The Ph.D. program provides students with closely monitored training in philosophy. The program is designed to be completed in six years or less. Graduate work in philosophy can lead to careers both inside and outside academia. Because most doctoral students will be preparing for a career that involves teaching philosophy, they are encouraged to be teaching assistants for at least three quarters.

The department has three distinguishing characteristics: a focus on philosophy understood through its history, an emphasis on the relation of philosophy to science, and an eclecticism regarding philosophical styles.

The department’s faculty recognize the importance of doing philosophy in a way that is sensitive to its history. Their commitment to the history of philosophy extends from Ancient Philosophy to several of the main figures and topics in 20th century philosophy, and covers a wide range of topics and historical figures in between.

The department also has a focus on the relation of philosophy to science. Every member of the department is currently engaged in empirically informed philosophical research, or research in the history of science or the philosophy of science, or both.

Finally, while grounded in the analytic tradition, the department has an eclectic philosophical profile, manifested in its openness to a variety of philosophical styles, including continental philosophy, and in the importance it places on making philosophy relevant, beneficial, and accessible to the public. This eclecticism, which, among other things, fosters an academic environment that allows our students and faculty to make intellectual connections with academics in other disciplines and members of the general public, makes UC Santa Cruz a unique and attractive place to study philosophy.

Relationship of the M.A. and Ph.D. Programs

Students in the M.A. and Ph.D. programs will be in the same classes and work on the same course distribution requirements. Enrollment in the M.A. program confers no advantage for admission to the Ph.D. program.