Admission Requirements
Students are accepted on the basis of the following criteria: (1) performance in undergraduate work, especially in philosophy; (2) recommendations of previous instructors; and (3) quality of written work submitted with the application. It is required that a paper demonstrating philosophical attainment be submitted with applications; an undergraduate course or seminar paper, or a Bachelor's Thesis will serve the purpose.
Academic Background of Applicants:
a) From Normal Undergraduate Programs in Philosophy.
The normal background for MA students is that provided by the four-year Honours BA at Waterloo. The core courses in the program are in the fields of Epistemology and Metaphysics (where students select at least three from a variety of upper year courses in these fields), Logic (Philosophy 240, Introduction to formal Logic, plus at least one of a selection of other upper year logic courses), Ethics (Phil 221, History of Ethics, and Phil 322, Contemporary Ethical Theory) and History of Philosophy (200A/B, survey courses in Ancient and Medieval and in Modern Western philosophy, plus at least one other upper year history course). Students with deficiencies in these areas may be required to take specific courses in order to rectify them, either in addition to or as part of their regular graduate program. In the case of the logic requirement the student must have facility with classical quantificational logic and its basic metatheory.
Foreign students with qualifications judged to be equivalent to a Canadian Honours BA in philosophy are normally admitted to full graduate student status, but may be required to take certain specific courses in order to rectify deficiencies in background, either as part of or in addition to their regular graduate program.
Proof of competency in English (if applicable). A score of at least 600 (250 on the computerized version) is required in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and 4.0 in the TWE. (See Academic Regulations - Competency in English for other acceptable tests of English.)
b) From a Canadian General BA or Equivalent Program.
Students admitted with the three-year Canadian general BA degree or its equivalent will be as qualifying students. A qualifying student is admitted to graduate status but not to a degree program. The qualifying year is a year of work approximately equivalent to the fourth year of an honours program. Students who do well during that year are eligible for admission to full degree status.
c) From Undergraduate Programs in fields other than Philosophy.
Students with an Honours Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in some field other than philosophy may be considered for admission as transitional students. Each transitional student will be required to complete a program of up to five one-term graduate or undergraduate courses, to be specified in writing at the time the student is recommended for admission, in addition to the usual requirements of the MA program. A transitional student is admitted directly into the MA program and is eligible for financial assistance.
Course Work Option
For the Course Work option students must complete:
- Philosophy 680 A/B (the Departmental Graduate Seminar);
- three one-term graduate courses (0.50 unit weight per course) at least one of which is a Philosophy 674 course;
- and three Directed Research courses (Philosophy 696). The three Directed Research courses involve writing research papers under the supervision of three different members of the department. The choice of subjects is not restricted in advance, but must be agreed to by the student’s supervisor and by the Graduate Officer. Students with special interests may take one of these courses with a member of another department if they have received approval from the Graduate Officer.
To be granted the MA degree, students must complete 680A/B and the three one-term courses required for the MA degree with a 78% average with at least one mark in the 80-100% range. The grade requirement for the three Phil 696 research courses in lieu of a thesis is no mark lower than 78% with at least one in the 80-100% range.
Thesis Option
For the Thesis option students must complete:
- Philosophy 680A/B (the departmental Graduate Seminar);
- three one-term graduate courses (0.50 unit weight per course) at least one of which is a Philosophy 674 course;
- one Directed Research course (Phil 696),
- plus an MA thesis.
The Directed Research course will normally be taken with the thesis supervisor, and will involve research leading to the production of the thesis. Students wishing to take this option should have decided on their topic by mid-year.
To be granted the MA degree, students must complete Phil 680A/B and the three one-term courses required for the MA degree with a 78% average with at least one mark in the 80-100% range. The grade requirement for PHIL 696, the preparatory research course for the thesis, is a mark no lower than 78%. The thesis must be accepted by a committee made up of the thesis supervisor and two other members of the department, to be selected in consultation with the Graduate Officer.