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Description of the specialisation
Objectives and Achievement Levels
Programme
Master’s thesis and requirements for graduation
Additional programmes
Contact information
Description of the specialisation
The specialisation Philosophy of Humanities offers students the opportunity to further studies on the interface between scholarship in the humanities and philosophy. A particular focus is the relation between philosophical thought and European culture, and the programme also covers questions about the relationship between language and thought, and between philosophy, literature and art.
The specialisation Philosophy of Humanities has three fields of particular interest. The first focus is on the philosophical historical reflection on what Nietzsche called European nihilism. If scholarship is no longer guided by a philosophical, artistic and spiritual reflection, his diagnosis was, it will revert to the economy.
The second field of interest is the relation between philosophy and language. Just as poetry, philosophy shows that languages are not interchangeable, that language is more than a sheer instrument. What is the relation between philosophical thought and the language in which it has been expressed? How is philosophical thought related to the historical context? What are the circumstances in terms of which these ideas should be understood?
The third field of interest is the philosophical reflection on art, especially on the transition from traditional art to modern art. What is the impact of this transition? What does it mean? What are its motives? Are both art and philosophy searching for new ways to come to terms with life in a constantly expanding reality? The study of art will benefit from the critique of metaphysics in Nietzsche, as well as from the history of philosophical aesthetics from Kant to Heidegger and modern French philosophers. The destruction of the traditional aesthetic concept of art, accomplished by these philosophers, reflects the way in which art itself has changed.
Objectives and Achievement Levels
The MA Philosophy (120 EC) has the following objectives:
- with respect to knowledge, understanding and their applications
a. to impart scholarly knowledge, insight, methods, and skills in the field of philosophy, building on the foundations laid in the BA-programme in Philosophy of a Specific Discipline, or the pre-master Philosophy);
b. to impart a scholarly attitude, which is characterized by the student’s capacity to:
engage in individual and independent academic thought and action;
analyse complex problems;
write academic reports;
apply specialist skills in an intellectual and social context.
- with respect to a career
to prepare students for a profession in the field of the specific discipline for which philosophical knowledge, insight and skills have added value;
to prepare students for other professions in which philosophical knowledge, insight and skills have added value;
to prepare students to some extent for an academic career and for postgraduate education, in particular for a PhD project;
to prepare students for any non-academic career for which general academic skills such as abstraction skills, heuristic capability and creativity are required.
The following achievement levels apply with regard to the programme:
- Knowledge and understanding and their applications
Students who have completed the programme
have acquired knowledge and understanding of the history, the foundations, the methodology and/or ethics of the specific discipline, that is founded upon and extends that associated with the level of the bachelor’s programme in the philosophy of a specific discipline;
have acquired knowledge and understanding of the social and cultural impact of philosophy in general and of the philosophy of the specific discipline in particular;
have acquired knowledge and understanding of the main parts of the philosophy of the specific discipline, of their problems, methods, and central concepts, that is founded upon and extends that associated with the bachelor’s level, and that provides a basis for originality in developing and applying original ideas and analyses;
know the discussions in the forefront of their field, and are able to take part in them;
are able to contribute to current discussions in philosophy and in new and complex contexts related to philosophy;
are able to contribute to the philosophical-social debate on the basis of their philosophical knowledge and understanding.
- Making judgements
Students who have completed the programme
are able to handle philosophical complexity and to formulate judgments based on information from diverse sources, even if this information is limited or incomplete;
have a realistic view of the tenability and reliability of their own conclusions;
are able to integrate or confront different approaches to philosophical questions.
- Communication skills
Students who have completed the programme
have been trained in giving clear expositions of philosophical problems, ideas, theories, interpretations and argumentations, to specialist and non-specialist audiences, in English, and, in case of students who are Dutch native speakers, in Dutch as well;
are able to write philosophical papers whose quality shows the potential to come close to that of articles in refereed journals in the field.
- Learning skills
Students who have completed the programme have developed the learning skills to allow them to continue their study in a research context in a manner that may be largely self-directed, and to conceive and design a PhD project.
Programme
The MA Philosophy (120 EC) offers six specialisations, in which students are able to combine the study of philosophy with a non-philosophical discipline, varying from natural sciences to humanities and political science. The programme offers both full-time and part-time tuition.
Specialisations
The two-year MA programme in Philosophy (120 EC) offers six specialisations:
Philosophy of Humanities
Philosophy of Law
Philosophy of Medical Sciences
Philosophy of Natural Sciences
Philosophy of Political Science
Philosophy of Psychology
Full-time and part-time
The programme offers both full-time and part-time tuition. The part-time programme is offered as a daytime course. The full-time programme spans two years (including the non-philosophical component), the part-time programme spans three years. The only difference between the two programmes is in the length of time required for their completion; in content they are identical.
Structure
The MA Philosophy (120 EC) consists of five components:
40 EC / MA/MSc courses in the chosen discipline outside philosophy
20 EC / Specialist MA courses in philosophy of the chosen discipline
30 EC / MA courses in philosophy
10 EC / Supervised literature study in the area of the master’s thesis
20 EC / Master’s thesis
Students are expected to hold a bachelor’s degree in the discipline of their specialisation, which enables them to follow the non-philosophical part of their master’s programme at the faculty or department of the chosen discipline. Students who have already obtained a master’s degree in the chosen discipline are normally exempted from this part of the programme.
Full-time programme
First year
Students follow 500-level courses for a total of 30 EC in the chosen specific discipline outside philosophy.
Further, students follow two courses in philosophy, with a workload of 10 EC each. The choice may be made from a cluster of seminars selected from the courses on offer in the one-year MA programme in Philosophy.
Finally, students follow one specialist course in philosophy of the chosen discipline (10 EC). Depending on the number of enrolments these specialist courses will be offered either as a full seminar or as a series of individual tutorial sessions.
Second year
Students take 500-level courses for a total of 10 EC in the chosen discipline outside philosophy.
Students follow one course in philosophy, with a workload of 10 EC each. The choice may be made from a cluster of seminars selected from the courses on offer in the one-year MA programme in Philosophy.
Further. students follow a second specialist course in philosophy of the chosen discipline (10 EC).
Finally, students also complete a supervised 10 EC literature study in the area of the master’s thesis, and a master’s thesis of 20 EC.
Please note that the structure and sequence of components of individual MA programmes in Philosophy (120 EC) may deviate from the structure above due to the availability of courses in a particular semester, or the extent to which the non-philosophical part of the programme has been completed.
Students are requested to discuss their progamme with their tutor before the start of their first semester.
Part-time programme
In the part-time programme the various components will be spread over three years:
First year
- MA/MSc courses for a total of 40 EC in chosen discipline outside philosophy.
Second year
Third year
Specialist course in philosophy of the chosen discipline (10 EC).
Supervised 10 EC literature study in the area of the master’s thesis.
Master’s thesis of 20 EC.
Please note that the structure and sequence of components of individual MA programmes in Philosophy (120 EC) may deviate from the structure above due to the availability of courses in a particular semester, or the extent to which the non-philosophical part of the programme has been completed.
Students are requested to discuss their progamme with their tutor before the start of their first semester.
Internship
Students are allowed to include an internship of no more than 10 EC in their MA programme on condition that its job description has a clear relationship to philosophy. The internship will replace one of the three MA courses in philosophy.
Master’s thesis and requirements for graduation
In order to graduate, students must have successfully completed the 120 EC programme and have completed their final thesis as a component of that programme. The master’s thesis is an independent academic contribution to philosophy in the field of the chosen specialisation. The student is required to write a master’s thesis in the second year of the MA Philosophy (120 EC) – normally in the last semester. In preparation to the master’s thesis students complete a supervised 10 EC literature study in the area of the master’s thesis. This literature study may be started in the first semester of the second year.
Attainment levels
The master’s thesis should clearly show that the student meets the attainment levels which have been set for this programme in terms of knowledge and skills. More specifically, the master’s thesis and the working method for the thesis should demonstrate that the student:
has acquired knowledge of systematic philosophy and its history, and of recent developments in contemporary philosophy, that is founded upon and extends that associated with the bachelor’s level, and that provides a basis for originality in developing and applying original ideas and analyses;
knows the discussions in the forefront of their field, and is able to take part in them;
is able to contribute to current discussions on philosophy and in new and complex contexts related to philosophy;
is able to handle philosophical complexity and to formulate judgments based on information from diverse sources, even if this information is limited or incomplete;
has a realistic view of the tenability and reliability of his/her own conclusions;
is able to integrate or confront different approaches to philosophical questions;
in short, is able to write philosophical papers, the quality of which equals that of articles in refereed journals in the field.
Formal requirements and assessment criteria
The thesis for the MA Philosophy (120 EC) has a workload of 20 ECs, and the length of the thesis is normally approximately 20,000 words. Depending on the subject, the student and the supervisor may agree on a different length. Other formal requirements that the thesis must satisfy are listed in the Protocol Graduation Phase MA Philosophy 120 EC
Agreements and supervision
The agreements relating to the planning and supervision of the writing of the MA thesis are set out in writing by the student and the supervisor in the Agreements relating to the MA thesis form . The agreements include details on the choice of subject of the thesis, on the frequency of sessions with the thesis supervisor and the manner of supervision, and on the phasing of the research leading up to the thesis.
Final examination
The master’s thesis shall be defended as part of the final examination. The grade of the master’s thesis is determined by the examiners after the questioning (defence of the thesis) in the MA examination. The final examination may be held at any time during the academic year. However, graduation within the current academic year is only guaranteed when the final draft of the thesis has been approved of by the supervisor on July 1st at the latest. The grade of the master’s thesis is determined by the examiners after the questioning (defence of the thesis) in the MA examination.
Additional programmes
In addition to their MA programme in Philosophy (120 EC), students are – on certain conditions – qualified to follow the teacher-training in Philosophy: a preparation for a career in high school education or in MBO (intermediate vocational) education in the Netherlands. On completion of this MA programme students obtain a second master’s degree and a high-school teaching qualification (eerstegraads lesbevoegdheid) in philosophy. Generally, students who completed the MA Philosophy (120 EC) need to follow some additional courses in philosophy on BA level before they are permissable to this teacher-training. For more information about admission requirements please contact the student advisor . More information about the programme of the teacher-training is available on the website of ICLON
Students awarded a master’s degree are eligible to pursue a doctorate. Information about the PhD programme is available on the institute’s website.
Contact information
Specialisation co-ordinator
Dr. G.T.M. (Gerard) Visser
g.t.m.visser@phil.leidenuniv.nl
Co-ordinator of studies
C.M. (Carolyn) de Greef, MA
c.m.de.greef@phil.leidenuniv.nl
