Degree Requirements

The requirements below should be read in conjunction with the general requirements of the Columbia Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

For the M.A. Degree

Residence: 2 Residence Units. (1 Residence Unit = 1 semester of full-time study.)

Points of credit: A minimum of 30 points at the G4000 level or above. Of these, at least 18 points must qualify for a passing letter grade, including two G9000-level seminars; the remaining points may be taken for R-credit. Quodlibetal (independent study) courses may be substituted for regular seminars, with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Note: In order to earn a letter grade, a student must complete all the requirements for the course. In order to earn R-credit (Residence credit), a student must attend the course and satisfy any additional requirements the instructor may impose, such as an oral presentation. No letter grade is awarded with R-credit.

Distribution:

A passing letter grade (at least 3 points) must be earned in each of the following three groups:
—        Group I: Ethics; Aesthetics; Political Philosophy;
—        Group II: Theory of Knowledge; Philosophy of Logic; Philosophy of Language; Philosophy of Science; Metaphysics;
—        Group III: History of Philosophy (a major philosopher or philosophical period).

Requirements for the free-standing M.A. degree in Philosophy and the M.A. degree taken en route to the Ph.D. are identical.

For the M.Phil. Degree (Offered only to Ph.D. Candidates)

Note: listed below are the total cumulative requirements for the M.Phil. degree, which include the requirements for the M.A. degree listed above. (For instance: 30 points of coursework are required for the M.A. degree, and another 30 points for the M.Phil., so 60 points total; 3 points are required in each distribution group for the M.A., and another 3 points are required in each distribution group for the M.Phil., so 6 points total. )

Residence: 6 Residence Units (including the 2 Residence Units required for the M.A. degree).

Points of credit: A minimum of 60 points at the G4000 level or above. Of these, at least 36 points must qualify for a passing letter grade. The remaining 24 points may be taken for R-credit (see note in M.A. requirements above).

Of the 36 points for letter grades, at least 30 points must be earned in the first 2 years. The remaining 6 points will be earned in the third year (3 points for a Quodlibetal Studies course in the fall semester of the third year with the student’s advisor, and 3 points for the Proposal Preparation Seminar in the spring semester of the third year).

Of the 30 points for letter grades that must be taken in the first two years, at least 6 points must be in each of the following three distribution groups:

—        Group I: Ethics; Aesthetics; Political Philosophy;
—        Group II: Theory of Knowledge; Philosophy of Logic; Philosophy of Language; Philosophy of Science; Metaphysics;
—        Group III: History of Philosophy (a major philosopher or philosophical period).

Of the 30 points for letter grades that must be taken in the first two years, at least 12 points must be for G9000-level seminars.

Quodlibetal (independent study) courses may be substituted for regular seminars, with the approval of the Director of Graduate Studies.

Note: Courses offered by other departments do not count toward the Ph.D. in Philosophy unless they are cross-listed. In some cases, the DGS may grant an exception to this restriction if it is justified by a student’s philosophical project.

Logic requirement: A proficiency examination in Logic is offered during the week before fall semester begins. Students who pass the exam are exempt from course work in Logic; all others must successfully complete a minimum of three points for a passing letter grade in a Logic course at the G4000-level or above. The proficiency exam cannot be retaken. Exemption from coursework in Logic does not reduce the total number of credit points required; students who are exempt from coursework in Logic take elective credit to replace the logic course.

Teaching requirement: Participation in the instructional activities of the department for three years. As a rule, in the second, third, and fourth years of study, students gain exposure to teaching as assistants to professors or as section leaders in undergraduate courses. Students who are interested in broadening their teaching apprenticeships are eligible to teach as Preceptors in the Core Curriculum Program. Students may only apply to be a Core Preceptor if they have or expect to have the M.Phil. by the May prior to being appointed as a preceptor, and if they are not past their sixth year of registration during the first year of the Preceptorship. Students may not hold instructional appointments after year seven.

Language requirement: Before advancing to candidacy, students must demonstrate competence in one of the following: French, German, Greek, or Latin. This requirement can be satisfied by:

1. Having taken, within the last five years, two years of one of the designated languages at the college level, and having received grades of B or higher in those courses.

2. Receiving a grade of B or higher in an Intermediate-level college language class (For example, French S1202).

3. Passing one of the Proficiency Exams administered by the Classics, French, and German departments. The French and German departments offer courses specifically designed to prepare students for these Proficiency Exams (German S1115 Accelerated Elementary Reading and French S1204 Rapid Reading and Translation).

4. Passing a translation exam administered by the Philosophy Department. The exam consists of a single passage of approximately ¾ of a printed page in length; passing the exam requires translating the given passage accurately into grammatically correct and idiomatic English. The total time allotted for the exam is 90 minutes. Use of a dictionary is permitted.

Students may be exempted from this requirement only when both the following conditions are met:
1. English is not their native language.
2. The DGS (often in consultation with the department) approves an alternative.

For the Ph.D. Degree

In addition to completing successfully all requirements for the M.Phil. degree, students must pass a proposal defense and successfully complete and defend their doctoral dissertations in accordance with the regulations of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Degree Requirements