FACTSHEET RESEARCH MASTER’S PROGRAMME
P H I L O SO P H Y Welcome! On behalf of my colleagues and the returning students, let me welcome you to the Research Master Philosophy at Utrecht University! It’s terrific to have such a diverse and talented group of students joining the programme this year. I’m looking forward to meeting you during the Introduction Days in September 2023 and to help you get your studies off to a good start. This is the aim of this factsheet. We have gathered some important information as a guidebook to help you prepare for your arrival in Utrecht and for the coming years. For more information, please visit the student’s website (https://students.uu.nl/en/hum/philosophy). Where necessary, this booklet will direct you to the relevant webpages for additional information. We also encourage you to visit the department’s site for information about our research: https://www.uu.nl/en/research/philosophy. The Research Master’s degree in Philosophy is situated within the Research Institute for Philosophy and Religious Studies, within the faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University. Our research is primarily concerned with central issues of Western philosophy, their history, their systematic conceptualizations and their applications. Its hallmark is a style of doing philosophy that is informed both by the history of philosophy and by the social and natural sciences. It is our conviction that a fruitful integration of fundamental research and practical applications requires an awareness of the opportunities and challenges of interdisciplinary work. Examples are logic and philosophy of science, historiographical and editorial practices, meta-ethics and applied ethics. The Research Master’s degree in Philosophy aims to provide a challenging and stimulating research-oriented program of study in which talented and well-prepared students can acquire the academic skills and knowledge needed to participate in international philosophical discourse and to make initial research contributions to their chosen areas of philosophy. The program’s primary aim is to develop the next generation of scholars and researchers in philosophy within an academic context (typically with PhD studies as the next step). The skills acquired during the program — the capacity for careful, in-depth analysis of complex ideas and texts, as well as the precise and independently researched presentation of this analysis — are also well suited for work in a variety of careers, and some of our graduates choose careers outside of academia. We don’t lack ambition, for ourselves and for you. But that doesn’t mean any of us can do it all on our own, or that we don’t occasionally fall on our faces. On that note, I’d like to encourage you to suggest improvements and correction. This factsheet will always be a work in progress! All the best for a successful start to your studies!
Mauro Bonazzi RMA Philosophy Programme Coordinator
PROF DR. MAURO BONAZZI