Skip to content
PCU-USAApply
All programs

Academic catalog · 2026–2027

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy is a research degree grounded in the classical, medieval, Thomistic, and Christian philosophical traditions and open to sustained engagement with modern and contemporary thought. It gives particular depth to metaphysics, philosophical anthropology, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of religion, natural theology, political philosophy, and philosophy of law.

Program overview

Candidates work closely with primary texts and the history of arguments, including Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, the scholastic tradition, Maritain, and Gilson. Doctoral research must offer an original philosophical contribution rather than a merely historical summary or confessional exposition.

Admission requirements

  • A master’s degree or equivalent graduate preparation in a field relevant to the proposed research.
  • Official transcripts from every postsecondary institution attended.
  • A curriculum vitae documenting academic and research experience.
  • A statement of purpose explaining the applicant’s doctoral aims and preparation for advanced research.
  • A preliminary dissertation proposal identifying an original and viable research question.
  • A substantial scholarly writing sample demonstrating advanced research and argumentation.
  • Evidence of proficiency in the language of instruction and in any source language required by the proposed research.

Curriculum

  1. Advanced Metaphysics — 3 credits
  2. Being and Causality in Aquinas — 3 credits
  3. Advanced Philosophical Anthropology — 3 credits
  4. Epistemology, Realism, and Truth — 3 credits
  5. Ethics, Natural Law, and the Virtues — 3 credits
  6. Philosophy of Religion and Natural Theology — 3 credits
  7. Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Law — 3 credits
  8. Medieval Philosophy and Thomistic Studies — 3 credits
  9. Modern and Contemporary Engagements — 3 credits
  10. Doctoral Text Seminar in Philosophy — 3 credits
  11. Advanced Research Methodology — 3 credits
  12. Doctoral Research Colloquium — 3 credits
  13. Dissertation Proposal — 6 credits
  14. Doctoral Dissertation — 18 credits

Learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate advanced command of a defined philosophical field and its primary sources.
  • Reconstruct and evaluate complex arguments in classical, medieval, modern, and contemporary philosophy.
  • Develop original positions in metaphysics, anthropology, epistemology, ethics, or related areas.
  • Engage Thomistic and Christian philosophy in rigorous dialogue with competing traditions.
  • Use historical languages, textual criticism, and contemporary scholarship as required by the research.
  • Formulate a doctoral project whose method and contribution are philosophically explicit.
  • Produce and orally defend an original dissertation of publishable scholarly quality.

Assessment

  • Assessment centers on doctoral textual commentaries, seminar papers, disputations, language or source competencies where required, conference presentations, and a comprehensive examination. Candidacy follows approval of the dissertation proposal; the final dissertation must survive committee examination and oral defense.

Completion requirements

  • Earn all 60 required credits.
  • Pass the comprehensive examination and remain in satisfactory academic standing.
  • Obtain approval of the dissertation proposal.
  • Complete and successfully defend an original doctoral dissertation.
  • Resolve all academic-record and graduation requirements before conferral.