition. Students complete the remaining two course requirements and begin research for the University Oral Qualifying Examination.

Fourth year: Students take the University Oral Qualifying Examination, advance to candidacy, and begin dissertation research.

Fifth year: Students begin writing the dissertation.

Sixth year: Students Complete and file the dissertation.

Philosophy, Ph.D./Law, J.D.

The normative time-to-degree for this program, starting with matriculation, is nine years (27 quarters).

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Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.