Princeton University - The Graduate School

The Program in Political Philosophy enables doctoral candidates in the cooperating departments to supplement their disciplinary training with specialized work in one or more of three areas: (1) the history of political ideas, (2) the investigation of contemporary problems of political philosophy, and (3) the study of the relations between institutional and social history on the one hand, and systems of political thought on the other. The doctoral dissertation is written on a problem in political philosophy in one of these three areas.

Students join the program by entering the Departments of Classics, History, Philosophy, Politics, or Religion in accordance with their chief interests. Their work is guided by a departmental adviser in cooperation with the director of the program.

All students are required to develop linguistic competence sufficient enough to study philosophical texts in the original languages. Emphasis is placed upon the study of Greek or Latin whenever this study is relevant to the student’s specialized interest or general program.

Students participating in the program are expected to concentrate within their departments, so far as departmental requirements permit, on studies relevant to it. They do their extradepartmental work in one or several of the cooperating departments.

The general examination is set by the individual departments after consultation with the chairman. Whenever suitable, members of cooperating departments may be invited to participate in it. For students in the Department of Classics, the general examination consists of the following parts: (1) Greek and Latin literature to the times of Constantine and Boethius, respectively; (2) Greek and Roman history; and (3) a special area of study, to be selected with the approval of the classics department and the director of the program. Students in the Department of History devote special attention to the history of political philosophy within the area and the chronological limits of their major field, and are examined on this special interest during the general examination. Students in the Department of Philosophy are expected to show knowledge of the major political philosophers of the western tradition and to have given special attention to contemporary discussions of the problems of political philosophy (for example, the definition of law and the concepts of justice, freedom, and democracy). The departmental requirements are adjusted to their special needs. The general examination is in the field of political or social philosophy. Students in the Department of Politics may include among the three fields on their general examination a second field in political philosophy besides the regular departmental field. The second field, if chosen, must be taken outside the Department of Politics, within one or more of the other departments participating in the program. Students in the Department of Religion, concentrating in the field of “Religion, Ethics, and Politics” include among the four parts of their general examination one essay on a topic in political philosophy, written under the supervision of an appropriate member from the classics, history, philosophy, or politics departments.

The interdepartmental committee sponsors a colloquium each year, meeting several times each term. The colloquium includes seminars and lectures given by both University scholars and those coming from outside the University. All members and associates of the program are encouraged to participate in the colloquium.