Deepen your research and cultivate your teaching

In the Philosophy PhD program, you’ll gain a foundational understanding of the discipline, grounded in continental European thought, through rigorous coursework and seminars. Through directed research, colloquia and the dissertation, you’ll also develop the expertise necessary to begin your academic career. In addition to your studies within the department, you’ll spend the spring of your second year abroad, engaged in immersive language study.

Whether you enter the program with a BA or an MA, we fund your entire doctoral program and ask you to complete it in six years or fewer. This means six years of complete tuition remission, a $22,000 stipend, a $3,000 supplement (to pay for extra expenses, such as health care), and travel funding to present your work at academic conferences.

Work closely with leading scholars in

• Contemporary continental thought
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• German idealism
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• Social and political theory
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• History of philosophy and ethics
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• Feminist philosophy
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• Psychoanalytic thought
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• Latin American philosophy

The department is committed to your success not only as a scholar but as a teacher. Our teaching practicum, taken over the second and third years of study, guides you in your transition from teaching assistant to teaching fellow to the academic job market, making you a strong candidate for tenure-track positions and postdocs.

There is a limitation of four years between admission to the doctoral program and admission to doctoral candidacy. The time between admission to candidacy and dissertation defense should be between eight months and two years.

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Chicago: a city of broad shoulders and broad minds

In addition to its world-renowned museums, libraries, political think tanks and historic neighborhoods, Chicago is home to a vibrant community of scholars. As part of an independent study, attend a lecture or seminar at one of our many neighboring universities. Present your work at local conferences and in our departmental student-organized Frings Colloquium, and take part in events organized around Chicago by groups such as the Ancient Greek and Philosophy Workshop, or by the Chicago-Area Consortium in German Philosophy.

PhD Completion

Upon completion of the required quarter hours, given your track, you must also complete four core courses at the 600-level or higher for admission into PhD candidacy. You’ll need to demonstrate competence in two languages, usually French, German, Spanish, Latin or Greek. PhDs are awarded upon successful defense of your dissertation.

Application Deadline

Applications for Fall 2023 are due January 4, 2023.

Admission Requirements

Submit an online application, official transcripts, three letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and writing sample. A proof of English proficiency test is required for international students. GRE scores are not required and will not be considered.

Admission Requirements

Required Courses

Each student, whether entering with a BA or an MA, is required to take 28 courses (112 credit hours) over the course of four years.

Degree Requirements

 

95%

of Philosophy graduates were employed, continuing their education or pursuing other goals within six months of graduation.

Learn from published scholars

At DePaul, you’ll learn directly from esteemed philosophers like Sean Kirkland, PhD, associate professor and director of graduate studies for philosophy. Kirkland has had numerous books, book chapters, articles, papers, and essays published. His most recent piece of work is a collection that came out with Northwestern University Press titled A Companion to Ancient Philosophy which is a collection of essays on a broad range of themes and figures spanning the entire period extending from the Pre-Socratics to Plato, Aristotle, and the Hellenistic thinkers.

“I joined the Philosophy program at DePaul because of the top-rated faculty in continental philosophy, the commitment to foreign-language acquisition and the opportunities to study abroad. Through weekly reading groups, I was able to improve my German significantly, which was of great help when I spent a semester abroad at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Later in my time at DePaul I applied for and received a Fulbright research fellowship to go back to Germany. The faculty in the philosophy department at DePaul were incredibly supportive and helpful during the process, no doubt because several of them had done research abroad on Fulbright fellowships as well.”

Ian (PhD ’16)

Philosophy faculty member, St. John’s College, Santa Fe, NM 

Alumni Network

Graduates of the Philosophy PhD program have gone on to positions at institutions such as Emory University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Memphis, Duquesne University, Whitman College, Luther College, Colby College and University of California, Berkeley.
View Philosophy alumni placements and appointments.

Admission Requirements

????For full admission, students must have the following:

• Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy or its satisfactory equivalent.
• Previous academic work must present clear evidence of the applicant’s ability to pursue successfully the doctoral program.
• Students who did not major in Philosophy may be admitted conditionally, with the requirement that they complete certain undergraduate courses or directed study before being fully admitted into the program.

The deadline for all applications to the graduate program is Friday, January 6, 2023, for admission in Fall 2023. However, to ensure that applications receive the fullest attention, all applicants are encouraged to submit their complete applications as early as possible. Admissions for all applicants are for the fall quarter 2023 only.

All applications are processed through the Graduate Admissions Office of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Inquiries concerning the application process should be directed to Graduate Admissions at (773) 325-7315 or toll free 1-800-4DEPAUL (outside Illinois). Or, send an e-mail to graddepaul@depaul.edu.

Applications should be made through our online application portal.

All applications must include the following:

1. A completed Online University Graduate Application including $40 application fee.
2. Official transcripts of all previous academic work. Transcripts should be sent to gradtranscripts@depaul.edu directly by the issuing institution. Unofficial transcripts can be submitted for the application review. Official transcripts will be required upon admission.???

   DePaul University may require that students with bachelor's or master's degrees earned outside of the U.S. submit official educational credentials and evaluation fee to one of the companies listed below. Applicants should contact the Director of Graduate Studies to find out whether this measure will be required. In those cases when it is required, a general evaluation verifying the degree and the U.S. grade point average equivalent is sufficient. Students with degrees from Canadian universities should contact the office of graduate admission (graddepaul@depaul.edu) for information about the credential evaluation.

   One Earth International Credential Evaluation
   Education Credential Evaluators (ECE)
   Educational Perspectives (EP)

   Students will be informed as quickly as possible if this step will be required. If it is, please contact the evaluation company for information on payments, fees, and timelines.

   After receiving your credentials, the company you have chosen will submit their general evaluation directly to DePaul along with certified copies of the credentials you submitted for evaluation. These documents will be used for your admission review—please do not submit any educational credentials directly to DePaul University.

   The required documents vary based on the country in which a degree was earned. Please visit the International Admission website for specific documentation and instructions for your country of education.

3. The DePaul Graduate Program does not consider Graduate Records Exam (GRE) scores for admission to the program.
4. Three letters of recommendation from professors familiar with the applicant's work. Recommenders can submit their letters through the online application.
5. A personal statement indicating why the applicant desires to pursue graduate work in DePaul's philosophy program specifically.
6. A writing sample (e.g., a term paper, seminar paper, senior thesis, or MA thesis or portion thereof). A standard writing sample is 15-20 pages long (3750-5000 words). 
7. Proof of English proficiency (required for all students educated outside of the U.S.). The minimum requirement is a TOEFL score of 80 (ibt)—with all section scores at 17 or better—or a 6.5 on the IELTS, or a 115 on Duolingo. The Philosophy program prefers to see scores of 96 (ibt) with all section scores at 22 or better—or a 7.0 on the IELTS, or 125 on Duolingo. DePaul’s institution code is 1165.

To be considered for admission in the following academic year all materials must be received by January 6, 2023.

If you wish to be considered for a Teaching Fellowship with tuition waivers and stipend of $22,000 and a $3,000/year subsidy to help defray cost of living expenses such as the purchase of health insurance, rent, or other out of pocket expenditures, you must apply to the MA/PhD program (even if you do not yet have an MA).?

Most years, DePaul University will be closed from the end of business day before Christmas Eve until the beginning of the business day on January 2. Please do not send materials via UPS, Fed Ex or any other courier service during this Holiday break. It is best to send via regular mail or wait until the University reopens on January 2 at which time UPS, Fed Ex and other courier services can delivery without difficulty.

Do not send your application materials directly to the Philosophy Department.

Select applicants will be invited by the graduate director to visit campus in early March. The first round of offers of admission and funding are generally made in early February, though a waitlist is also compiled at that time and final offers? may be made as late as April. All inquiries concerning the graduate programs should be addressed to the Director of Graduate Studies in Philosophy, Professor Kevin Thompson (kthomp12@depaul.edu)

Learn more about Graduate Admission.

Degree Requirements

A minimum of 112 quarter hours of graduate level course work (28 courses) is required for the PhD. This includes 104 quarter hours of course work (26 courses), 4 quarter hours of PHL 697 (Graduate Teaching Practicum), and 4 quarter hours of PHL 699 (Dissertation Research).

Of the 112 quarter hours (28 courses) required for the PhD, 32 quarter hours (8 courses) must be taken in accordance with the following distribution requirements:

• Four History of Western Philosophy Courses
• Two in Ancient or Medieval: 8 quarter hours
• Two in Modern or Nineteenth Century: 8 quarter hours
• Two Contemporary European Philosophy Courses: 8 quarter hours
• Two Normative Philosophy Courses: 8 quarter hours

Course Distribution List

History of Western Philosophy - Ancient or Medieval

Course	Title	Quarter Hours
PHL 400	SPECIAL TOPICS IN TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHERS
PHL 410	PLATO I
PHL 411	PLATO II
PHL 415	ARISTOTLE I
PHL 416	ARISTOTLE II
PHL 420	AUGUSTINE
PHL 425	AQUINAS
PHL 500	SPECIAL TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY

History of Western Philosophy - Modern or Nineteenth Century

Course	Title	Quarter Hours
PHL 400	SPECIAL TOPICS IN TRADITIONAL PHILOSOPHERS
PHL 434	HOBBES
PHL 435	DESCARTES
PHL 437	LOCKE
PHL 438	LEIBNIZ
PHL 440	SPINOZA
PHL 441	ROUSSEAU
PHL 445	HUME
PHL 500	SPECIAL TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY
PHL 510	KANT I
PHL 511	KANT II
PHL 512	KANT III
PHL 515	HEGEL I
PHL 516	HEGEL II
PHL 517	HOLDERLIN
PHL 518	SCHELLING
PHL 520	MARX I
PHL 521	MARX II
PHL 525	NIETZSCHE

Contemporary European Philosophy

Course	Title	Quarter Hours
PHL 470	PHILOSOPHY OF WITTGENSTEIN
PHL 535	HUSSERL I
PHL 536	HUSSERL II
PHL 550	HEIDEGGER I
PHL 551	HEIDEGGER II
PHL 552	HEIDEGGER III
PHL 557	TOPICS IN CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY
PHL 559	FOUCAULT
PHL 560	THE PHILOSOPHY OF GABRIEL MARCEL
PHL 561	LYOTARD
PHL 565	MERLEAU-PONTY I
PHL 566	MERLEAU-PONTY II
PHL 570	SARTRE I
PHL 571	SARTRE II
PHL 577	DERRIDA I
PHL 578	DERRIDA II
PHL 585	RICOEUR
PHL 586	METAPHOR AND POETIC LANGUAGE
PHL 587	READING LEVINAS I
PHL 588	READING LEVINAS II
PHL 589	PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, COMMUNITY
PHL 590	TRENDS IN CONTEMPORARY FRENCH PHILOSOPHY

Normative Philosophy

Course	Title	Quarter Hours
PHL 443	MEDICAL LEGAL ETHICS
PHL 522	SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
PHL 527	PHILOSOPHY, ETHICS, AND ECONOMICS
PHL 591	CRITICAL RACE THEORY
PHL 601	SEMINAR ON AESTHETICS
PHL 629	SEMINAR ON CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS
PHL 640	PROBLEMS IN ETHICS
PHL 641	SEMINAR ON THE CONTINENTAL TRADITION IN ETHICS
PHL 651	TOPICS IN BUSINESS ETHICS
PHL 656	SEMINAR ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT
PHL 657	TOPICS IN SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT
PHL 660	SEMINAR IN FEMINIST ETHICS
PHL 661	TOPICS IN FEMINIST THEORY

Additional Requirements

Annual Reviews

The Graduate Affairs Committee conducts annual formal reviews of each student’s progress toward the doctoral degree. The purpose of the review session is to discuss the student’s experience in the program thus far, address any questions or concerns that they might have, and assess how well they are meeting the expectations relevant to their year in the program. 

As part of the review process, students are required to submit a self-evaluation of their progress in the program, teaching evaluations (when serving as a Teaching Fellow) and, until all their course work is completed (typically, through their fourth year in the program), students are also required to submit two file papers for review. These papers are read by a second member of the faculty who assesses whether the papers meet relevant standards of graduate level work and thus indicate appropriate progress in the program for each student.

Students deemed not to be making satisfactory progress may be placed on probation or, where the circumstances in the judgment of the Graduate Affairs Committee warrant, the student may be required to leave the doctoral program.

Foreign Languages Requirement

The Philosophy Department places a very high priority on working with texts in original languages, rather than translations. For doctoral students, competence in two languages of research is thus required. Typically, these are Greek, Latin, French, or German. Competence in other languages may be used to fulfill the language requirements if it is deemed appropriate to the research undertaken by the student. In the latter case, prior to beginning preparation to pass a language requirement (by either of the two paths outlined below), the student must submit a short paragraph to the Director of Graduate Studies, to be reviewed by the Graduate Affairs Committee, outlining why the language in question will be important to the student’s future research.

Each student must complete the requirement for one language before scheduling a Dissertation Proposal Defense, and they must complete the requirement for a second language before scheduling a Dissertation Defense.

There are two ways in which students can complete the Foreign Languages requirement:

1. Student may pass a departmentally administered Language Competency Exam, which are offered just before the start of every quarter. This usually involves asking the student to translate a selection from a philosophical text in the original language.
2. Students may, alternatively, complete a certain number of classes in the Modern Languages Department, maintaining a B+ average each quarter. For ancient languages, students must take through the first year. For modern languages, students must take through year two.

Dissertation

Students must form a dissertation committee and submit and defend a dissertation proposal before that committee. Each student must then submit a dissertation and successfully defend it before their dissertation committee. 

The dissertation is a thesis, approximately 200-275 pages (60,000-85,500 words) in length, including scholarly apparatus. The precise topic, structure, and length of the dissertation is to be determined in consultation with the dissertation Director and the other members of the dissertation committee. 

Optional Certificates

Graduate Certificate in Bioethics

The Graduate Certificate in Bioethics is an option for doctoral candidates in Philosophy who want (a) to cultivate their ability to engage in critical analysis of bioethical issues, and (b) to train to teach bioethics, biomedical ethics, or medical ethics to a variety of different kinds of students.

The Certificate requirements are as follows:

Course Requirements:

A minimum of 16 quarter hours including:

Course	Title	Quarter Hours
PHL 529	THE PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF BIOETHICS	4
Select three other approved elective courses within the DePaul Philosophy Department’s graduate offerings. The elective can be selected from the following courses:		12
PHL 416	ARISTOTLE II
PHL 425	AQUINAS
PHL 511	KANT II
PHL 520	MARX I
or PHL 521	MARX II
PHL 641	SEMINAR ON THE CONTINENTAL TRADITION IN ETHICS
PHL 656	SEMINAR ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT
PHL 660	SEMINAR IN FEMINIST ETHICS
PHL 661	TOPICS IN FEMINIST THEORY

Training/Teaching Requirements

1. Students must participate in the Biomedical Ethics Training Program or serve as a Teaching Assistant for PHL 229 BIOMEDICAL ETHICS with a tenured or tenure-line faculty member. 
2. Upon completion of the training program or assistantship, students must teach at least two sections of Biomedical Ethics (PHL 229). 

Applicants apply for the Certificate by sending a letter of intent to the Director of Graduate Studies. Applicants agree to make the above required courses part of their program of study for the Ph.D and must maintain a B average in all Certificate courses.

Graduate Certificate in Business Ethics

The Graduate Certificate in Business Ethics is an option for doctoral students in Philosophy who want to gain a competency in business ethics, qualifying them to teach undergraduate and MBA courses in that subject. This Certificate does not require a dissertation in applied ethics. Rather it is designed to give students, regardless of their area of specialization, a strong background in business ethics so that they will be competent and competitive in the academic market, as well as comfortable teaching business ethics both at DePaul and in their academic careers.  

A minimum of 16 quarter hours including:

Course	Title	Quarter Hours
PHL 527	PHILOSOPHY, ETHICS, AND ECONOMICS	4
or PHL 640	PROBLEMS IN ETHICS
MGT 500	LEADING EFFECTIVE AND ETHICAL ORGANIZATIONS (or another graduate level course in Commerce approved by the Certificate Chair)	4
PHL 641	SEMINAR ON THE CONTINENTAL TRADITION IN ETHICS	4
Select one other approved elective course within the DePaul Philosophy Department’s graduate offerings. The elective can be selected from the following courses:		4
PHL 437	LOCKE
PHL 441	ROUSSEAU
PHL 520	MARX I
or PHL 521	MARX II
PHL 559	FOUCAULT
PHL 651	TOPICS IN BUSINESS ETHICS
PHL 656	SEMINAR ON SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THOUGHT

Other Requirements

• Students will be required to teach two Business Ethics courses (this could be in the Department of Philosophy, the Religious Studies Department or in a Management Department at DePaul or in other area universities.) Given that many PhD students in Philosophy are required to teach, this is not always an additional teaching requirement. 
• Attend and participate in at least one professional conference or complete an internship in applied ethics. In terms of Conferences, students will have to present a paper at the annual meeting of the Society for Business Ethics or the annual Vincentian Conference on Business Ethics. (Expenses will be covered by the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics.) A publishable paper would be the optimal goal. In terms of internships, such opportunities will have to be directly related to Business Ethics, Sustainability or Societal Justice. This will be approved by the Certificate Chair in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies.

Applicants can apply by sending a letter of intent to the Certificate Chair and the Director of Graduate Studies. Applicants must have at least a B average and will agree to make the above required courses as part of their program of study for the PhD.???

Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies

The Women’s and Gender Studies Graduate Certificate Program at DePaul University is offered by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and it is available to students in the doctoral program in the Department of Philosophy.

The Program’s requirements are:

• WGS 400 FEMINIST THEORIES
• Three additional graduate-level elective courses approved by Women’s and Gender Studies. The student should petition for approval for courses from the WGS Director of Graduate Studies.

It is highly recommended that students take the foundational course, WGS 400, prior to the other three required WGS electives. The elective courses may be taken from the Women’s and Gender Studies offerings and/or from courses in other departments and programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences that have been approved by the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, but all three elective courses cannot be from one department.

Content displayed from this DePaul University catalog page.

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