Doctoral Program

HPS students pursue the Ph.D. in conjunction either with the history or philosophy departments

Philosophy Track

Those who elect the philosophy track toward the Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science
must satisfy the following course distribution requirements. In HPS, they will take a minimum of three courses in the general area of philosophy of science and four courses in history of science. In addition, students will satisfy a slightly modified form of the philosophy graduate program’s requirements, namely, the philosophy proseminar and a minimum of one course in each of the following areas: logic, history of ancient philosophy, history of medieval philosophy or science, and history of modern philosophy, and in two of the following three areas: ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology. Students may also be advised to take some extra work in one of the sciences, if this seems necessary for the specialized research they are planning. The language requirement for Ph.D. candidates in the philosophy track is a reading knowledge of two foreign languages.

Ethics of Science and Technology Concentration. Students on the philosophy track who elect the ethics of science and technology concentration will satisfy the philosophy-track course requirements, but with the following exceptions: (1) the student will take at least four courses in ethics or science and ethics; (2) PHI 83601 (20th-Century Ethics) will be taken as one of the three required philosophy core courses; (3) one of the four required history of science courses will be selected from a specified list of courses in the area of science, technology, and values; and (4) an additional course in ethics will be chosen from a specified list of philosophy courses.

(For details on formal examination and candidacy requirements, see the HPS Handbook or the HPS section of the Graduate Bulletin.)

History Track

Those who elect the history track toward the Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science
will take a minimum of four courses in history of science and three courses in the general area of philosophy of science. In addition, a student will take at least eight more courses (three of which must be research seminars) in two of these fields: American, Modern European, or Medieval History. These eight courses can include the history of science and technology.

The basic language requirement for Ph.D. candidates on the history track is a reading knowledge of one modern foreign language. In addition, competence has to be shown either in a second language or in a technical discipline bearing on the student’s research work, such as one of the natural sciences.

(For details on formal examination and candidacy requirements, see see the HPS Handbook or the HPS section of the Graduate Bulletin..)