The Philosophical Gourmet Report


2001 / 2002

Part I - The Rankings

The Rankings

U.S. Overall Rankings
Top U.S. 25 in Philosophical Problem-Solving
Top U.S. 25 in Philosophically Informed History of Ideas
Top Programs in Other Parts of the English-Speaking World
What the Rankings Mean: Problem-Solving and Philosophically Informed History of Ideas
Breakdown of Programs by Specialties
Summary of Specialty Rankings
Class, Race, Gender & Philosophy
M.A. Programs in Philosophy
The Study of Philosophy in Law Schools and Top Law Schools
Top Research Universities
Footnotes

U.S. Overall Rankings

This year's ranking is based on a reputational survey of more than 120 philosophers throughout the English-speaking world. The reputational scores for small faculties were handicapped .1 (for the details and discussion, see Part II). This affected: Brown, MIT, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, Rice, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, U Mass/Amherst, Florida State, Miami, USC, Rochester, and Tulane. Because evaluators were asked to evaluate nearly 70 departments, a few departments with no significant changes since last year were omitted from the list: BU, Carnegie-Mellon, Illinois/Chicago, Rochester, Southern Cal. Their scores were augmented .1 from last year, to reflect the inflation factor for this year's results. Happily, most of the changes in scores since last year reflect tangible changes in faculty quality, with a few exceptions, like Minnesota and Virginia, which may simply be arbitrary fluctuations in scores.

Group 1 (1-5)	Mean	Median	2000-2001	1999-2000
1. New York University	4.8	5.0	2	2
1. Princeton University	4.8	5.0	1	1
3. Rutgers University, New Brunswick	4.7	5.0	3	3
4. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	4.5	4.5	3	4
5. University of Pittsburgh	4.3	4.5	3	4
Group 2 (6-11)
6. Harvard University	4.2	4.0	6	6
6. Stanford University	4.2	4.0	8	9
8. University of California, Los Angeles	4.0	4.0	7	6
9. Columbia University	3.8	4.0	8	9
9. Cornell University	3.8	4.0	12	9
9. Massachusetts Institute of Technology	3.8	4.0	13	9
Group 3 (12-21)
12. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	3.7	3.5	18	9
13. University of California, Berkeley	3.6	3.5	8	9
14. University of Arizona	3.5	3.5	8	8
14. University of Notre Dame	3.5	3.5	14	16
16. Brown University	3.4	3.5	16	18
17. University of California, Irvine	3.3	3.5	19	17
17. University of California, San Diego	3.3	3.5	24	20
17. University of Chicago	3.3	3.5	17	22
17. University of Texas, Austin	3.3	3.5	21	18
17. Yale University	3.3	3.5	19	22
Group 4 (22-29)
22. Ohio State University	3.2	3.0	24	31
23. University of Wisconsin, Madison	3.1	3.0	24	22
24. City University of New York Graduate Center	3.0	3.0	27	42
24. University of California, Davis	3.0	3.0	21	20
26. Indiana University, Bloomington	2.9	3.0	15	9
26. University of Pennsylvania	2.9	3.0	21	27
28. University of Colorado, Boulder	2.8	3.0	31	31
28. University of Massachusetts, Amherst	2.8	3.0	30	22
Group 5 (30-49)
30. Duke University	2.7	2.5	34	42
31. Johns Hopkins University	2.6	2.5	28	31
31. University of California, Riverside	2.6	2.5	31	28
31. University of Illinois, Chicago	2.6	2.5	34	31
31. University of Maryland, College Park	2.6	2.5	31	28
31. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities	2.6	2.5	28	28
31. University of Washington, Seattle	2.6	2.5	34	31
37. Carnegie-Mellon University	2.5	2.5	38	31
37. Northwestern University	2.5	2.5	39	22
39. Syracuse University	2.4	2.5	34	31
39. University of Miami	2.4	2.5	Notable	Notable
41. University of Southern California	2.5	2.0	40	31
42. Boston University	2.4	2.0	41	42
42. Georgetown University	2.3	2.5	43	42
42. Rice University	2.4	2.0	43	Notable
42. University of California, Santa Barbara	2.4	2.0	41	31
42. University of Connecticut, Storrs	2.3	2.5	48	42
42. University of Virginia	2.4	2.0	43	42
48. University of Rochester	2.3	2.0	43	42
49. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign	2.1	2.0	43	31
Runners-up for the top 50
Arizona State University
Florida State University
Tulane University

Unranked PhD Programs outside the top 50
There are, by almost everyone's admission, too many PhD programs in the U.S.; students should think very carefully before enrolling in the programs outside the top 50, though some have particular niches of excellence, that are reflected in the specialty rankings later in this Report. For those specialty niches, programs outside the top 50 may be a good choice. Be sure, in any event, to get a complete report on job placement from these programs before enrolling.

A number of these programs have a strong focus on Continental philosophy, especially of the 20th-century; those at the Catholic universities also often have a particular interest in medieval philosophy as well. These programs would include: Boston College, Catholic University, DePaul University, Duquesne University, Fordham University, Marquette University, New School University, Pennsylvania State University, State University of New York at Stony Brook, University of Oregon, and Vanderbilt University.

Some schools have a strong historical orientation, which like some of the foregoing, includes 20th-century Continental philosophy, but also includes substantial coverage of ancient and early modern philosophy as well. These schools would include Emory University and Purdue University (the latter also being quite solid in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy).

Many of these programs focus largely on mainstream topics in Anglo-American philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and mind, logic, ethics, etc.. These programs would include: Claremont Graduate School, Michigan State University, State University of New York at Albany, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, University of Cincinnati, University of Florida at Gainesville, University of Georgia, University of Iowa, University of Kansas, University of Missouri at Columbia, University of Nebraska at Lincoln, University of Oklahoma at Norman, University of South Carolina, University of Utah, and Wayne State University. Nebraska is probably the strongest of this group, though SUNY-Albany, Oklahoma, and Florida have all made significant improvements in the last decade.

Some have a real mix of Anglo-American "analytic" philosophy, as well as Continental philosophy, and sometimes also history of philosophy, for example: Loyola University at Chicago, Saint Louis University, State University of New York at Binghamton, State University of New York at Buffalo, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Kentucky, University of Memphis, University of New Mexico, University of South Florida, University of Tennesse at Knoxville, and Washington University, St. Louis. Loyola and Memphis are probably the strongest of this group (assuming, of course, that Horgan remains at Memphis).

Finally, three programs have particular specialty niches where they are prominent: Bowling Green State University is quite strong in moral and political philosophy, especially the applied dimensions of those subjects; Southern Illinois University at Carbondale has a primary focus on traditional American philosophy, especially pragmatism; and University of Hawaii at Manoa is primarily known for its coverage of Asian philosophy (esp. Chinese and Indian).

Top U.S. 25 in Philosophical Problem-Solving

(depth and, to a lesser extent, breadth of strength in contemporary philosophy of language, mind, logic, math, and science, as well as metaphysics, epistemology, and value theory)

Excellent (1-10)
New York University	Harvard University
Princeton University	Stanford University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick	University of California, Los Angeles
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	Columbia University
University of Pittsburgh	Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Good (11-24)
Cornell University	University of California, San Diego
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	University of Texas, Austin
University of California, Berkeley	Yale University
University of Arizona	Ohio State University
University of Notre Dame	University of Wisconsin, Madison
Brown University	City University of New York Graduate Center
University of California, Irvine	University of California, Davis
Also Notable (25-32)
Indiana University, Bloomington	University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachussetts, Amherst	University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Duke University	University of Washington, Seattle
University of California, Riverside	Carnegie-Mellon University
University of Colorado, Boulder

Top U.S. 25 in Philosophically Informed History of Ideas

(depth and breadth of historical coverage, from the ancient period through post-Kantian Continental, with an emphasis on Western traditions, though credit given for non-Western coverage as well)

Excellent (1-9)
Princeton University	University of Chicago
University of Pittsburgh	University of Texas, Austin
Cornell University	Yale University
University of California, Berkeley	University of Pennsylvania
University of California, Irvine
Good (10-18)
Harvard University	University of California, San Diego
Stanford University	University of California, Riverside
University of California, Los Angeles	University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill	Boston University
University of Notre Dame
Also Notable (19-28)
Rutgers University, New Brunswick	Ohio State University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	University of Colorado, Boulder
Columbia University	Johns Hopkins University
University of Arizona	University of Illinois, Chicago
Brown University	Northwestern University

Top Programs in Other Parts of the English-Speaking World

The name of each school is followed by two sets of numbers: the first is the mean and median score, where applicable, from the evaluation survey based on all responses; the second is the mean and median score based on the responses of philosophers from the relevant region. Unsurprisingly, philosophers in the region, probably because of greater familiarity, tended to score the departments more highly. The results reflect the judgment of 18 UK philosophers, but, regrettably, only 7 Canadian philosophers. I have treated the regional score as the better measure for purposes of comparison to the U.S.

Comparable to U.S. Group 1 Programs	Region
.Oxford University (4.5/4.5; 4.7/5.0)	United Kingdom
University of London (counting all colleges)	United Kingdom
Comparable to U.S. Group 2 Programs	Region
Australian National University	Australasia
Cambridge University (3.5/3.5; 4.1/4.25)	United Kingdom
University of St. Andrews/Stirling University Joint Program (3.3/3.5; 3.9/4.0)	United Kingdom
Comparable to U.S. Group 3 Programs	Region
University College London (2.6/2.5; 3.4/3.5)	United Kingdom
University of Reading (2.6/2.5; 3.2/3.5)	United Kingdom
University of Toronto (3.0/3.0; 3.6/3.75)	Canada
Comparable to U.S. Group 4 Programs	Region
Birkbeck College, London (2.7/3.0; 3.0/3.0)	United Kingdom
King's College London (2.7/3.0; 3.3/3.0)	United Kingdom
London School of Economics (2.7/2.5; 3.1/3.0)	United Kingdom
Monash University	Australasia
University of Auckland	Australasia
University of Edinburgh (2.5/2.5; 3.0/3.0)	United Kingdom
University of Melbourne	Australasia
University of Sheffield (2.4/2.5; 3.0/3.0)	United Kingdom
Comparable to U.S. Group 5 Programs	Region
McGill University (2.0/2.0; 2.3/2.5)	Canada
University of British Columbia (1.8/2.0; 2.4/2.25)	Canada
University of Canterbury	Australasia
University of Glasgow (2.0/2.0; 2.4/2.5)	United Kingdom
University of Western Ontario (2.1/2.0; 2.4/3.0)	Canada
University of York (2.0/2.0; 2.5/3.0)	United Kingdom
Other Notable Programs Regionally	Region
Keele University	United Kingdom
Trinity College Dublin	Ireland
University of Alberta (1.6/1.5; 1.8/2.0)	Canada
University of Birmingham	United Kingdom
University of Durham	United Kingdom
University of Leeds	United Kingdom
University of Nottingham	United Kingdom
University of Sydney	Australasia
University of Tasmania, Hobart	Australasia
Victoria University, Wellington	Australasia

What the Rankings Mean: Problem-Solving and Philosophically Informed History of Ideas

The rankings are primarily measures of faculty quality and reputation. Faculty quality and reputation correlates quite well with job placement, but students are well-advised to make inquiries with individual departments for complete information on this score.

The conventional demarcation of "analytic" versus "Continental" philosophy is less and less meaningful. With the demise of analytic philosophy as a substantive research program since the 1960s (see Section II-B below), "analytic" simply demarcates a style of scholarship, writing and thinking: clarity, precision and argumentative rigor are paramount. Thus, "analytic" philosophy is now largely coextensional with good philosophy and scholarship, regardless of topic or figure. It is no surprise, then, that the best work on so-called "Continental" figures is done largely by philosophers with so-called "analytic" training.

So, too, "Continental" is an increasingly meaningless label: much of what philosophers do on the European Continent these days is "analytic" philosophy or historical scholarship. While a minority of philosophers in the U.S. still use the label "Continental philosophy" to demarcate whatever someone suitably obscure has done in Paris recently, the label is best-reserved as a characterization for a group of important historical figures largely in Germany and France in the 19th and 20th centuries; in that respect, the label is much like the labels "medieval philosophy" or "early modern." And as with these other historical groupings, there are some overlapping thematic affinities among the figures so designated, but there are also discontinuities and in some cases profound differences (e.g., Husserl has more in common with Frege than with Nietzsche, and Habermas more in common with Rawls than Marx).

The collapse of a useful analytic/Continental divide led me last year to drop the misleading "analytic" from the subtitle of the Report. There is one discipline, philosophy, which includes many topics and figures, and which admits of good and bad work. This Report tries to capture existing professional sentiment about quality at different programs and in different fields in the English-speaking world. (Lack of reliable information leads me to exclude the non-English-speaking world, though there are thriving philosophical communities in, e.g., the Scandanavian countries, but they are beyond the scope of this Report.) Obviously, there will be groups and departments on the margins of the profession who will resent such an evaluation effort, but qualitative assessment remains of great importance to prospective students.¹ (Students beware: marginalized departments frequently advertise their "pluralism," which is usually a code word for lack of intellectual standards, not diversity of philosophical offerings.)

Yet there remain some important differences in how Departments approach philosophy. A far more useful demarcation, to my mind, is between "Problem-Solving" (PS) and "Philosophically Informed History of Ideas" (PIHI). PS Departments view their task as solving certain philosophical problems, either perennial or current: What is the relationship between mind and body, or between thought and reality? Is there a defensible version of the causal theory of content? Is truth a substantive property? Is morality relative or objective? and the like. PS Departments sometimes neglect the history of philosophy, or tend to view the history of philosophy as relevant only to the extent it helps solve the problems.

PIHI Departments, by contrast, while not necessarily neglecting problem-solving, take a more modest view of what we can expect to accomplish. PIHI Departments tend to lay more emphasis on understanding how the great figures of the past thought about philosophical problems, perhaps as a way of understanding how we arrived at our philosophical problems, or perhaps simply for the intrinsic pleasure of understanding the ideas of brilliant and interesting individuals. PS and PIHI often exist side-by-side in the same department (Princeton, Pittsburgh, Berkeley, Cornell and Texas are all examples), though in some departments they are complementary (e.g., Pittsburgh), while in others they proceed largely along separate tracks (e.g., Princeton). Some departments are lodged squarely in one camp or the other: for example, Chicago is overwhelmingly a PIHI Department, while NYU and MIT are overwhelmingly PS Departments.

Philosophers who practice PS and those who practice PIHI are likely to have different views of the quality of different departments. That is the main respect in which the overall ranking can be somewhat misleading. Students interested in PS, for example, can probably safely ignore Chicago, Northwestern, BU, McGill, and Emory (though see the Specialty rankings, below, for exceptions to this generalization).

The rankings of PS and PIHI departments should, of course, be read in conjunction with the specialty rankings below.

Here is how I recommend students use the overall rankings:

(1) Within a peer group, choose a program exclusively on the basis of how well it meets your needs and interests. So, e.g., do not choose between Harvard and MIT based on ordinal rank, but because one or the other better meets your intellectual needs and interests, or offers you a better financial aid package, or the like.

(2) It can make good sense to choose a lower ranked program over a higher ranked program if that program meets your special interests. Because Departments are increasingly specialized in their coverage and methodologies, it is quite possible for a program ranked in a lower peer group to offer a stronger program in a sub-field than a program in a higher group. As a general rule of thumb, choose the program stronger in your specialty area if they are only a peer group apart overall: so, e.g., choose the Excellent program in philosophy of physics that is in Group 3 over the merely Also Notable program in philosophy of physics that is in Group 2. Proceed with caution when the peer group disparities are greater, though it can still be quite reasonable to choose, e.g., the Group 4 program that is excellent in areas you really care about over a Group 1 or 2 program that has little or no adequate coverage of those fields.

Before choosing any program, of course, make sure that the faculty there are committed to training graduate students. This Report only measures the philosophical distinction of the faculty, not the quality of their teaching or their commitment to educating young philosophers. Anecdotally, at least, it appears that some schools with excellent faculties do not take that much interest in their graduate students. And some programs with exceptional faculties--like NYU--simply have no track record, as of yet, for training students.

After identifying programs of general interest, students should investigate the kind of work done in the Department with care. I can not overemphasize how very different the philosophical climate is at equally distinguished departments, say, Pittsburgh and Rutgers. While both have substantial PS contingents, the difference in training is likely to be quite dramatic. That John McDowell (Pittsburgh) and Jerry Fodor (Rutgers) are both among the most prominent philosophers at work today sheds no light on the fact that their conceptions of philosophy and philosophical problems are completely different.

Indeed, one important division in the PS camp is between those who approach PS as naturalists and those who don't. The naturalists are skeptical that philosophers have any distinctive methods or techniques that allow them to solve problems without the assistance of empirical science; philosophy for the PS naturalists is just an abstract branch of empirical science, examining and clarifying empircal claims, but not adding any substantive body of knowledge to the task of PS. Naturalists differ in their commitment to this approach, but all share the idea of philosophy as a discipline which is simply continuous with empirical science.² The non-naturalists, by contrast, do not view empirical science as a relevant constraint upon, or necessary element in, philosophical PS. Philosophy remains an essentially a priori discipline, in which intuitions, thought experiments, and conceptual analyses do most of the work.

Some departments are largely in the naturalist camp: for example, Princeton, NYU, Rutgers, Michigan, Arizona, Cornell, UC Davis, Wisconsin, CUNY, Maryland, Duke, Connecticut. Others are largely non-naturalist (or even anti-naturalist), like Pittsburgh, Harvard, Notre Dame, Chicago, Yale, Penn, Johns Hopkins, and U Mass/Amherst. Most have some mix of the various positions, and even the departments just noted don't speak univocally. Most UK departments tend to be squarely in the non-naturalist camp; the reason, some speculate, is the intensive nature of undergraduate education in the UK, which leads many philosophy students to have little or no exposure to science.

Breakdown of Programs by Specialties

This year I have returned to a non-ordinal categorization of programs similar to that used in earlier years. I have done so because making ordinal distinctions proved too contentious and because of anecdotal evidence that the ordinal ranking was being used by students as a criterion for choosing among programs, which seems to me a mistake. The idea of these listings is to identify programs in particular fields that a student should investigate for himself or herself. While in general it makes sense to choose an Excellent program over an Also Notable program, much may depend on the particular needs and interests of the student. Even within a grouping like "Excellent" or "Good" there may be meaningful qualitative differences between programs, but these are better sorted out by the individual student in consultation with advisors who know him or her best. Many programs not listed offer solid coverage of areas listed below; the specialty lists are meant to reflect those programs that are, comparatively, the best choices for students looking to focus their doctoral studies in these fields.

Strength is assessed in terms of quality of (generally tenured) faculty working in that area. Programs with only one resource person in a particular specialty, who is over the age of 70, are not listed.

The rankings here are meant to reflect the reputation and influence of the work done by faculty at these various departments. Departments with many good faculty in an area tend to be ranked higher. The lines between the specialty categories are not always hard-and-fast; this year I have refined the specialty categories even further, and have added more parenthetical qualifications to better delineate the fields. Still, what one philosopher might call an issue in philosophy of language, another might call an issue in philosophical logic or philosophy of mind. Students might look at the useful Blackwell Companions to Philosophy, or the equally valuable (albeit less detailed) Oxford volumes (ed. Grayling) on Philosophy: A Guide Through the Subject, to get some sense of how the fields are customarily demarcated.

Philosophy of Language and Linguistics
Philosophy of Mind and Language
Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science
Normative Ethics
Metaethics
History of Ethics
Moral Psychology
Political Philosophy
Applied Moral, Political & Social Philosophy
Philosophy of Law-Analytic Jurisprudence
Philosophy of Law-Normative Jurisprudence
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of Physics
Philosophy of Biology
Philosophy of Social Science
Mathmatical Logic
Philosophical Logic
Philosophy of Mathematics
Metaphysics
Epistemology
Philosophy of Art/Aesthetics
Philosophy of Action
Philosophy of Religion
Decision Theory/Rational Choice Theory/Game Theory
Ancient Philosophy
Medieval Philosophy
Modern Philosophy-Rationalists
Modern Philosophy-Empiricists
Kant
Hegel and German Idealism
Marx
Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
Freud
History of Analytic Philosophy
American Pragmatism
Wittgenstein
Phenomenology
Existentialism
Critical Theory/Frankfurt School
Hermeneutics
Foucault
Chinese Philosophy
Indian Philosophy

Philosophy of Language and Linguistics
(incl. definite and indefinite descriptions, singular terms, anaphora, quantification, pragmatics, indexicality, speech acts, tense, formal semantics, propositional attitude ascriptions, etc.)

Excellent
University of California, Los Angeles
Good
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Stanford University
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Pittsburgh
University of Southern California
University of Texas, Austin
Also Notable
Australian National University
Cornell University
Harvard University
New York University
Oxford University
State University of New York, Stony Brook
Tulane University
University of Alberta
University of Arizona
University of California, Davis
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Rochester
Back

Philosophy of Mind and Language
(incl. theories of content, theories of meaning, metaphysics of meaning)

Excellent
New York University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Good
Australian National University
City University of New York Graduate Center
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Pittsburgh
University of St. Andrew's
Also Notable:
Cambridge University
King's College, London
Northwestern University
Oxford University
University of Arizona
University of California, Davis
University of Connecticut, Storrs
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science
(incl. computational models of mind, functionalism, consciousness, qualia, mental causation, concepts, connectionism, perception, artificial intelligence, etc.)

Excellent
New York University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Good
Australian National University
Brown University
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Ohio State University
Princeton University
University College London
University of Arizona
University of California, San Diego
University of Connecticut, Storrs
University of Maryland, College Park
Also Notable
City University of New York Graduate Center
Duke University
Indiana University, Bloomington
King's College, London
Oxford University
Temple University
University of California, Davis
University of Canterbury
University of Chicago
University of Memphis
University of Miami
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Sussex
University of Sydney
Back

Normative Ethics
(incl. theories of the good, the right, well-being, virtue, etc.)

Excellent
Harvard University
New York University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Good
Australian National University
Oxford University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pittsburgh
University of Toronto
Yale University
Also Notable
Cambridge University
Indiana University, Bloomington
Princeton University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of Arizona
University of Auckland
University of California, San Diego
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Miami
University of Notre Dame
University of Reading
Back

Metaethics
(realism/anti-realism, cognitivism/non-cognitivism)

Excellent
Australian National University
Cambridge University
Cornell University
Princeton University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Pittsburgh
Good
Bowling Green State University
Brown University
Harvard University
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Ohio State University
University of California, San Diego
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Reading
Also Notable
Duke University
Keele University
Tulane University
University of California, Davis
University of Glasgow
University of Memphis
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of Notre Dame
University of Texas, Austin
Yale University
Back

History of Ethics

Excellent
Boston University
Harvard University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Good
Cornell University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Also Notable
Cambridge University
Georgetown University
Indiana University, Bloomington
Oxford University
Princeton University
University of Arizona
University of California, San Diego
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
Back

Moral Psychology
(incl. moral motivation, reasons for action, philosophy of the emotions)

Excellent
Australian National University
Harvard University
New York University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Good
Cambridge University
Duke University
Northwestern University
Syracuse University
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Pittsburgh
Also Notable
Brown University
Georgetown University
Ohio State University
Stanford University
University of California, San Diego
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of New Mexico
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Reading
University of Texas, Austin
University of Toronto
University of Utah
Back

Political Philosophy

Excellent
Columbia University
Harvard University
New York University
Oxford University
Good
Australian National University
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Tulane University
University College London
University of Arizona
University of California, San Diego
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Also Notable
Boston University
Bowling Green State University
Brown University
Princeton University
Rice University
University of California, Davis
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Southern California
University of Toronto
University of Wisconsin, Madison
York University, Toronto
Back

Applied Moral, Political & Social Philosophy
(including medical ethics)

Excellent
Bowling Green State University
New York University
University of Arizona
Good
Brown University
Princeton University
Rice University
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Also Notable
Carnegie-Mellon University
Georgetown University
Loyola University, Chicago
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Edinburgh
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
University of Utah
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Back

Philosophy of Law-Analytic Jurisprudence
(legal positivism, natural law, theory of adjudication and legal reasoning, etc.)

Excellent
Columbia University
New York University
Oxford University
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Yale University
Good
Boston University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas, Austin
York University, Toronto
Also Notable
Cambridge University
McMaster University
University of Auckland
University of California, San Diego
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
University of Toronto
Washington University, St. Louis
Back

Philosophy of Law-Normative Jurisprudence
(phil. of criminal law, torts, contracts, property, etc.)

Excellent
Columbia University
Oxford University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Toronto
Yale University
Good
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of California, Los Angeles
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Stirling
Also Notable
Arizona State University
Cambridge University
New York University
University of California, Davis
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Philosophy of Science
(Realism, Explanation, Confirmation, etc.)

Excellent
London School of Economics
Princeton University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Pittsburgh
University of Washington, Seattle
Good
Cambridge University (Department of History and Philosophy of Science)
Carnegie-Mellon University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Stanford University
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Also Notable
Birkbeck College, University of London
City University of New York Graduate Center
King's College, London
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of California, Irvine
University of California, San Diego
University of Edinburgh
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Toronto
University of Western Ontario
Back

Philosophy of Physics

Excellent
London School of Economics
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of California, Irvine
University of Pittsburgh
Good
Columbia University
Oxford University
Stanford University
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Washington, Seattle
Also Notable
Cambridge University (Department of History and Philosophy of Science)
Carnegie-Mellon University
Indiana University, Bloomington
New York University
Princeton University
University of Arizona
University of California, Davis
University of California, San Diego
University of Edinburgh
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Notre Dame
University of South Carolina
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Philosophy of Biology

Excellent
Columbia University
University of Chicago
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Good
Australian National University
Duke University
University of Exeter (Department of Sociology)
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
University of Pittsburgh
University of Texas, Austin
Victoria University, Wellington
Also Notable
Florida State University
Indiana University, Bloomington
Stanford University
University of British Columbia
University of Calgary
University of California, Davis
University of Cincinnati
University of Connecticut, Storrs
University of Edinburgh
University of Maryland, College Park
Back

Philosophy of Social Science

Excellent
Columbia University
Cornell University
Duke University
London School of Economics
University of Connecticut, Storrs
University of Exeter (Department of Sociology)
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Good
Cambridge University
Northwestern University
Princeton University
University of California, Irvine
Washington University, St. Louis
Also Notable
University of British Columbia
University of Kentucky
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Warwick
Back

Mathmatical Logic
(incl. foundations of mathematics, set theory, proof theory, model theory, computability theory, etc.)

Excellent
Carnegie Mellon University
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley (Program in Logic & Methodology of Science)
University of California, Los Angeles
Good
City University of New York Graduate Center
Columbia University
Harvard University
Ohio State University
Oxford University
Princeton University
University of Amsterdam (Institute for Logic, Language & Computation)
University of California, Irvine
University of Melbourne
University of Pittsburgh
Also Notable
Indiana University, Bloomington
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
McGill University
Monash University
New York University
State University of New York, Buffalo
University of Adelaide
University of Arizona
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of St. Andrew's
University of Texas, Austin
University of Toronto
University of Western Ontario
Back

Philosophical Logic
(employment of formal means to philosophical ends, addressing such topics as identity, truth, vagueness, reference, negation, quantification, necessity, modal logic, entailment, conditionals, etc.)

Excellent
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Oxford University
Princeton University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Pittsburgh
University of Texas, Austin
Good
Australian National University
Columbia University
Stanford University
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Melbourne
University of Notre Dame
University of St. Andrew's
Also Notable
Cambridge University
Harvard University
Monash University
Tulane University
University of Amsterdam (Institute for Logic, Language & Computation)
University of Birmingham
University of California, San Diego
University of Durham
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of Miami
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Back

Philosophy of Mathematics

Excellent
Columbia University
Harvard University
New York University
Ohio State University
Princeton University
University of California, Irvine
University of Glasgow
University of St. Andrew's
Good
Carnegie-Mellon University
McGill University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Pittsburgh
Also Notable
University of Arizona
University of Pennsylvania
University of Tasmania, Hobart
University of Texas, Austin
University of Western Ontario
Back

Metaphysics
(including events, causation, ontology, essentialism, necessity, properties, supervenience, identity (incl. personal identity), time, realism/anti-realism, etc.)

Excellent
Australian National University
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Princeton University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Good
Brown University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Leeds
University of Notre Dame
University of St. Andrew's
Yale University
Also Notable
Cambridge University
City University of New York Graduate Center
Monash University
Oxford University
Stanford University
Tulane University
University of Birmingham
University College London
University of California, Davis
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Durham
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Melbourne
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pittsburgh
University of Tasmania, Hobart
University of Texas, Austin
University of Virginia
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Back

Epistemology
(incl. foundationalism, coherentism, reliabilism, a priori knowledge, self-knowledge, testimony, skepticism, naturalized epistemology, social epistemology, etc.)

Excellent
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Good
Brown University
New York University
Oxford University
University of Rochester
University of Washington, Seattle
Yale University
Also Notable
Arizona State University
Columbia University
Harvard University
Indiana University, Bloomington
Johns Hopkins University
Loyola University, Chicago
Princeton University
University of Arizona
University of California, Berkeley
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Melbourne
University of Miami
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Oklahoma, Norman
University of Pittsburgh
University of Reading
University of Sheffield
Back

Philosophy of Art/Aesthetics

Excellent
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Good
King's College, London
Ohio State University
Temple University
University of Auckland
University of California, Davis
University of Cincinnati
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Nottingham
University of Sheffield
University of Western Ontario
University of York
Also Notable
Columbia University
Harvard University
Oxford University
Princeton University
State University of New York, Buffalo
University of Chicago
University of Glasgow
University of Miami
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Philosophy of Action
(incl. free will & determinism, agency & action, intention, etc.)

Excellent
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California, Riverside
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Good
Birkbeck College, University of London
University of California, Berkeley
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Reading
University of Texas, Austin
Also Notable
Florida State University
Harvard University
Indiana University, Bloomington
King's College, London
New York University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of Auckland
University of California, Davis
University of Georgia
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of Southern California
Back

Philosophy of Religion

Excellent
University of Notre Dame
Yale University
Good
Claremont Graduate School
Cornell University
Fordham University
Oxford University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
St. Louis University
University of California, Riverside
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
University of Oklahoma, Norman
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Also Notable
Loyola University, Chicago
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
University of Leeds
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Missouri, Columbia
Purdue University
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Decision Theory/Rational Choice Theory/Game Theory

Excellent
Carnegie-Mellon University
London School of Economics
University of California, Irvine
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Good
Columbia University
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Pittsburgh
University of Western Ontario
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Also Notable
Florida State University
Indiana University, Bloomington
University of Arizona
University of Texas, Austin
Yale University
Back

Ancient Philosophy

Excellent
Cambridge University (Department of Classics)
Cornell University
Oxford University
Princeton University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Texas, Austin
Good
Harvard University
Joint Program: Northwestern University/University of Chicago/University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Arizona
University of St. Andrew's
University of Toronto
Also Notable
Brown University
Emory University
King's College, London
McGill University
Northwestern University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Stanford University
University of California, Davis
University of California, Irvine
University of Chicago
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Washington, Seattle
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Yale University
Back

Medieval Philosophy

Excellent
Cornell University
Indiana University, Bloomington
Ohio State University
Saint Louis University
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Notre Dame
Yale University
Good
Catholic University
Fordham University
King's College, London
University of Toronto
Also Notable
Oxford University
State University of New York, Buffalo
University of Alberta
University of California, Irvine
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Glasgow
University of Iowa
University of St. Andrew's
Back

Modern Philosophy-Rationalists
(Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Malebranche)

Excellent
University of California, Irvine
University of Chicago
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Yale University
Good
Columbia University
McGill University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Riverside
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
University of Reading
University of Wisconsin, Madison
University of York
Also Notable
Brown University
Duke University
Harvard University
Purdue University
Rice University
University of British Columbia
University of California, San Diego
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Missouri, Columbia
University of Pittsburgh
University of Sydney
University of Western Ontario
Back

Modern Philosophy-Empiricists
(Berkeley, Locke, Hobbes, Hume)

Excellent
University of California, Irvine
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Reading
University of Southern California
Good
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of Arizona
University of California, Berkeley
University of Durham
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Also Notable
Boston University
Cambridge University
Keele University
Oxford University
Syracuse University
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Massachussetts, Amherst
University of Pittsburgh
University of Texas, Austin
University of Toronto
University of York
Back

Kant

Excellent
Boston University
Harvard University
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
Good
Johns Hopkins University
Oxford University
Princeton University
Syracuse University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Riverside
University of California, San Diego
University of Notre Dame
Also Notable
Brown University
Columbia University
McGill University
University College London
University of Chicago
University of Edinburgh
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Pittsburgh
University of Sheffield
University of Western Ontario
Back

Hegel and German Idealism

Excellent
Oxford University
Stanford University
University of Chicago
Good
Cambridge University
Cornell University
Johns Hopkins University
Syracuse University
University of California, San Diego
University of Notre Dame
University of Sheffield
Also Notable
Boston University
Northwestern University
Princeton University
University College London
University of California, Riverside
University of East Anglia
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Kentucky
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Marx

Excellent
Columbia University
Cornell University
Oxford University
Stanford University
Good
Cambridge University
Massachussetts Institute of Technology
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Also Notable
University of Arizona
University of California, Riverside
University of Chicago
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Texas, Austin
Back

Schopenhauer and Nietzsche

Excellent
Birkbeck College, University of London
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas, Austin
Good
New York University
Princeton University
University of Warwick
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Also Notable
Brown University
Cambridge University
Pennsylvania State University
Stanford University
University of California, Riverside
University College London
University of Auckland
University of Chicago
University of East Anglia
University of Kentucky
Back

Freud

Excellent
King's College, London
Northwestern University
University College London
Good
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Chicago
Also Notable
Carnegie-Mellon University
Georgetown University
Syracuse University
University of Miami
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Texas, Austin
Back

History of Analytic Philosophy

Excellent
Harvard University
Stanford University
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas, Austin
Good
Indiana University, Bloomington
Oxford University
University of British Columbia
University of California, Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Pittsburgh
University of York
Also Notable
Arizona State University
University of Iowa
University of Notre Dame
Washington University, St. Louis
Back

American Pragmatism
(Peirce, James, Dewey)

Excellent
Pennsylvania State University
University of Miami
University of Sheffield
Good
Georgetown University
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
University of Chicago
University of Hawaii, Manoa
University of Toronto
Also Notable
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
State University of New York, Buffalo
University of New Mexico
Back

Wittgenstein

Excellent
New York University
Oxford University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Pittsburgh
Good
Cambridge University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
University of St. Andrew's
Also Notable
Northwestern University
University of Iowa
University of Maryland, College Park
University of Reading
University of York
Back

Phenomenology
(esp. Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty)

Excellent
Georgetown University
University of California, Riverside
Good
Boston University
New York University
Oxford University
University College Dublin
University of California, Irvine
University of Chicago
Also Notable
Loyola University, Chicago
Northwestern University
Rice University
Stanford University
State University of New York, Buffalo
University of Pittsburgh
University of Sheffield
University of South Florida
University of Tasmania, Hobart
Back

Existentialism
(esp. Heidegger, Sartre, Camus)

Excellent
Emory University
Georgetown University
University of California, Riverside
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
University of Texas, Austin
Good
New School University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Birmingham
Also Notable
Loyola University, Chicago
Oxford University
State University of New York, Stony Brook
University of Durham
Back

Critical Theory/Frankfurt School

Excellent
Cambridge University
Northwestern University
Oxford University
Good
New School University
State University of New York, Stony Brook
University of California, Riverside
Yale University
Also Notable
Loyola University, Chicago
University of California, Santa Cruz
Back

Hermeneutics

Excellent
Northwestern University
University of California, Riverside
Good
Emory University
New School University
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Chicago
Also Notable
Pennsylvania State University
State University of New York, Stony Brook
University of South Florida
Back

Foucault

Excellent
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
Good
Emory University
New School University
Northwestern University
Also Notable
Cardiff University, Wales
Loyola University, Chicago
Princeton University
Temple University
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Essex
Back

Chinese Philosophy

Excellent
University of California, Berkeley
University of Hong Kong
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Good
Duke University
University of Connecticut, Storrs
University of Hawaii, Manoa
Back

Indian Philosophy

Excellent
University of Hawaii, Manoa
University of Nottingham
University of Texas, Austin
Good
University of New Mexico
Back

Summary of Specialty Rankings

For U.S. programs in Groups 1-3, plus any program ranked in at least 6 categories, at least one of which it is Excellent.

Boston University
Excellent in:	History of Ethics; Kant.
Good in:	Analytic Jurisprudence; Phenomenology.
Also Notable in:	Political Philosophy; Empiricists; Hegel & German Idealism.

Brown University
Excellent in:	---
Good in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Metaethics; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Metaphysics; Epistemology.
Also Notable in:	Moral Psychology; Political Philosophy; Ancient Philosophy; Rationalists; Kant; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche.

Carnegie-Mellon University
Excellent in:	Mathematical Logic; Decision Theory, etc.
Good in:	Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Mathematics.
Also Notable in:	Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Philosophy of Physics.

Columbia University
Excellent in:	Political Philosophy; Analytic Jurisprudence; Normative Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Biology; Philosophy of Social Science; Philosophy of Mathematics; Marx.
Good in:	Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Physics; Mathematical Logic; Philosophical Logic; Decision Theory etc.; Rationalists.
Also Notable in:	Epistemology; Philosophy of Art; Kant.

Cornell University
Excellent in:	Metaethics; Philosophy of Social Science; Ancient Philosophy; Medieval
Good in:	History of Ethics; Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Religion; Hegel & German Idealism.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics.

Duke University
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Social Science.
Good in:	Moral Psychology; Philosophy of Biology; Chinese Philosophy.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Metaethics; Rationalists.

Harvard University
Excellent in:	Normative Ethics; History of Ethics; Moral Psychology; Political Philosophy; Philosophy of Mathematics; Kant; History of Analytic Philosophy.
Good in:	Metaethics; Mathematical Logic; Ancient Philosophy; Wittgenstein.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophical Logic; Epistemology; Philosophy of Art; Philosophy of Action; Rationalists.

Indiana University, Bloomington
Excellent in:	Medieval Philosophy.
Good in:	Metaethics; Mathematical Logic; Ancient Philosophy; History of Analytic Philosophy.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Normative Ethics; History of Ethics; Philosophy of Physics; Philosophy of Biology; Mathematical Logic; Epistemology; Philosophy of Action; Decision Theory, etc..

Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Excellent in:	Philosophical Logic; Metaphysics.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Mind & Language; Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Metaethics; Political Philosophy; Decision Theory, etc.: Marx
Also Notable in:	Mathematical Logic.

New York University
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Normative Ethics; Moral Psychology; Political Philosophy; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Philosophical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Metaphysics; Wittgenstein.
Good in:	Metaethics; Epistemology; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche; Phenomenology.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Physics; Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Action.

Northwestern University
Excellent in:	Freud; Critical Theory; Hermeneutics.
Good in:	Moral Psychology; Philosophy of Social Science; Foucault.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Ancient Philosophy; Hegel & German Idealism; Wittgenstein; Phenomenology.

Ohio State University
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Mathematics; Medieval Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Metaethics; Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Art.
Also Notable in:	Moral Psychology.

Princeton University
Excellent in:	Metaethics; Philosophy of Science; Philosophical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Metaphysics; Philosophy of Action; Ancient Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Mind & Language, Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Philosophy of Social Science; Mathematical Logic; Decision Theory etc.; Kant; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche.
Also Notable in:	Normative Ethics; Political Philosophy; History of Ethics; Philosophy of Physics; Epistemology; Hegel & German Idealism; Foucault.

Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Philosophy of Physics; Metaphysics; Philosophy of Art; Epistemology.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Normative Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Religion; Rationalists; Empiricists; Wittgenstein.
Also Notable in:	Normative Ethics; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Action; Ancient Philosophy; American Pragmatism.

Stanford University
Excellent in:	Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Action; Kant; Hegel & German Idealism; Marx; History of Analytic Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Mind & Language; Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Philosophy of Science; Philosophical Logic; Philosophy of Physics.
Also Notable in:	Moral Psychology; Philosophy of Biology; Metaphysics; Ancient Philosophy; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche; Phenomenology.

University of Arizona
Excellent in:	Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Political Philosophy; Ancient Philosophy; Empiricists.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Mind & Language; Normative Ethics; History of Ethics; Philosophy of Physics. Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Epistemology; Decision Theory etc.; Marx.

University of California, Berkeley
Excellent in:	Moral Psychology; Mathematical Logic [Program in Logic & Methodology of Science]; Ancient Philosophy; Wittgenstein; Chinese Philosophy.
Good in:	Normative Ethics; Philosophy of Mathematics; Philosophy of Action; Empiricists; Kant; History of Analytic Philosophy.
Also Notable in:	Epistemology; Rationalists.

University of California, Irvine
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Physics; Philosophy of Mathematics; Decision Theory etc.; Rationalists; Empiricists.
Good in:	Philosophy of Social Science; Mathematical Logic; Phenomenology.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Science; Ancient Philosophy; Medieval Philosophy.

University of California, Los Angeles
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Mathematical Logic; Philosophical Logic; Medieval Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Normative Ethics; History of Ethics; Normative Jurisprudence; Metaphysics; Rationalists.
Also Notable in:	Political Philosophy.

University of California, Riverside
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Action; Phenomenology; Existentialism; Hermeneutics.
Good in:	Philosophy of Religion; Rationalists; Kant; Critical Theory.
Also Notable in:	Hegel & German Idealism; Marx; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche.

University of California, San Diego
Excellent in:	---
Good in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Metaethics; Political Philosophy; Kant; Hegel & German Idealism.
Also Notable in:	Normative Ethics; History of Ethics; Moral Psychology; Analytic Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Physics; Philosophical Logic; Rationalists.

University of Chicago
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Biology; Rationalists; Hegel & German Idealism; Foucault.
Good in:	Political Philosophy; Freud; History of Analytic Philosophy; American Pragmatism; Wittgenstein; Phenomenology; Hermeneutics.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; History of Ethics; Philosophy of Art; Ancient Philosophy; Kant; Marx; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche.

University of Connecticut, Storrs
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Social Science.
Good in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Chinese Philosophy.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Philosophy of Biology.

University of Miami
Excellent in:	American Pragmatism.
Good in:	----
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science, Normative Ethics, Philosophical Logic, Epistemology, Philosophy of Art, Freud.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Excellent in:	Normative Ethics; Metaethics; History of Ethics; Moral Psychology; Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Art; Philosophy of Action; Decision Theory etc.; Rationalists; Chinese Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Physics; Empiricists.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Political Philosophy; Analytic Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Social Science; Mathematical Logic; Philosophical

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Excellent in:	Analytic Jurisprudence; Empiricists.
Good in:	Normative Ethics; Metaethics; History of Ethics; Normative Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Mathematics; Philosophy of Action; Rationalists.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Moral Psychology; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Metaphysics; Epistemology; Kant.

University of Notre Dame
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Religion; Medieval Philosophy; Foucault.
Good in:	Philosophical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Metaphysics; Philosophy of Action; Kant; Hegel & German Idealism.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Cognitive Science; Normative Ethics; Metaethics; Philosophy of Physics; Mathematical Logic; Epistemology; History of Analytic Philosophy.

University of Pennsylvania
Excellent in:	Normative Jurisprudence; Kant; History of Analytic Philosophy.
Good in:	Political Philosophy; Analytic Jurisprudence; Rationalists; Wittgenstein.
Also Notable in:	History of Ethics; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Philosophy of Art; Ancient Philosophy; Hegel & German Idealism.

University of Pittsburgh
Excellent in:	Metaethics; Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Physics; Philosophical Logic; Wittgenstein.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Philosophy of Mind & Language; Normative Ethics; Moral Psychology; Philosophy of Biology; Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Decision Theory etc.; Ancient Philosophy; History of Analytic Philosophy.
Also Notable in:	History of Ethics; Metaphysics; Epistemology; Rationalists; Empiricists; Kant; Hegel & German Idealism; Phenomenology.

University of Texas, Austin
Excellent in:	Philosophical Logic; Ancient Philosophy; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche; History of Analytic Philosophy; Existentialism; Indian Philosophy.
Good in:	Philosophy of Language & Linguistics; Analytic Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Biology; Philosophy of Action.
Also Notable in:	Philosophy of Mind & Language; Metaethics; Moral Psychology; Normative Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Physics; Mathematical Logic; Philosophy of Mathematics; Metaphysics; Philosophy of Art; Philosophy of Religion; Decision Theory etc.; Empiricists; Hegel & German Idealism; Marx; Freud.

University of Wisconsin, Madison
Excellent in:	Philosophy of Biology; Philosophy of Social Science; Philosophy of Art.
Good in:	Philosophy of Science; Philosophy of Religion; Decision Theory etc.; Rationalists; Marx; Schopenhauer & Nietzsche.
Also Notable in:	Political Philosophy; Applied Moral/Political/Social Philosophy; Ancient Philosophy.

Yale University
Excellent in:	Analytic Jurisprudence; Normative Jurisprudence; Philosophy of Religion; Medieval Philosophy; Rationalists.
Good in:	Normative Ethics; Metaphysics; Epistemology.
Also Notable in:	Metaethics; Decision Theory etc.; Ancient Philosophy.

Class, Race, Gender & Philosophy

The interest in questions of class, race, and gender which has swept other parts of the humanities has made relatively little impact upon the discipline of philosophy, though some philosophers have begun addressing these issues explicitly. As with most of the humanities, the focus has been on race and gender, rather than class (which is hardly surprising given the role of universities in the productive system and the class interests of the professoriate). Much of that work is already accounted for in the specialty rankings above, under rubrics like political philosophy and philosophy of mind. But students with particular interests in philosophical issues connected to race and gender would do best to seek out important philosophers who are writing on these topics, which often cut across many of the sub-specialties of philosophy. For those especially interested in gender, investigate the work of the following philosophers:

Linda Alcoff	Syracuse University
Anita Allen	University of Pennsylvania
Elizabeth Anderson	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Louise Antony	Ohio State University
Claudia Card	University of Wisconsin, Madison
Marilyn Friedman	Washington University, St. Louis
Leslie Green	York University (Toronto)
Karen Hanson	Indiana University, Bloomington
Sally Haslanger	Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Virginia Held	City University of New York Graduate Center
Jennifer Hornsby	Birkbeck College, University of London
Alison Jaggar	University of Colorado, Boulder
Susan James	Birkbeck College, University of London
Eva Fedder Kittay	State University of New York, Stony Brook
Rae Langton	University of Edinburgh
Elisabeth Lloyd	Indiana University, Bloomington
Helen Longino	University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
Sabina Lovibond	Oxford University
Martha Nussbaum	University of Chicago
Janet Radcliffe Richards	University College London (U.K.)
Debra Satz	Stanford University
Naomi Scheman	University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul
Alessandra Tanesini	University of Wales, Cardiff
Jennifer Whiting	Cornell University
Alison Wylie	Washington University, St. Louis
For those especially interested in philosophical issues connected to race, investigate the work of the following philosophers:
Anita Allen	University of Pennsylvania
Anthony Appiah	Harvard University
Bernard Boxill	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Jorge Garcia	Boston College
Robert Gooding-Williams	Northwestern University
Sally Haslanger	Massachussetts Institute of Technology
Bill Lawson	Michigan State University
Howard McGary	Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Charles Mills	University of Illinois, Chicago
Laurence Thomas	Syracuse University
Naomi Zack	University of Oregon

M.A. Programs in Philosophy

Who should consider an M.A. program in philosophy? Three categories of students who ultimately want to get a Ph.D. and pursue an academic career might benefit from such programs: (i) students whose undergraduate major was not philosophy; (ii) students who majored in philosophy at universities with philosophy departments outside the mainstream of the profession; and (iii) students who majored in philosophy, have a solid grounding in the various areas of philosophy, but who studied philosophy at smaller colleges and universities, or at institutions with weak academic reputations (students should consult their departments to find out whether graduates of their schools have been able to gain admittance to Ph.D. programs of their choice). Students in each category may be both qualified and able to get into the Ph.D. programs of their choice; but students who fit into one of these categories may be more likely to have trouble getting into Ph.D. programs and may be good candidates to benefit from M.A. programs.

A good M.A. program will provide many benefits: it will allow a student to get a basic grounding in philosophy or expand the breadth of her existing knowledge; to develop increased familiarity with current debates in philosophy; to prepare and polish written work in philosophy that will be useful in the applications process for Ph.D. programs; and to get to know some established philosophers who can then provide meaningful letters of recommendation for Ph.D. programs.

Of programs that offer the M.A. as the highest graduate degree, the top programs (in terms of faculty quality) are the following (those marked with an * also opportunities to study Continental philosophy):

Group 1 (1)
1. Tufts University

Group 2 (2-8)
2. Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
3. *Georgia State University
3. *Northern Illinois University
3. *Texas A&M University
3. University of Houston
3. University of Missouri, St. Louis
3. *University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Group 3 (9-10)
9. Western Michigan University
10. Texas Tech University

Let me emphasize, too, that all these programs boast strong faculties. Of the several dozen schools that offer a terminal M.A., these schools have the best (largely) "analytic" faculties with strengths in the "core" areas and/or moral/political philosophy and/or history of philosophy. Other M.A. programs not noted here do have particular strengths, e.g., Colorado State University in applied ethics. But the programs ranked here generally have faculties that compare favorably with existing PhD programs; indeed, the schools ranked 1-8 are probably stronger than any non-ranked PhD program in terms of faculty quality. Students should, however, investigate the success of all MA programs in placing their students in top Ph.D. programs. Georgia State has a model site providing this information, and students should ask all MA programs for comparable data: see, http://www.gsu.edu/%7Ewwwphl/philosophy.html (click on MA program, and then "placement").

Many Ph.D. programs also admit M.A. students. Students should be more wary of the M.A. programs at schools in roughly the top 25 that grant the PhD: often M.A. students take a back seat to the Ph.D. students (in terms of faculty attention), and students with weak philosophy backgrounds may find the pace and level of seminars geared to Ph.D. students daunting. Students considering M.A. programs in top-ranked Ph.D.-granting institutions should investigate the situation of M.A. students at the school carefully before enrolling. However, some PhD programs that are less highly ranked, but still have strong faculties, may in fact turn out to be good choices for the MA.

The Study of Philosophy in Law Schools and Top Law Schools

Many students thinking about graduate school in philosophy are also often thinking about law school. This section is aimed at those students, both those who may want to choose law school over philosophy graduate school, and those who may want to pursue a joint degree. There are, of course, a number of similarities between the study of law and philosophy: lawyers and philosophers both hone their argumentative and dialectical skills (indeed, law is one of the few professions other than philosophy in which the analysis, construction and refutation of arguments is a central part of professional life); both are concerned with clarity and logical rigor; and many issues in law--affirmative action, abortion, privacy rights, punishment, contractual promises--have important philosophical dimensions. Legal philosophy has been a thriving area of debate in law schools ever since H.L.A. Hart's The Concept of Law (1961); and issues of moral and political philosophy have been discussed both in connection with legal philosophy, as well as constitutional law, torts, and contracts. There is a large legal literature on the philosophical foundations of criminal law (addressing, for example, issues about free will and moral responsibility, and the justification of punishment); and more recently, there has been a growing interest in law schools in philosophy of language, metaethics and Continental philosophy.

Unfortunately, a great deal of what passes for "philosophy" in law schools--even at some excellent law schools--is sophomoric. Students thinking of getting a legal education, but who want to keep their philosophical interests alive (or perhaps even pursue a career in legal academia), must pick their schools carefully.

Many publications rank law schools; none do it competently, and most produce rankings that are regarded as bad jokes by legal scholars and lawyers. (The most notorious are the U.S. News rankings, most notable for their bias in favor of small, private schools. For criticisms of the U.S. News "methodology," and an attempt to develop a ranking system based on more conventional academic criteria, click here. This ranking is now the most serious competitor to U.S. News, and garners more than 2,000 hits per week during the peak application season.).

For purposes of students thinking about teaching careers, the most important factor is the scholarly distinction of the faculty. There are some 180 accredited law schools in the U.S., but the top 14 law schools in terms of faculty quality are, uncontroversially, (and in alphabetical order) the following:

Columbia University	University of California, Berkeley
Cornell University	University of Chicago
Georgetown University	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Harvard University	University of Pennsylvania
New York University	University of Texas, Austin
Northwestern University	University of Virginia
Stanford University	Yale University

Arguably competitive with the bottom end of the top 14 are such schools as Duke University, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. Graduates of these 17 schools also dominate the job market for law teachers.

The top four schools in terms of faculty quality are pretty much universally conceded to be Yale, Harvard, Chicago, and Stanford. (Of these four, only Yale and Chicago are really viable choices for students with serious philosophical interests.) After those four, judgements of quality become more contentious. Most would put Columbia, NYU, and UC Berkeley up there in the next cluster; others would also want to include Michigan and Virginia, though both have fallen on hard times in recent years due to faculty losses. Arguably competitive these days with Michigan and Virginia are Penn and Texas, and perhaps also Cornell, Georgetown, and Northwestern. Duke, UCLA, and USC, as noted, round out the top 17.

After these 17, there is another cluster of strong schools filling out roughly the top 25: Boston University, George Washington University, University of California/Hastings, University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, and Vanderbilt University. Emory University, University of Arizona, University of Colorado at Boulder, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill might also belong in this cluster. These schools boast enough nationally distinguished faculty that an excellent student from one of these schools might have some chance of getting in to law teaching.

Students should bear in mind that intellectual standards in law schools are not the same as in philosophy departments. A good deal of work at places like Yale and Harvard would be considered sub-standard by scholars in the cognate disciplines, including philosophy. Nonetheless, there is a reasonable correlation between prestige of the law school and intellectual caliber of the faculty, but philosophy majors have repeatedly told me about their surprise and disappointment at some of what goes on in the classroom at leading law schools. This is why it pays for students with a serious interest in philosophy to investigate law schools with some care. Several of the top law schools are not worth considering for any student with a serious background in philosophy because of lack of philosophically competent faculty: Stanford, Cornell, Northwestern, USC. Several top law schools have an unfavorable ratio of superficial to serious interdisciplinary work in law & philosophy: Yale, Harvard, Duke, Georgetown. There are opportunities for serious philosophical study at these schools (especially Yale), but the student may have to pick and choose classes with some care.

The leading law schools in various areas of interest to philosophy students are as follows:


Constitutional Law
Excellent:	University of Texas, Austin Yale University
Good:	Georgetown University Harvard University University of California, Berkeley University of Chicago
Also Notable:	Columbia University Duke University New York University Stanford University

Law and Economics
Excellent:	Harvard University Stanford University Yale University
Good:	New York University University of California, Berkeley University of Chicago University of Virginia
Also Notable:	Columbia University George Mason University University of Pennsylvania

Analytic Jurisprudence (incl. legal positivism, natural law theory, theory of adjudication and legal reasoning)
Excellent:	Columbia University Yale University
Good:	Cardozo Law School/Yeshiva University University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of Pennsylvania University of San Diego University of Texas, Austin
Also Notable:	New York University University of Minnesota, Twin Cities University of Notre Dame

Normative Jurisprudence (philosophy of criminal law, torts, contracts, property, etc.)
Excellent:	Columbia University University of California, Los Angeles University of Pennsylvania University of San Diego Yale University
Good:	Fordham University University of California, Berkeley University of Texas, Austin University of Virginia
Also Notable:	Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law University of Southern California Vanderbilt University University of Chicago

Moral & Political Philosophy
Excellent:	Columbia University New York University
Good:	University of California, Berkeley University of California, Los Angeles University of Pennsylvania Yale University
Also Notable:	Arizona State University Boston University Georgia State University University of Chicago University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of San Diego University of Texas, Austin University of Virginia

Metaphysics & Epistemology
Excellent:	Cardozo Law School/Yeshiva University Columbia University University of Texas, Austin
Good:	New York University University of San Diego Yale University
Also Notable:	Harvard University

Continental Philosophy
Excellent:	University of Texas, Austin
Good:	Harvard University Universi