<p>I have seen quite a few of these popping up the last decade. While a very interesting program... I am not sure what one would do once getting this degree. Has anybody here done this? What kind of jobs would this lead to?</p>
<p>Here are two examples: </p>
<p>MA</a> in Philosophy | American University</p>
<p>and </p>
<p>M.A</a>. inAPPLIED Philosophy: SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY TRACK- Loyola University Chicago</p>
<p>It’s very difficult to say. I can speak authoritatively on “normal” branches of philosophy (in other words, branches listed by the the Gourmet or on Chalmers’ homepage, like metaphysics or 4Dism). However, applied philosophy is a department that bucks the trend and I have little experience with it.</p>
<p>What I can tell you is that social philosophy is a niche category and typical ranking of philosophy dept.s will only obfuscate your search. If no one else can help you on the forum, you would be better off making some phone calls to the universities themselves.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. Yes I’ve been able to find little information on the degree. It is difficult to track whether they are having these as “stepping stone” to a PhD program or they are sending their graduates to positions in businesses or hospitals as some kind of consultant. It looks by much of their curriculum that you could certainly do that, but whether people are actually finding jobs in a niche like that is pretty hard to find solid data on. If so it would be a good track for philosophy majors who wanted to study it more in depth, yet did not want to go on to an academic track.</p>
<p>What fields are you thinking of getting a Ph D in? </p>
<p>If you are looking to get into more traditional Philosophy fields for the Ph D, I would be highly, highly cautious. If you are not in an MA program in the top 40 (on the Gourmet Report) then it becomes very difficult to break into the top tier schools unless you have published a small bulwark of great scholarship. When it comes to philosophy, a highly competitive region of scholarship, you need your Ph D from a top school in your area of study in order to even hope to land a professorship. And seeing how neither American nor Loyola are listed in the report, I can promise you that it will be exceedingly difficult to platform into a great Ph D program.</p>
<p>Now, if you are not thinking of “normal” philosophy tracks, then I really have no idea what to say. I have no idea what applied philosophy Ph Ds are out there, what their value is, or which schools specialize in them.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve never heard of departments looking to hire in those specialized branches of philosophy. Like Early Modern Philosophy or Philosophy of Religion, this could be a category where there simply are no jobs after you receive a Ph D. I have some friends who control Ph D candidates at some universities. If I remember, I will ask them about this the next time I talk to one of them.</p>
<p>Summary: Don’t use these programs if you want a terminal degree in more traditional fields of philosophy. If you start in Applied Philosophy, expect to finish in Applied Philosophy.</p>
<p>No I was more interested in using this for a career field while getting more in depth study of philosophy. Just looking at several possible options. Wouldn’t want to do a PhD as I am geographically limited on where I would go.</p>