Philosophy (MA)

The New School is a progressive university in New York City where scholars, artists, and designers come together to challenge convention and create positive change. Founded in 1919, the university consists of Parsons School of Design, Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts, The New School for Social Research, and numerous renowned graduate programs. The New School’s rigorous, multidimensional approach to education gives students the academic freedom to shape their unique, individual paths of study for a complex and rapidly changing world.

About

The MA in Philosophy is a 30 credit program providing students with advanced training in the history of philosophy and in central areas of current philosophical inquiry. The program offers an optional specialized minor in Psychoanalysis.

The MA prepares graduates for academic and professional careers and for further study and research at the doctoral level.

Program highlights

• 30-credit MA, 60-credit Ph.D.
• Study in a philosophy program developed by renowned scholars including Hannah Arendt, Hans Jonas, Aron Gurwitsch, and Reiner Schürmann.
• Focus on the history of Western thought and the modern European philosophical tradition. Recent courses include Art and Mechanical Reproduction; Embodied Cognition; Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason; and Speech Acts.

Curriculum

A full account of degree requirements and procedures is contained in the Philosophy departmental handbook.

To earn the MA in Philosophy, a student must complete a total of 30 credits with a minimum grade point average of 3.0.

A maximum of three credits taken at another university at the graduate level may be granted toward the credit requirement for the master's degree. Twenty-seven credits must be completed at The New School for Social Research.

Core Program

A total of six courses (18 credits) must satisfy the distribution requirements listed below:

• One course in quantificational logic. Students may be exempted from taking the logic course provided they pass an examination in logic. Students may study for the logic exam by auditing the official logic course.
• One course in ancient/medieval philosophy
• One course in analytic philosophy
• Courses in two of the following three areas:
  • Renaissance/early modern philosophy
  • 18th/19th-century philosophy
  • Twentieth-century continental philosophy

Students must consult with the Philosophy department's student advisor for approval of distribution requirements.