These guidelines are intended to provide information concerning the program in Philosophy of Religion within the Department of Religious Studies. The aim is to provide a series of norms and expectations to serve as points of reference from which a program of study can be developed. It is also to explain the requirements for the degree in this particular field and the procedures for meeting them. All students must work with the faculty, the Assistant Director of Graduate Studies for Philosophy of Religion (who is also the Director of Graduate Studies) to define their own particular program. Students are strongly encouraged to meet with the Philosophy of Religion faculty early in their academic program to define their needs and to design a course of study (formal as well as informal) suitable for preparing them for qualifying examinations and subsequent work.
The program is designed to offer students the opportunity to study across a range of issues, thinkers and literatures encompassing both the philosophy of religion and philosophical theology. Students are expected to exhibit control of such material in three different areas specifically: the philosophy of religion thus broadly conceived, the history of philosophy in the West, a course in the method and theory of the study of religion, and one of the following: (a) theology or (b) the religious thought in a tradition other than Christianity (though students may take this option only if they meet the appropriate language requirement).
Proficiency in two modern scholarly languages, normally French and German, must be shown, one before the end of the first year, the other before the beginning of the third; this may be done by passing an examination administered by the department, by accreditation from a Yale Summer School course designed for this purpose, or by a grade of A or B in one of Yale’s intermediate language courses. Mastery of the languages where needed in certain fields of study (e.g., Chinese, Hebrew, Greek, Japanese) is an additional requirement. For further description of policy and procedure, see the departmental brochure.
Students are required to take twelve courses, and this is normally done during the first two years of study. A minimum quality requirement, set by the Graduate School must be met. This stipulates that a student must earn a grade of Honors in two graduate courses. Students are expected to have the equivalent of a philosophy major in courses before entering the program. The purpose of Ph.D. course work is to solidify and deepen knowledge of the philosophy of religion, history of philosophy, and theology or the religious thought of a tradition other than Christianity, as a foundation for taking the qualifying examinations and doing dissertation work. Students will be expected to have some familiarity with both analytic and continental traditions, although they may emphasize one more than the other. In addition to attending regular courses offered by the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of Philosophy, and other departments, students may remedy gaps in knowledge through directed readings or by auditing appropriate courses.
Courses
The teaching interests of Faculty in this field encompass classical Greek and Late Antique philosophy, medieval philosophies and philosophical theologies (including especially Anselm, Aquinas and Scotus), the philosophy of religion in the modern period (including Descartes, Hume and Kant), Hegel and nineteenth century responses to Hegelianism whether theistic (as in Kierkegaard), or atheistic (as in Feuerbach, Marx and Nietzsche), Wittgenstein and contemporary Anglo-American analytic philosophy of religion, pragmatism, ‘post-modernism’, and method and theory of the study of religion. Courses are offered which reflect these interests.
Nature and Purpose
The qualifying examinations in Philosophy of Religion are normally taken after the conclusion of required course work and must be completed before admission to candidacy. Ordinarily, students take the examinations in their third year of residence. Preparation for the qualifying examinations is comprised of a combination of course work and supplementary individual readings. As a general rule of thumb, the student should strive for a level of knowledge and expertise such as would be required to compose and deliver advanced undergraduate lectures on the subject. The examinations are not meant to test the students’ ability as a research scholar. Course work, research papers, and the dissertation will do that. Passage of the qualifying exams is one requirement demanded of all students seeking the Ph.D., but it is not the only requirement, nor is it the most important. The dissertation is. Therefore, the exams should be kept within their proper proportions, and the following guidelines are designed to help with this.
Descriptions and Procedures
The qualifying examinations in Philosophy of Religion consist of three field examinations and one oral examination on the dissertation prospectus.
The field examinations may be oral or written. They are intended to be general, allowing the student to exhibit control of a range of literature, thinkers, and problems in three different areas.
For all three, the faculty will draw up a standard reading list, divided into Ancient, Medieval, Modern Classical, and Contemporary sections. Questions will be formulated by the student in consultation with the two readers. In the light of the questions, the student would be required to become familiar with a selection from the total number of items on the standard reading list. All students would have to become familiar with an appropriate selection from the Contemporary segment of the reading list. The student could then choose two of the other three sections with which to become familiar. In the contemporary period of philosophy (and philosophy of religion), all students would be required to have some familiarity with both the continental and the analytic traditions.
The dissertation proposal is prepared in preparation for the fourth exam. It is worked out in consultation with the faculty, and submitted to the teaching group in Philosophy of Religion, several of whom will meet with the student for a colloquium to assess the scope, significance, and feasibility of the topic and the student’s preparation to accomplish it in a reasonable time. After approval by the teaching group, a two-page, single-spaced summary of the proposal is submitted to the entire graduate faculty in Religious Studies and thence, if none object, to the Dean of the Graduate School. Once accepted, this prospectus becomes the basis for the eventual assessment of the completed dissertation. After acceptance of the prospectus, the student is admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. Students must be admitted to candidacy by the beginning of their seventh semester in the program.
Students normally begin writing their dissertations in the fourth year and usually will have finished by the end of the sixth year. The completed dissertation must be evaluated in writing and approved by a committee of three readers and the departmental faculty. There is no oral examination for the dissertation.