Philosophy

Overview

Philosophy Honours students take four approved 4000-level units (20% each) and write a long essay on a topic of their interest of up to 15 000 words (20%). Students are required to prepare for, attend, and participate satisfactorily in all seminars and tutorials in units they select. They are also required to attend the Department’s Hoernlé Research Seminars, and to attend and participate in the Department's Graduate Seminars, at which graduate students at all levels present their current research. A student who fails to meet these requirements may be refused permission to write a final examination.

Curriculum

Select four courses:

PHIL4001A - Applied Ethics

This course applies techniques of philosophical reasoning and ethical and social theories to particular controversial moral and socio-political issues. Examples of possible topics include decisions surrounding life and death, punishment, affirmative action, bioethics and medical ethics, the treatment of animals, and the value of persons.

PHIL4002A - Ethics

This course critically examines theories and issues within normative and/or meta-ethics. Examples of possible topics include moral relativism, realism and objectivism about moral values, the nature of value, virtue and character, theories of right and wrong action, and the nature of moral reasons.

PHIL4003A - Mathematical Logic

PHIL4004A - Metaphysics

This course is a critical examination of selected topics in metaphysics. Examples of possible topics include identity, causation, free will, universality, necessity and possibility.

PHIL4006A - Philosophical Logic

This course applies formal logical techniques to philosophical problems. Examples of possible topics include truth and truth-functionality, conditionals, quantification, modality, and deontic and epistemic logic.

PHIL4013A - Philosophy of Art

This course explores core issues in the philosophy of art, covering both historical and contemporary sources and material. Examples of possible topics include the nature of art; our experience of art; beauty, imagination, and taste; imitation, representation and expression; style; art, meaning, and value; narrative and genre; the ontological status of works of art; and the philosophy of the visual arts, literature, film, music and performance.

PHIL4014A - Philosophy of Language

This course is a critical examination of selected topics in philosophy of language. Examples of possible topics include meaning and reference, naming and description, and semantics and pragmatics.

PHIL4015A - Philosophy of Mind

This course is a critical examination of selected topics in philosophy of mind. Examples of possible topics include the mind-body problem, the nature of mental states, consciousness, representation, the nature and explanation of action, personal identity, and the emotions.

PHIL4016A - Philosophy of Science

This course is a critical examination of select topics in contemporary philosophy of science. Examples of possible topics include the nature of laws and theories, explanation, confirmation, methodology, and objectivity and relativism.

PHIL4017A - Philosophy of Social Science

The course critically examines philosophical issues in the social sciences. Examples of possible topics include the nature and models of explanation, holism and individualism, structure and agency, and social and institutional ontology.

PHIL4019A - Select Authors

This course involves a guided reading and critical exploration of one or more noteworthy philosophers. Examples of possible authors include Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Descartes, Wittgenstein, Davidson, Wiredu, and Nussbaum.

PHIL4020A - Select Schools of Philosophy

This course critically explores one or more schools of philosophy. Examples of possible schools include rationalism, existentialism, empiricism, ancient virtue ethics, pragmatism, and ethnophilosophy.

PHIL4021A - Select Topics in the History of Philosophy

This course investigates one or more topics in philosophy. Examples of possible topics include being and reality, knowledge and scepticism, virtue and obligation, and gender and justice.

PHIL4022A - Social and Political Philosophy

This course involves a critical examination of important texts and issues in social and political philosophy. Examples of possible topics include distributive justice, war and peace, and race and identity.

PHIL4023A - Theory of Knowledge

This course is a critical exploration of important issues about knowledge and justification. Examples of possible topics include perception, knowledge and belief, scepticism, and truth.

PHIL4024A - African Philosophy

This course engages with topics and debates about and within African philosophy. Examples of possible topics include debates about the existence and nature of African philosophy, important texts of an African philosopher or a school of African philosophy, and key arguments and theories of African philosophers on selected philosophical topics.

PHIL4018A - Research Essay

Entry Requirements

Honours:

• A bachelors degree or equivalent with 65% course mark aggregate in a third year major
• At least an upper second class pass in the final undergraduate course in the subject

Masters by Coursework and Research Report:

• A bachelors degree with honours from Wits or another university with a 65% total mark aggregate

Masters by Dissertation:

• A bachelors degree with honours from Wits or another university with a 65% total mark aggregate
• A supervisor from the Faculty of Humanities must be identified and approached prior to application

Doctorate:

• A masters degree from Wits or another university with a 70% total mark aggregate
• A supervisor from the Faculty of Humanities must be identified and approached prior to application

Applicants to Honours in Philosophy receive an automatic admission (ultimately subject to the approval of the Philosophy Department) if the student has achieved 65% in Philosophy III units from Wits. Students achieving less than 65% or those from other Universities may apply and will be admitted on a discretionary basis. 

University Application Process

University Fees and Funding

Click here to see the current average tuition fees. The Fees site also provides information about the payment of fees and closing dates for fees payments. Once you have applied you will be able to access the fees estimator on the student self-service portal.

For information about postgraduate funding opportunities, including the postgraduate merit award, click here. Please also check your School website for bursary opportunities. NRF bursaries: The National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a wide range of opportunities in terms of bursaries and fellowships to students pursuing postgraduate studies. External bursaries portal: The Bursaries South Africa website provides a comprehensive list of bursaries in South Africa.