Head: Professor John Bigelow
Graduate coordinator: Professor John Bigelow
The Department of Philosophy offers a range of graduate level courses: the PhD, the MA by research, and the MA by research and coursework. Although the department's strength lies in the area of of analytic philosophy in the Aglo-American tradition, it is also able to offer high-quality supervision in many areas of recent European thought, feminism, and the history of ideas.
Members of staff and their fields of special interest
Dirk Baltzly Metaphysics; ancient philosophy; medieval philosophy; aesthetics; moral philosophy.
John Bigelow Metaphysics; philosophy of mathematics; philosophy of science; philosophy of language; ethics.
Gordon Clark Ethics; political philosophy; philosophy of the social sciences (associate member).
John Collins Epistemology and metaphysics; philosophy of language (visiting lecturer).
Karen Green Feminism; political philosophy; ethics; philosophy of language.
Elizabeth Grosz Feminist theory; psychoanalysis; French philosophy (joint appointment with Centre for Women's Studies and the Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies).
Kevin Hart Philosophy of religion; contemporary French philosophy; philosophy of literature; critical theory (joint appointment with the Department of English and the Centre for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies).
Richard Holton Philosophy of mind; philosophy of language; linguistics; political philosophy.
Lloyd Humberstone Philosophy of logic; metaphysics; modal logic and its applications.
Frank Jackson Epistemology and metaphysics; philosophical logic; philosophy of mind; ethics (visiting professor).
Jeanette Kennett Ethics; moral philosophy; existentialism.
Edward Khamara Philosophy of space and time; philosophy of religion; philosophy of Leibniz.
Rae Langton History of philosophy; philosophy of science; political philosophy; feminism.
Robert Pargetter Epistemology and metaphysics; philosophical logic; philosophy of science; ethics and social philosophy (associate fellow).
Peter Singer Ethics; applied ethics; history of philosophy (associate member).
Michael Smith Ethics; philosophy of mind; moral psychology.
Kim Sterelny Cognitive science; philosophy of biology; philosophical logic (visiting professor).
Chin Liew Ten Ethics; political philosophy; philosophy of law.
Aubrey Townsend Philosophical logic, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language; history of philosophy.
Entry requirements
Students wishing to enter into Part I of the MA by reseach and coursework program must have the equivalent of a major sequence in philosophy at Monash, with at least credit level results in two third-year subjects and credit level results in one second-year subject.
Students wishing to enter into the PhD program, the MA by research program, or Part II of the MA by research and coursework program must have an honours degree with a grade of H2A or better or the equivalent in philosophy or a relevant discipline.
Doctor of Philosophy
The PhD is a research degree by thesis only. Students who do not already have a masters degree may be required to enrol initially for the MA; transfer to the PhD may be recommended at the end of the first year of graduate studies.
MA by research
The MA by research is a research degree by thesis only. This normally takes two years of full-time study.
MA by research and coursework
Coordinator: Dr Michael Smith
Part I of the MA by research and coursework consists of coursework only. Students should choose units to the value of forty-eight points from the list of Part I subjects. Part II consists of a 66 per cent thesis and coursework to the value of sixteen points chosen from part two subjects. Full-time students normally take one year to complete Part I of the program, and one further year to complete Part II.
Part I subjects
Students must take three of the following subjects in first semester:
* PHM4820 Logic and language A
* PHM4840 Metaphysics and epistemology A
* PHM4860 Value theory A
* PHM4880 Supervised reading course A in philosophy
* PHM4900 Problems in contemporary philosophy A
* PHM4940 Contemporary European thought A: Lacan and subjectivity
and, in the second semester, two of the following subjects:
* PHM4290 Reading Irigaray
* PHM4830 Logic and language B
* PHM4850 Metaphysics and epistemology B
* PHM4870 Value theory B
* PHM4890 Supervised reading course B
* PHM4910 Problems in contemporary philosophy B
* PHM4920 Contemporary European thought B: literature and negativity
and
* PHM4800 Research paper in philosophy
Part II subjects
Students must take two of the following eight-point subjects in first semester:
* PHM5020 Logic and language A
* PHM5030 Metaphysics and epistemology A
* PHM5040 Value theory A
* PHM5050 Supervised reading course A in philosophy
* PHM5060 Problems in contemporary philosophy A
* PHM5100 Contemporary European thought A: Lacan and subjectivity
* PHM5120 Logic and language B
* PHM5130 Metaphysics and epistemology B
* PHM5140 Value theory B
* PHM5150 Supervised reading course B in *Philosophy
* PHM5160 Problems in contemporary philosophy B
* PHM5080 Contemporary European thought B: literature and negativity
* PHM5290 Reading Irigaray
In addition, students complete a thesis of 25,000-35,000 words.
The supervised reading course may be used to fill gaps in a student's background or to tailor a course to individual requirements. Students taking this course in Part I may be required to attend certain of the department's third-year level subjects. Further details of these subjects may be obtained from the department.
Particular subjects have prerequisites which may be excused for students with adequate backgrounds.
It is possible for part-time students to spread their work in each of the two parts over two years.
A complete reading list for all subjects will be available from the department.
Seminar
There is a regular staff seminar held on Friday afternoons. Graduate students are encouraged to attend. A work-in-progress seminar for honours and graduate students is also held one night per week during teaching periods.