Advice on Choosing Programs

Philosophy of Law

“This field is very broad, and it is highly unusual for a philosopher of law to do work in all, or even many, of the pertinent areas. Topics that fall within philosophy of law include, for example: the nature of law and the relationship between law and morality; the theory of legal reasoning and adjudication; the duty to obey the law; the justification of punishment; the nature of responsibility, moral and legal; theories of liberty and justice; the philosophical foundations of the substantive branches of law (criminal, law, property, torts, contracts, international law, etc.); theories of legislation and legal interpretation; the methodology of legal philosophy; and the intersection between the preceding areas and issues and themes in ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophy of action, etc. Students should pay particular attention to how well faculty interests correspond with student interests—keeping in mind, of course, that your interests may change and develop in significant ways during the course of your graduate education.”

--Brian Leiter (Texas)

Philosophy of Art/Aesthetics

“Especially at the graduate research level, philosophy of art/aesthetics is an unusually uncentered field, with a number of the best-known people working from distinct arts--notably music, painting, film, literary fiction--or from historical--notably Kantian--contexts.”

--Patrick Maynard (Western Ontario)

Early Modern Philosophy: 17th and 18th Century

"Early modern philosophy, by its nature, includes a very wide range of subdisciplines (epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of religion, ethics, political philosophy, just to name a few). Since graduate faculty working in early modern philosophy often specialize fairly exclusively in some of these subdisciplines rather than others, students interested in pursuing early modern philosophy should investigate to ensure a suitable overlap between their own subdisciplinary interests and those of the departments that they are considering. (For example, a student with very strong interests in early modern political philosophy should investigate more specifically whether there are faculty available who also have early modern political philosophy as a serious interest.) At the same time, however, students should bear in mind that many of the major figures in the early modern period were system builders who thought that there were important connections between, (for example) their views in metaphysics and epistemology and their views in moral and political philosophy; and for this reason, the understanding of their systems may suffer if one focuses only on their views in one or another subdiscipline. Some people working in early modern philosophy take a more comprehensive view of their specialty, and that may suit some students."

--Edwin Curley (Michigan) and Don Garrett (North Carolina)

Continental Philosophy of the 19th and 20th Centuries

“People's conception of what the right approach to take to Continental philosophy varies more than in more sedate and mainstream areas of philosophy. Even if a potential advisor is a specialist in just the area a student wants, s/he may have ideas about the subject-matter that make it difficult to work with a student who sees things differently. Some scholars engage argumentatively and often quite critically with Continental philosophers; others treat the figures more reverentially. Some treat Continental philosophy in isolation from other parts of philosophy (Continental philosophy is “ghettoized” in some programs); others bring styles and methods of argument associated with Anglophone philosophy to bear on Continental philosophers. Students should try to read some work by potential faculty advisors to get a sense of their approach. Of course, don't assume that everyone who takes a particular approach is incapable of seeing the merits of alternatives; but be aware that that is a danger. Given the variety of approaches and attitudes towards Continental philosophy, a plurality of potential advisors in a department can certainly be an advantage.

You should also consider carefully what departments offer outside Continental philosophy. There are institutional reasons for this (departments for the most part require students to complete a general education in philosophy in the initial years of graduate study, and once on the job market, it will behoove you to have “areas of competence” beyond Continental philosophy), but intellectual ones too: certain areas of philosophy—for example, Kant, ancient philosophy, moral and political philosophy, aesthetics, parts of metaphysics and epistemology, among others—are complementary to major themes and currents in Continental philosophy.”

--Brian Leiter (Texas) and Michael Rosen (Oxford)

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