Joint Program in Political Philosophy

This program is offered jointly by the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science. It is administered by an interdepartmental committee whose members are

Other affiliated faculty include

The program is designed to produce scholars with broad and deep expertise in philosophy, political theory, and political science. Philosophical or theoretical work on political issues is often enriched by knowledge of current social science, and vice versa. The program will provide the training and specialist knowledge required to undertake scholarly research and teaching in both fields.

Students should apply for admission to either of the participating departments in accordance with their qualifications and interests. They will be treated as regular graduate students in either the Department of Philosophy or the Department of Political Science. The program will offer graduate students in Philosophy the opportunity to take classes in empirical political science, to integrate training in political theory (a cognate discipline to political philosophy), and to be co-advised on a dissertation by faculty in Political Science. It will offer graduate students in Political Science an opportunity to receive credit for the full range of courses in political philosophy offered at UC-Berkeley, and to be co-advised by faculty who work in contemporary political philosophy but are officially appointed outside the Political Science department.

Students from the two departments will meet each other regularly through the Kadish Workshop in Law, Philosophy, and Political Theory; the Political Theory Workshop; and the Philosophy Colloquium, which all students are encouraged to attend. We also plan to facilitate an annual joint conference with students and faculty in the program.

Philosophy Students

Those entering the program as Philosophy students will take the broad range of philosophy courses and seminars standardly required for the Ph.D. in Philosophy, with the following modifications. First, at least three out of the eight required courses should be in political philosophy or political science. Second, at least one of the three topics for the student's qualifying exam should be in political philosophy. Third, the topic of the student’s dissertation should be in political philosophy. Decisions whether these requirements have been met will be made by the philosophy members of the interdisciplinary committee in consultation with the Head Graduate Advisor in philosophy. Students should declare their interest in joining the program by the beginning of their fifth semester at Berkeley. Students’ dissertations may be co-chaired by faculty in the Political Science department.

Political Science Students

Political Science students in the program will fulfill the standard requirements for the first two years of coursework in political science. Students must take at least three courses in political philosophy, including at least one taught in the Philosophy department. Course selections for the Political Philosophy program will be considered part of the Interdisciplinary coursework option in Political Science. Students should discuss their course selections with the Political Theory subfield coordinator, who must approve them. By the end of the third year, students in the program must pass a Preliminary Examination on three different fields of political science; one of these fields must be Political Philosophy. Students’ dissertations may be co-chaired by faculty in the Philosophy department. (Philosophy faculty who co-chair dissertations in Political Science will receive the same credit toward teaching relief that they would for co-chairing dissertations in Philosophy.)