Only students who have earned at least a 3.0 (B) average in their undergraduate courses will be admitted into the graduate program in philosophy. It is expected that applicants will have earned at least 28 quarter hours in philosophy as an undergraduate. Application, along with transcripts should be submitted to Graduate Student Services. Letters of reference, GRE scores, and a sample of philosophical writing should be sent directly to the philosophy department graduate chair. All application material must be received by March1 if an applicant is to be considered for financial assistance for the following academic year.

The Master of Arts in philosophy is granted upon the satisfaction of the following requirements:

1. Completion of 40 hours in philosophy in addition to any courses taken to compensate for deficiencies in undergraduate preparation. These hours must derive from classroom courses at the 500-level. PHIL 685 and PHIL 690-695 do not count toward the 40 course hours, however they are additionally required as indicated in (2) and (3) below. These hours must include selections from each of the following groups:

   a. Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics (1 course requirement). Select from PHIL 502, PHIL 517, PHIL 520, or PHIL 527.

   b. Ancient Philosophy (1 course requirement). Select from PHIL 518 or PHIL 519.

   c. Modern Philosophy (1 course requirement). Select from PHIL 528, PHIL 529, or PHIL 538.

   d. Value Theory (2 course requirement). At least one of: PHIL 530, PHIL 534, or PHIL 540. The other may be chosen from: PHIL 531, PHIL 532, PHIL 542, PHIL 543, or PHIL 592.

   e. Epistemology/Science/Metaphysics (2 course requirement). At least one of: PHIL 516, PHIL 550, or PHIL 551. The other may be chosen from: PHIL 512, PHIL 513, PHIL 514, PHIL 525, PHIL 526, PHIL 553, or PHIL 591 (Quine & Davidson or Wittgentstein Seminars).

   Additional new course offerings may also count toward these requirements at the discretion of the Graduate Chair.

2. Enrollment in PHIL 693 (Seminar) each fall and spring, PHIL 685 (Forum) each winter, and PHIL 690 (Supervised Teaching) each quarter in residence.
3. Enrollment (especially in the second year) in a suitable number of hours of PHIL 695 (Thesis).
4. Submission of an acceptable thesis on an approved topic, and an acceptable defense of it during an oral thesis examination. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, during a student's maximum six-year term of admission, he/she may attempt may attempt a thesis defense no more than twice.

Graduate students are expected to make continuous and adequate progress toward the degree. Progress is defined as:

• Enrolling in appropriate philosophy graduate courses (15 hours per quarter).
• Maintaining a 3.0 GPA. Avoiding grades of "I"(incomplete).
• Avoiding more than two grades of "PR".
• Arranging for a thesis adviser and a committee of two other readers by the end of Fall Quarter of the student's second year.
• Submitting a thesis proposal by the end of the first week of Winter Quarter of the student's second year.
• Evidence of regular progress in completing the thesis (e.g., the submitting of drafts, frequent meetings with thesis adviser, etc.).

Failure to satisfy any of these conditions can result in dismissal from the program.

The Philosophy Department is able to offer the following types of financial assistance:

• Teaching Assistantships--stipends of about $10,800 (2007-2008) with accompanying scholarship for payment of tuition.
• GRS Scholarships (pays majority of tuition costs).

Upon completion of a Master's Degree in Philosophy at Ohio University, recent graduates have gone on to doctoral study in philosophy, professional study, and law in institutions such as: Harvard, Rutgers, Princeton, Yale, Boston University, Rochester, Maryland, Ohio State, Purdue, Loyola, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Nebraska.

PHIL 502 - Techniques of Formal Analysis (sample syllabus)
Philosophical application of techniques of modern symbolic logic.

PHIL 512 - Philosophy of Biology
Some specific questions to be addressed include: what are species; how best to do taxonomy; must any theory of evolution by holistic?

PHIL 513 - Philosophy and Freudian Analysis
Prereq: PSY 233 or 332. The philosophical and scientific presuppositions of Freudian psychology, including Freud's methodology, are identified and subjected to rigorous philosophical analysis. Freud's early thought on hysteria, dreams, sexuality, and psychoanalysis are emphasized. Recent attacks on the legitimacy of psychoanalysis are examined. Alternative schemes for understanding human behavior also discussed.

PHIL 514 - Analytic Philosophy
Selected topics in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy.

PHIL 516 - Philosophy of Science (sample syllabus)
Analysis of selected problems in logic and methodology of sciences.

PHIL 517 - Philosophy of Logic
Prereq: PHIL 320 or 502. Provides a survey of issues in the philosophy of logic. Topics include formal theories of truth, logical and semantical paradoxes, modal logic, conditionals, interpretations of quantifiers, and philosophical implications of Gödel's incompleteness theorem.

PHIL 518 - Plato (sample syllabus)

PHIL 519 - Aristotle

PHIL 520 - Symbolic Logic II (sample syllabus)
Prereq: PHIL 320 or 502 or MATH 306 (or equiv.) or CS 300. Focuses on the completeness of first-order logic, Gödel's incompleteness theorems, axiomatic set theory, and Cantor's and Dedekind's theories of the infinite.

John W. Bender
Graduate Chair
Department of Philosophy
Ohio University
Ellis Hall, Room 202
Athens, OH 45701
740-593-4588
bender@ohio.edu