Texas A&M University > College of Liberal Arts > Department of Philosophy > Graduate > MA > Requirements for the MA degree

Requirements for the MA degree

The course requirements for the MA are summarized in the tables below.

Thesis Option	30 Hours	Non-Thesis Option	36 Hours
Area requirements	18 Hours	Area requirements	18 Hours
Electives	6 Hours	Electives	12 Hours
Thesis	6 Hours	Thesis	0 Hours
Internship	0 Hours	Internship	6 Hours
Final Exam		Final Exam

Area requirements, 18 hours (six courses)

Logic, one course:

PHIL 641, Symbolic Logic

History of Philosophy, two courses, to be selected from:

PHIL 611, Ancient Philosophy

PHIL 614, Medieval Philosophy

PHIL 616, Modern Philosophy

PHIL 620, Contemporary Philosophy

PHIL 623, American Philosophy

PHIL 661, Seminar in History of Philosophy

Value Theory, one course, to be selected from:

PHIL 630, Aesthetics

PHIL 632, Social and Political Theory

PHIL 635, Ethical Theory

PHIL 662, Seminar in Ethics and Value Theory

PHIL 671, Professional Ethics

Epistemology and Metaphysics, two courses, to be selected from:

PHIL 640, Epistemology

PHIL 650, Metaphysics

PHIL 631, Philosophy of Religion

PHIL 645, Philosophy of Science

PHIL 646, Philosophy of a Particular Science

PHIL 655, Philosophy of Mind

PHIL 658, Philosophy of Language

PHIL 663, Seminar in Metaphysics and Epistemology

Depending on their content, the following courses may count in one of the above areas:

PHIL 664, Seminar in Applied Philosophy

PHIL 682, Philosophical Authors

PHIL 685, Directed Studies

PHIL 689, Special Topics

Electives

May be selected from:

Any of the area requirement courses not used to meet an area requirement;
With approval of the student's Advisory Committee, graduate courses outside the department (not to exceed six hours for thesis option students and nine hours for non-thesis option students);
Other graduate courses in philosophy;
With approval of the student's Advisory Committee, up to nine hours of 300 or 400 level undergraduate courses in philosophy.

Research

Students pursuing the thesis option normally will complete six hours of PHIL 691, Research.

Professional Internship

Students who choose the non-thesis option in the M.A. program must complete an internship consisting of at least 90 hours of verifiable internship experience. For this experience the student will receive up to six hours of credit in PHIL 684. Minimal requirements for completion of an internship are (1) a written report of at least 20 pages addressing philosophical issues encountered, and (2) an oral defense of this report before an M.A. committee. Faculty advisors may impose additional requirements, to be specified at the beginning of the internship. Please note: Students must receive authorization from their advisors before beginning an internship.

Language Requirement

There is no departmental language requirement for the MA. Each student forms a committee, which determines what language requirement, if any, is appropriate for the thesis or internship project the student wishes to undertake.

Final Examination

A final examination is required for both the thesis and non-thesis options. This exam must be scheduled in advance with the Office of Graduate Studies and cannot be taken until a thesis proposal or an internship project proposal is on file in the Office of Graduate Studies.

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