Philosophy

The English stream of the MA in Philosophy programme provided by the Faculty of Philosophy of the Erasmus University Rotterdam offers Dutch and non-Dutch students with a sufficiently strong background in philosophy the opportunity to enrol in a study of philosophy at the graduate level. The English stream programme is characterized by its focus on one of the central research topics of the faculty, the wide range of issues and problems referred to by Social ontology.

Science aims at knowledge. Philosophy aims at understanding: understanding of the knowledge-how that we posses as rational, emotional and social creatures and the knowledge-that provided by science. Philosophy aims at understanding how we give meaning to our life, how we engage with the world and how we create social reality (and are created by it). Philosophy in Rotterdam focuses on understanding the ontology of social phenomena, by studying the nature, origin and role of institutions like the market, morality, art, political authority and cyberspace. How come that these institutions, which are of human ?making?, have a reality and an impact that transcends individual and inter-subjective action and control? Institutions are constitutive of individual and inter-subjective action: meaningful and purposeful action is both constrained and facilitated by institutions. In trying to understand the nature of the social, philosophy is ultimately the enterprise of trying to understand ourselves as meanings-giving and understanding creatures. What is specific of philosophy is that understanding is not only the goal of inquiry, but also its topic or subject. Philosophy is thinking about thinking. And as such it reveals an essential element in social phenomena and in human life tout court: normativity. Thinking itself is a normative enterprise. We can be correct or incorrect in our beliefs, and we aim at correct ones. And also in our practical life we are looking for right choices and meaningful acts. So we look for guidance. We look for reasons (expressed in norms, rules, ideals) for believing and acting in one way rather than another. And, of course we need the rules of language that tell us how to express correctly what we believe and what we choose. Thinking, understanding and choice is normative all the way down and all the way out in its social expression. What is the source and origin of the reasons and norms that we find to be authoritative? Humans, individually and collectively, are the ?authors? of normativity, and at the same time they are authorized by it. Is this abstract? Yes, it is. Philosophy in Rotterdam aims at engaging in some of the deepest insights of Western thought and at participating in many of the complex analytical scholarly debates that dominate worldwide philosophizing. The program invites students who look for argumentative rigour and analytical skill in combination with the courage to bridge differences between so called ?analytic? and ?continental philosophy?. In Rotterdam students will study Spinoza and Zizek, Hegel and Lewis, Descartes and Searle -to name only some of the main intellectual sparring partners.Applicants should hold a Bachelor?s degree in Philosophy or equivalent. This means that previous education should add up to three years of (full-time) academic training in Philosophy, given the standards of the Dutch academic system. The Admission Office of Erasmus University Rotterdam assesses whether a student?s previous education meets this requirement. Students should also be fluent in spoken and written English.The objective of the MA Philosophy Programme is to develop the competence needed for selfreliant and independent philosophical analysis, especially in social ontology. The programme prepares graduates for an academic career. Students who obtain a MA Philosophy degree are eligible for acceptance to PhD programmes at Erasmus University Rotterdam and elsewhere.