Graduate Students

The graduate program in philosophy at Purdue offers its students the opportunity to pursue an unusually diversified and well-balanced plan of study. In addition to research specializations from across the field of contemporary analytic philosophy, the department’s faculty also exhibit strengths in the history of philosophy and in continental European philosophy. Students acquire a solid grounding in four traditional areas of philosophy (the history of philosophy; metaphysics and epistemology; value theory; and logic, language, and science) before developing their own specialized research programs.

The department has sixteen faculty members, one of whom is officially designated as a Distinguished Professor by the University. Research pursuits of individual faculty have been supported in recent years by grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Humanities Center, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Humboldt Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, the Templeton Foundation, the Center for Philosophy and Religion, and the Pew Charitable Trust. Overlapping faculty research areas reflect departmental research strengths that provide a wide opportunity for student research areas here at Purdue.

An excellent faculty-student ratio and a commitment to sound graduate education allow for close and informal relations among faculty and students, particularly in graduate seminars, and permit many opportunities for independent research. We average between forty and fifty graduate students in degree programs, about thirty-five of whom are typically in residence at any one time. Most graduate students are funded through departmental teaching assistantships, and most eventually have the opportunity to design and teach their own sections of courses. Graduate students also benefit from our colloquium series which brings prominent philosophers to campus for lectures and informal gatherings, and from various other speaker programs supported (most recently) by the Franklin J. Matchette Foundation, the Lilly Foundation, and the Templeton Trust. Most of our students earning the Ph.D. who seek academic appointments obtain them; our outstanding record of success can be found in the placement information page.

Please use the links on the left to find detailed information about our faculty, our programs, and our application process. You will also find links to various Purdue University sites that will offer plenty of information about the university and the West Lafayette area. Additional information about our graduate students and faculty can be found under News and Events. If you are looking for a friendly and unusually helpful environment in which to pursue serious graduate training in philosophy, we invite you to consider joining us here at Purdue.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Daniel Smith, the Director of Graduate Admissions smith132@purdue.edu.