Presentation
The Ph.D. in Philosophy belongs to the broader Doctoral School in Humanities. Its main scope is to supply the Ph.D. students with a high-level education in philosophical research. On the basis of a shared philosophical background, the Ph.D. articulates its methodologies and its themes of research into three main areas: 1) theoretical philosophy, moral philosophy (including bioethics) and philosophical hermeneutics; 2) the history of philosophical and scientifical thought; 3) philosophy of language and of mind, philosophy of science.
In all its thematic branches, the Ph.D. in Philosophy considers the cultural dimension, as set within the definition of a European cultural identity, to be a meeting point for different traditions of thought. Moreover, it develops an internationalization program by referring to scientific international communities, by attracting foreign students, and by promoting the mobility of its members. Finally, it favors interdisciplinarity along with the development of an integrated research with non-humanistic areas. Once completed its formation, the Ph.D. doctor possesses an updated information about the recent developments of philosophical research in the main fields of the contemporary debate:
- She has an updated knowledge of the state of the art within her own scope of disciplinary research; moreover, she has a proper mastery of the research methods qualifying either the theoretical investigations or the historical enquiries in philosophy
- She is able to conceive a research theme, to plan its realization and to publish its results according to the international community standards; she is able to adapt her project by confronting it with the appropriate research community by means of the necessary rigor and the appropriate intellectual rectitude. She can also use the proper research devices (technical and computer items, biblioteconomical and cataloguing tools)
For these reasons the Ph.D. doctor in Philosophy has a professional profile that allows her to find a job in the philosophical market, either theoretical or historical, in artificial intelligence or in cognitive science, in university or high school didactics, in information organization (applied ontology) and in knowledge organization, in bioethics, in philosophical counseling, in web managing.
Contacts
Director: Alberto Voltolini (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/05)
Gianluca Cuozzo (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/01)
Massimo Ferrari (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/06)
Maurizio Ferraris (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/01)
Enrico Guglielminetti (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/01)
Andrea Iacona (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/05)
Pietro Kobau (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/04)
Diego Marconi (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/05)
Massimo Mori (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/06)
Daniela Steila (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/06)
Federico Vercellone (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/04)
Alberto Voltolini (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/05)
Marilena Andronico (Ferrara, Associate Professor, M-FIL/05)
Andrea Bottani (Bergamo, Full Professor, M-FIL/01)
Pasquale Frascolla (Basilicata, Full Professor, M-FIL/05)
Niccolò Guicciardini Corsi Salviati (Bergamo, Associate Professor, M-STO/05)
Alfredo Paternoster (Bergamo, Associate Professor, M-FIL/05)
Roberto Casati (CNRS EHESS ENS Institut Nicod, Full Professor, M-FIL/01)
Jean Seidengart (Paris X – Nanterre, Full Professor, M-FIL/06)
Tiziana Andina (Torino, Ricercatore, M-FIL/01)
Guido Bonino (Torino, Ricercatore, M-FIL/06)
Gaetano Chiurazzi (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/01)
Vincenzo Crupi (Torino, Ricercatore, M-FIL/02)
Enrico Donaggio (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/03)
Maurizio Mori (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/03)
Enrico Pasini (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/06)
Andrea Poma (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/03)
Marco Ravera (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/03)
Pietro Bassiano Rossi (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/08)
Paola Rumore (Torino, Ricercatore, M-FIL/06)
Roberto Salizzoni (Torino, Full Professor, M-FIL/04)
Ugo Ugazio (Torino, Associate Professor, M-FIL/01)
The graduate curriculum lasts three years. In the first year, the Ph.D. student has to enroll in the Ph.D. common courses (30 hours), while (at least) 30 more hours are acquired by meeting each area's requirements. Moreover, attendance to seminars or conferences (also international) is required; it must be planned with the student’s tutor and approved by the Director on behalf of the Ph.D. Board. Each student is assigned a tutor within either the Board or the list of the internal tutors; a second, external tutor may be added by the Board. A student's work is carried out under his/her tutor's supervision. Each of the above activities entails that the student writes a paper, which must be handed in no later than two months after the activity has ended. As to the shared courses, they can involve exercises and tests in order to verify the student’s learning.
Information concerning didactic activities is given via email and is also available on this website.
By the end of the first year (i.e., by November 30), each student must deliver a report of activities carried out within the program to both the Director of the Doctorate and her tutor. The Board will evaluate each student's work on the basis of both the activities’ reports and the annual report, and will determine whether or not the student shall be admitted to the next year. The same procedure is carried out at the end of the second year. Within December 31 students who have been admitted must register at the Ufficio Dottorati, via Bogino 9 (tel. +39 0116704374/4394; fax: +39 0116704380; e-mail secretarial offices: rirel@unito.it).
At the beginning of the second year, each student is required to submit a thesis proposal to the Board. The proposal should describe the thesis’ topic, justify its choice, detail the methodology for the research, and explain its value and contribution with respect to contemporary scholarship. The proposal is evaluated by the Board. At the end of her second year, each student must submit a detailed prospectus and one chapter of the thesis, both of which shall be discussed both with her tutor and the professors of her research area and will be submitted to the Board for approval.
The third year is to be devoted to writing the doctoral thesis. According to the Doctoral Program's Regulations, the thesis should be handed in so that the Board of Professors has time to deliberate admission to the final examination no later than December 5. The Board may authorize writing the dissertation in a foreign language. If it has been ascertained that a student's thesis cannot be completed according to the above schedule, in agreement with her tutor a student may petition the Board for a delay. The Board may then ask the Rector to grant the student additional time. This exception can be granted only once: for three, six, nine, or twelve months. The final examination, however, can be repeated only once.
A Ph.D. student may spend some time abroad, once the Ph.D. Director approves her request and notifies it to the Board. Once the student is so authorized, she must fill a form concerning her mission request. The filled form is valid for insurance reasons; it must be signed both by the Ph.D. Director and by the Director of the Department of Philosophy and Education Sciences. The student may also ask for a reimboursation of her expenses, which will be provided depending on the available funds. In order for her to be reimboursed, the student must present to the Ph.D. Director the original receipts of her expenses, along with a declaration by the Institution where she has spent the period abroad (or a self-certification).
The scholarship is paid (post-dated) each two months, depending on the student’s regular attendance of the Ph.D. activities. During a period of stay abroad, the scholarship is increased of 50%, to be paid at the end of such a stay. If such a period lasts more than two months, the Director may certify the student’s stay abroad in order to allow such a payment to be divided into more instalments. In order to be so paid, each two months the student must send the Director an email confirming her staying abroad. Once back, the student must immediately inform the Director about her return.
The student may be on leave in the cases of maternity, military or civil services, or serious and documented illness (if the leave lasts more than 30 days, the scholarship is suspended for the remaining period of the leave itself).
When registering, the Ph.D. student must declare whether she has other jobs. The Board assesses whether such jobs are compatible with the Ph.D. on a case-by-case basis. A limited subsidiary additional didactic activity is allowed, provided that it does not impair the student’s research formation.
In the tradition of Nicola Abbagnano, Augusto Guzzo, and Luigi Pareyson, for many years the Department of Philosophy administered two distinct doctoral programs: Philosophy, with an emphasis on the history of ideas and scientific thought (more recently, bioethics); and Philosophical Hermeneutics, with an emphasis on general philosophy, aesthetics, and the philosophy of religion. In 1995 scholars from the University of Torino and colleagues from other universities created the doctoral program in the Philosophy of Language. Locating itself within the analytic tradition, this program emphasized connections with logic and linguistics on the one hand, and with cognitive science and artificial intelligence on the other. When the University of Eastern Piedmont split from Torino, the Doctoral program in the Philosophy of Language was based in Vercelli. Both doctoral programs in Torino developed a Doctoral program in Philosophy and Philosophical Hermeneutics, which lasted until 2006 and combined research in several disciplinary fields with a common training.