Important notice on language This programme is mainly taught in Dutch. Qualification awarded In order to obtain the degree of Master of Philosophy the student should be enrolled for the programme in question under a diploma contract or under an exam contract to obtain a diploma should have taken all the exams that the programme encompasses should previously have registered for the programme with the examination board. should have acquired at least 60 ECTS-credits The programme consists of 60 ECTS-credits. In a model academic year, the student takes between 54 and 66 ECTS-credits. Admission requirements Direct: academic bachelor of philosophy With preparatory programme: all academic bachelors, all masters Objectives and learning outcomes The Master of Philosophy has a thorough knowledge of the history of philosophy, of the most important philosophical disciplines and methods and of the most important trends in contemporary philosophy. He/she has a specialised and profound knowledge of a number of central themes and questions in different disciplines of systematic philosophy and of the most important international debates on the subject. He/she has insight in the internal relations between the most important philosophical disciplines and methods and in the fact that complex philosophical and social problems can be clarified from an interdisciplinary-philosophical perspective. He/she has the necessary skills to effectively expound and/or develop the knowledge and insight decribed in (1),(2) and (3) in function of a philosophical and/or social question. Knowing that this is a never-ending process, he/she is intent on continuously repeating this expansion and development of knowledge and insight. The skill and attitude described in (4) implies that the Master of Philosophy is able to independently consult the correct sources for the analysis of philosophical problems. For this he/she is able to use classical and digital media effectively. Moreover he/she is able to soundly and critically analyse original philosophical texts. He/she has also sufficient language skills to consult and analyse the sources and texts mentioned in (5) and (6) when these are written in French, German or English. He/she is able to place philosophical texts and problems in their historical, social and cultural context. The Master of Philosophy has the critical attitude for evaluating the presuppositions or underlying ideas of convictions, positions and theories in as far as they are not well-considered, forgotten, pushed out or suppressed and for evaluating the formal validity, rationality and reasonableness of arguments and debates. Moreover, he/she is prepared to apply the critical attitude described in (9) to his/her own presuppositions, convictions and points of view, by questioning these fundamentally and by justifying them in dialogue and in debate with a multitude of other convictions and points of view. He/she is also prepared to place his/her own philosophical insights in the fundamental structures of humanity and of social and cultural life next to the ways in which other disciplines describe these structures and to let his/her own insight be impregnated by these. He/she pursues insight in the philosophical backgrounds and presuppositions of modern and contemporary, social, national and international developments, trends and discussions and he/she has developped the attitude to participate in the philosophical and social debate on the subject, depending on his/her personal situation and responsibility. The Master of Philosophy is able to independently formulate a problem and to develop a research strategy to develop and assess the problem. He/she has the skills to write a clear and coherent text on a general philosophical topic for a large audience. He/she has the skills to write an argumentative text on a specialised topic and to convincingly participate in a discussion on the subject with colleagues, possibly in an international context. He/she has the required knowledge, insight and skills to write, orally present and defend a thesis on a philosophical topic of his/her choice. Access to further studies Further studies with direct access Master of Philosophy Specific teacher training Further studies with conditional access Master of Bioethics, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Theology and Religious Studies Erasmus Mundus: Master of Bioethics Final examination A student’s final result is a weighted average of the exam results the student has obtained for all the programme components of his/her training programme. In calculating the final result, the credits corresponding to the various programme components are used for weighting the results obtained for those components. The final result is expressed as an integer out of 100. A student whose final result is less than 50 out of 100 can never be declared successful. A student is successful for the training programme if he/she has obtained credits for all the programme components in his/her training programme.     For more information see the Education and Examination regulation. ECTS co-ordinator Prof. dr. H. Opdebeeck, hendrik.opdebeeck@ua.ac.be