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Overall Rankings
This year's rankings are based on a reputational survey completed by nearly 180 philosophers throughout the English-speaking world (a 50% increase from last year). The Advisory Board voted overwhelmingly to both (1) continue providing an ordinal ranking of programs, and (2) discontinue handicapping the scores of small departments, though not because there was any consensus about whether, as many believe, small departments are, in fact, disadvantaged in reputational surveys. (Others doubt there is such a bias; others think large faculties suffer in such surveys; and still others think large departments deservedly fare better, since they typically cover more of the field.) The Board thought an editorial note, rather than manipulation of the results, was a better way to proceed. The number of faculty evaluated for each department, accordingly, appears in parentheses; keep that in mind as you review the scores.
The Board also voted, by a narrow margin, to eliminate the “peer groupings” based on median scores. The concern was that such groupings exaggerated differences between some departments in terms of quality and reputation. Of course, it remains natural to talk in terms of “top five” and “top twenty,” but it is also misleading! Instead, attend to the actual mean and median scores in comparing departments.
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For the non-American schools, the name of each school is followed by two sets of numbers: the first is the mean and median score 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. (This is especially significant for strong faculties that are relatively young: e.g., University College London in the UK.) The results reflect the judgment of 27 UK philosophers, 15 Canadian philosophers, and 8 Australasian philosophers. Given the smaller number of evaluators here, the student should take these results, especially, with a grain of salt.
After the regional mean, the number in parentheses records the schools rank by philosophers in that region. |
Unranked PhD Programs outside the top 50 in the U.S.
There are, by almost everyone’s admission, too many PhD programs, perhaps especially in the United States; 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: some do have very good track records.
A number of the programs outside the top 50 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, Missouri, 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, Texas A&M University, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Kentucky, University of New Mexico, University of South Florida, University of Tennesse at Knoxville, and Washington University, St. Louis. Loyola is probably the strongest of this group, though Texas A&M is also quite good.
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). |
