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Philosophy Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

On the Possibility of Secular Morality , Zachary R. Alonso

An Ecofeminist Ontological Turn: Preparing the Field for a New Ecofeminist Project , M. Laurel-Leigh Meierdiercks

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Karl Marx on Human Flourishing and Proletarian Ethics , Sam Badger

The Ontological Grounds of Reason: Psychologism, Logicism, and Hermeneutic Phenomenology , Stanford L. Howdyshell

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Interdisciplinary Communication by Plausible Analogies: the Case of Buddhism and Artificial Intelligence , Michael Cooper

Heidegger and the Origin of Authenticity , John J. Preston

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Hegel and Schelling: The Emptiness of Emptiness and the Love of the Divine , Sean B. Gleason

Nietzsche on Criminality , Laura N. McAllister

Learning to be Human: Ren 仁, Modernity, and the Philosophers of China's Hundred Days' Reform , Lucien Mathot Monson

Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis , William A. B. Parkhurst

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Orders of Normativity: Nietzsche, Science and Agency , Shane C. Callahan

Humanistic Climate Philosophy: Erich Fromm Revisited , Nicholas Dovellos

This, or Something like It: Socrates and the Problem of Authority , Simon Dutton

Climate Change and Liberation in Latin America , Ernesto O. Hernández

Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa as Expressions of Shame in a Post-Feminist , Emily Kearns

Nostalgia and (In)authentic Community: A Bataillean Answer to the Heidegger Controversy , Patrick Miller

Cultivating Virtue: A Thomistic Perspective on the Relationship Between Moral Motivation and Skill , Ashley Potts

Identity, Breakdown, and the Production of Knowledge: Intersectionality, Phenomenology, and the Project of Post-Marxist Standpoint Theory , Zachary James Purdue

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Efficacy of Comedy , Mark Anthony Castricone

William of Ockham's Divine Command Theory , Matthew Dee

Heidegger's Will to Power and the Problem of Nietzsche's Nihilism , Megan Flocken

Abelard's Affective Intentionalism , Lillian M. King

Anton Wilhelm Amo's Philosophy and Reception: from the Origins through the Encyclopédie , Dwight Kenneth Lewis Jr.

"The Thought that we Hate": Regulating Race-Related Speech on College Campuses , Michael McGowan

A Historical Approach to Understanding Explanatory Proofs Based on Mathematical Practices , Erika Oshiro

From Meaningful Work to Good Work: Reexamining the Moral Foundation of the Calling Orientation , Garrett W. Potts

Reasoning of the Highest Leibniz and the Moral Quality of Reason , Ryan Quandt

Fear, Death, and Being-a-problem: Understanding and Critiquing Racial Discourse with Heidegger’s Being and Time , Jesús H. Ramírez

The Role of Skepticism in Early Modern Philosophy: A Critique of Popkin's "Sceptical Crisis" and a Study of Descartes and Hume , Raman Sachdev

How the Heart Became Muscle: From René Descartes to Nicholas Steno , Alex Benjamin Shillito

Autonomy, Suffering, and the Practice of Medicine: A Relational Approach , Michael A. Stanfield

The Case for the Green Kant: A Defense and Application of a Kantian Approach to Environmental Ethics , Zachary T. Vereb

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Augustine's Confessiones : The Battle between Two Conversions , Robert Hunter Craig

The Strategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: A Path Toward Epistemic Progress , Dahlia Guzman

Hume on the Doctrine of Infinite Divisibility: A Matter of Clarity and Absurdity , Wilson H. Underkuffler

Climate Change: Aristotelian Virtue Theory, the Aidōs Response and Proper Primility , John W. Voelpel

The Fate of Kantian Freedom: the Kant-Reinhold Controversy , John Walsh

Time, Tense, and Ontology: Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Tense, the Phenomenology of Temporality, and the Ontology of Time , Justin Brandt Wisniewski

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

A Phenomenological Approach to Clinical Empathy: Rethinking Empathy Within its Intersubjective and Affective Contexts , Carter Hardy

From Object to Other: Models of Sociality after Idealism in Gadamer, Levinas, Rosenzweig, and Bonhoeffer , Christopher J. King

Humanitarian Military Intervention: A Failed Paradigm , Faruk Rahmanovic

Active Suffering: An Examination of Spinoza's Approach to Tristita , Kathleen Ketring Schenk

Cartesian Method and Experiment , Aaron Spink

An Examination of John Burton’s Method of Conflict Resolution and Its Applicability to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict , John Kenneth Steinmeyer

Speaking of the Self: Theorizing the Dialogical Dimensions of Ethical Agency , Bradley S. Warfield

Changing Changelessness: On the Genesis and Development of the Doctrine of Divine Immutability in the Ancient and Hellenic Period , Milton Wilcox

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Statue that Houses the Temple: A Phenomenological Investigation of Western Embodiment Towards the Making of Heidegger's Missing Connection with the Greeks , Michael Arvanitopoulos

An Exploratory Analysis of Media Reporting of Police Involved Shootings in Florida , John L. Brown

Divine Temporality: Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein , Nicholas Byle

Stoicism in Descartes, Pascal, and Spinoza: Examining Neostoicism’s Influence in the Seventeenth Century , Daniel Collette

Phenomenology and the Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry: Contingency, Naturalism, and Classification , Anthony Vincent Fernandez

A Critique of Charitable Consciousness , Chioke Ianson

writing/trauma , Natasha Noel Liebig

Leibniz's More Fundamental Ontology: from Overshadowed Individuals to Metaphysical Atoms , Marin Lucio Mare

Violence and Disagreement: From the Commonsense View to Political Kinds of Violence and Violent Nonviolence , Gregory Richard Mccreery

Kant's Just War Theory , Steven Charles Starke

A Feminist Contestation of Ableist Assumptions: Implications for Biomedical Ethics, Disability Theory, and Phenomenology , Christine Marie Wieseler

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Heidegger and the Problem of Modern Moral Philosophy , Megan Emily Altman

The Encultured Mind: From Cognitive Science to Social Epistemology , David Alexander Eck

Weakness of Will: An Inquiry on Value , Michael Funke

Cogs in a Cosmic Machine: A Defense of Free Will Skepticism and its Ethical Implications , Sacha Greer

Thinking Nature, "Pierre Maupertuis and the Charge of Error Against Fermat and Leibniz" , Richard Samuel Lamborn

John Duns Scotus’s Metaphysics of Goodness: Adventures in 13th-Century Metaethics , Jeffrey W. Steele

A Gadamerian Analysis of Roman Catholic Hermeneutics: A Diachronic Analysis of Interpretations of Romans 1:17-2:17 , Steven Floyd Surrency

A Natural Case for Realism: Processes, Structures, and Laws , Andrew Michael Winters

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Leibniz's Theodicies , Joseph Michael Anderson

Aeschynē in Aristotle's Conception of Human Nature , Melissa Marie Coakley

Ressentiment, Violence, and Colonialism , Jose A. Haro

It's About Time: Dynamics of Inflationary Cosmology as the Source of the Asymmetry of Time , Emre Keskin

Time Wounds All Heels: Human Nature and the Rationality of Just Behavior , Timothy Glenn Slattery

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Nietzsche and Heidegger on the Cartesian Atomism of Thought , Steven Burgess

Embodying Social Practice: Dynamically Co-Constituting Social Agency , Brian W. Dunst

Subject of Conscience: On the Relation between Freedom and Discrimination in the Thought of Heidegger, Foucault, and Butler , Aret Karademir

Climate, Neo-Spinozism, and the Ecological Worldview , Nancy M. Kettle

Eschatology in a Secular Age: An Examination of the Use of Eschatology in the Philosophies of Heidegger, Berdyaev and Blumenberg , John R. Lup, Jr.

Navigation and Immersion of the American Identity in a Foreign Culture to Emergence as a Culturally Relative Ambassador , Lee H. Rosen

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

A Philosophical Analysis of Intellectual Property: In Defense of Instrumentalism , Michael A. Kanning

A Commentary On Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's Discourse on Metaphysics #19 , Richard Lamborn Samuel Lamborn

Sellars in Context: An Analysis of Wilfrid Sellars's Early Works , Peter Jackson Olen

The New Materialism: Althusser, Badiou, and Zizek , Geoffrey Dennis Pfeifer

Structure and Agency: An Analysis of the Impact of Structure on Group Agents , Elizabeth Kaye Victor

Moral Friction, Moral Phenomenology, and the Improviser , Benjamin Scott Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

The Virtuoso Human: A Virtue Ethics Model Based on Care , Frederick Joseph Bennett

The Existential Compromise in the History of the Philosophy of Death , Adam Buben

Philosophical Precursors to the Radical Enlightenment: Vignettes on the Struggle Between Philosophy and Theology From the Greeks to Leibniz With Special Emphasis on Spinoza , Anthony John Desantis

The Problem of Evil in Augustine's Confessions , Edward Matusek

The Persistence of Casuistry: a Neo-premodernist Approach to Moral Reasoning , Richard Arthur Mercadante

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Dewey's Pragmatism and the Great Community , Philip Schuyler Bishop

Unamuno's Concept of the Tragic , Ernesto O. Hernandez

Rethinking Ethical Naturalism: The Implications of Developmental Systems Theory , Jared J.. Kinggard

From Husserl and the Neo-Kantians to Art: Heidegger's Realist Historicist Answer to the Problem of the Origin of Meaning , William H. Koch

Queering Cognition: Extended Minds and Sociotechnologically Hybridized Gender , Michele Merritt

Hydric Life: A Nietzschean Reading of Postcolonial Communication , Elena F. Ruiz-Aho

Descartes' Bête Machine, the Leibnizian Correction and Religious Influence , John Voelpel

Aretē and Physics: The Lesson of Plato's Timaeus , John R. Wolfe

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Praxis and Theōria : Heidegger’s “Violent” Interpretation , Megan E. Altman

On the Concept of Evil: An Analysis of Genocide and State Sovereignty , Jason J. Campbell

The Role of Trust in Judgment , Christophe Sage Hudspeth

Truth And Judgment , Jeremy J. Kelly

The concept of action and responsibility in Heidegger's early thought , Christian Hans Pedersen

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Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Published by Grace Graffin at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On January 9, 2023

Introduction

The choice of dissertation topic is crucial for research as it will facilitate the process and makes it an exciting and manageable process. Several dissertation ideas exist in philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, aesthetics, deontology, absurdum, and existentialism. Philosophy dissertations can be based on either primary research or secondary research.

Primary data dissertations incorporate the collection and analysis of data obtained through questionnaires and surveys. On the other hand, secondary data dissertations make use of existing literature to test the research hypothesis . To help you get started with philosophy topic selection for your dissertation, a list is developed by our experts.

These philosophy dissertation topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics for 2022 here.

Philosophy Dissertation Topics of Research

Topic 1: an examination of women's perspective on feminist philosophy..

Research Aim: This study aims to look into the importance of feminism in a philosophical context. It will also identify the factors that lead to postmodernism and liberal feminism from women’s perspectives and will also focus on the impact of feminist philosophy on the development of modern society.

Topic 2: Sociological Functionalism- Investigating the Development and Beliefs

Research Aim: This research study will focus on new types of functionalism and get a deeper understanding of inner and outer circumstances in which different approaches take place. This study will also investigate how the researchers use social theory to acquire a better understanding of the environment in which these concepts are used. It will also promote sociology through informing and inspiring practices and research.

Topic 3: Assessing the History and Development of Philosophical Work from the 15th to 21st Century.

Research Aim: This study aims to find the history and development of philosophical work from the 15th and 21st Centuries. It will examine the theoretical foundations of the practice, applications, and social consequences. This study will also focus on different factors of how philosophy has evolved in these centuries and what changes have occurred.

Topic 4: A Comprehensive View of Social Development of Loneliness.

Research Aim: This study will comprehend how various theoretical points of view are connected or linked r to loneliness. This study will also present an argument for an interpretative social point of view by dissembling the sense of loneliness into key components. It will also focus on the problems and different behaviours of people.

Topic 5: What does it mean to live in an Ideal Society- Discuss using Plato's Philosophies.

Research Aim: Plato is well known for his monologue known as the Republic; he was also the classical political philosopher whose views influenced future political thoughts. Plato’s ideal society was created during a time when Plato was exceedingly optimistic about human nature and its ability to absorb knowledge. This study will conduct a deep analysis of Plato’s ideologies and his views and their impact on the western political world.

More Philosophy Dissertation Research Topics

Topic 1: why we should stop capital punishment and adopt permanent solutions to help solve crimes..

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the importance of rehabilitation and counseling of criminals to bring them back to their usual walks of life. The whole idea is to eliminate crime, and capital punishment does not provide solutions where a clean society can be developed.

Topic 2: Should people always obey the rules? A closer look at the line between breaking rules and rebellion.

Research Aim: Rules are developed to maintain a balance in society and ensure discipline, which helps an individual in every sphere of their lives. But specific rules are created only for serving a group and not for the whole society’s best interest. This research aims at finding pieces of evidence where rule-breaking is a rebellion and for the upliftment of humanity and not in personal interest.

Topic 3: Loneliness: Reconstructing its meaning

Research Aim: This research aims at finding the meaning of loneliness, what it is to feel lonely, why some people are reclusive, isolate themselves. Loneliness is not always related to sadness, and some people feel better in isolation due to their bitter experiences of life.

Topic 4: Understanding why religion is paramount above anything else for many people around the globe.

Research Aim: Religion forms the basis of life and way of living for many people around the globe. People often get confused with religion and spiritualism, and the grandeur associated with religion becomes more important. The lack of knowledge and education forces blind faith. This research aims to find the reason for dependency on religion and how it negatively affects human lives.

Topic 5: What is the best way to boost a person’s creativity?

Research Aim: This research aims at finding the best possible way to boost a person’s creativity. The most important way is to motivate, inspire, and support them in their process of exploring innovative ideas. Recognition of talent can be the most effective method, which the research will investigate.

Topic 6: Morality and religion: Why are they different, yet they talk about the same thing?

Research Aim: The fundamental essence of religion is compassion and empathy for humans and ensures morality and ethics as a way of life. This research emphasises the primary aim of a religion and how people are getting disoriented and making rituals of religion the prime concern.

Topic 7: Wealth: Is it possible to be rich without having a lot of money?

Research Aim: Wealth and money are co-related as lots of money gives the power to buy anything. But a wealth of human life lies in their moral values, love, affection, proper health and wellbeing, and money cannot accept them. This research topic will speak about becoming wealthy, even with limited monetary wealth.

Topic 8: How can the custom of dowry be eliminated from people’s minds?

Research Aim: Dowry is a social parasite, and it is now a punishable offence by the law. But rules alone cannot change society. The research aims at eradicating the practice of dowry from people’s minds in the light of education.

Topic 9: To love or to be loved: Which is more important?

Research Aim: Love is the feeling of intense desire or deep affection. The most beautiful feeling gives a sense of satisfaction and grows through exchange between two individuals. To love and be loved are two co-related aspects as human expects love in return. The research focuses on the more critical dilemma, being on the giving or receiving side of love.

Topic 10: Why social behaviour and ethics cannot be separated?

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the importance of ethics in social behaviour and why they cannot be separated. An ethical society is a proper place to thrive for every individual.

Topic 11: A more in-depth look at things that make human life meaningful.

Research Aim: Money, power does not always buy happiness. The research lays the foundation for the importance of care, compassion, empathy. Love and affection as the more essential aspects that make human life meaningful.

Topic 12: Is it possible to create an ideal society?

Research Aim: An ideal society is free from any crime and economic disparities where everyone is treated equally. This research will discuss whether a perfect community is attainable; it is practically possible or not.

Topic 13: A closer look at modern life values.

Research Aim: The research aims to focus on the change in values in modern times. The research’s primary purpose is to provide a comparative study of how modern people’s mindset has changed over time.

Topic 14: Euthanasia: Is it ethical?

Research Aim: A long time debate exists regarding the ethical side of euthanasia. Ending someone’s life can be considered unlawful as we do not have the right to end something we did not create. This research aims at providing evidence in favour of euthanasia and also the negative aspects.

Topic 15: What is the value of truth? Are there instances when lying is good?

Research Aim: The research aims to provide evidence where lying is not unethical. The study will give an example from Bhagwat Gita, where Lord Krishna lied to safeguard humanity.

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Identifying and assessing risks in various life situations is the focus of risk management dissertation topics. The majority of them are natural, but there are also artificial ones. In addition to mitigating the effects of various types of risks

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Philosophy Dissertations and Theses

The Department of Philosophy Dissertations and Theses Series is comprised of dissertations and theses authored by Marquette University's Department of Philosophy doctoral and master's students.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Place, Attachment, and Feeling: Indigenous Dispossession and Settler Belonging , Sarah Kizuk

Nepantla and Mestizaje: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Mestizx Historical Consciousness , Jorge Alfredo Montiel

The Categories Argument for the Real Distinction Between Being and Essence: Avicenna, Aquinas, and Their Greek Sources , Nathaniel Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Modeling, Describing, and Explaining Subjective Consciousness- A Guide to (and for) the Perplexed , Peter Burgess

Looking Through Whiteness: Objectivity, Racism, Method, and Responsibility , Philip Mack

Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Maritain on the Student-Teacher Relationship in Catholic Higher Education , Timothy Rothhaar

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Empathetic Autistic: A Phenomenological Look at the Feminine Experience , Dana Fritz

Concerning Aristotelian Animal Essences , Damon Andrew Watson

When to Trust Authoritative Testimony: Generation and Transmission of Knowledge in Saadya Gaon, Al-Ghazālī and Thomas Aquinas , Brett A. Yardley

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The Status of Irrationality: Karl Jaspers' Response to Davidson and Searle , Daniel Adsett

Cosmic City - Cosmic Teleology: A Reading of Metaphysics Λ 10 and Politics I 2 , Brandon Henrigillis

Phenomenal Consciousness: An Husserlian Approach , John Jered Janes

Al-Fārābī Metaphysics, and the Construction of Social Knowledge: Is Deception Warranted if it Leads to Happiness? , Nicholas Andrew Oschman

The Epistemology of Disagreement: Hume, Kant, and the Current Debate , Robert Kyle Whitaker

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

'Our Feet are Mired In the Same Soil': Deepening Democracy with the Political Virtue of Sympathetic Inquiry , Jennifer Lynn Kiefer Fenton

Towards a Philosophy of the Musical Experience: Phenomenology, Culture, and Ethnomusicology in Conversation , J. Tyler Friedman

Humor, Power and Culture: A New Theory on the Experience and Ethics of Humor , Jennifer Marra

Care of the Sexual Self: Askesis As a Route to Sex Education , Shaun Douglas Miller

Re-Evaluating Augustinian Fatalism through the Eastern and Western Distinction between God's Essence and Energies , Stephen John Plecnik

The Fantastic Structure of Freedom: Sartre, Freud, and Lacan , Gregory A. Trotter

The Province of Conceptual Reason: Hegel's Post-Kantian Rationalism , William Clark Wolf

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Hume on Thick and Thin Causation , Alexander Bozzo

Evolution, Naturalism, and Theism: An Inconsistent Triad? , David H. Gordon

The Parable As Mirror: An Examination of the Use of Parables in the Works of Kierkegaard , Russell Hamer

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Contextualizing Aquinas's Ontology of Soul: An Analysis of His Arabic and Neoplatonic Sources , Nathan McLain Blackerby

The Social and Historical Subject in Sartre and Foucault and Its Implications for Healthcare Ethics , Kimberly Siobhan Engels

Investigations of Worth: Towards a Phenomenology of Values , Dale Hobbs Jr.

Hegel and the Problem of the Multiplicity of Conflicting Philosophies , Matthew M. Peters

Aquinas, Averroes, and the Human Will , Traci Ann Phillipson

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Nature, Feminism, and Flourishing: Human Nature and the Feminist Ethics of Flourishing , Celeste D. Harvey

Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach , Chad Kleist

Kierkegaard in Light of the East: A Critical Comparison of the Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard with Orthodox Christian Philosophy and Thought , Agust Magnusson

The Secular Transformation of Pride and Humility in the Moral Philosophy of David Hume , Kirstin April Carlson McPherson

Living within the Sacred Tension: Paradox and Its Significance for Christian Existence in the Thought of Søren Kierkegaard , Matthew Thomas Nowachek

Moral Imagination and Adorno: Before and After Auschwitz , Catlyn Origitano

Essence and Necessity, and the Aristotelian Modal Syllogistic: A Historical and Analytical Study , Daniel James Vecchio

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Subversive Humor , Chris A. Kramer

Virtue, Oppression, and Resistance Struggles , Trevor William Smith

Health As Embodied Authenticity , Margaret Steele

Recognition and Political Ontology: Fichte, Hegel, and Honneth , Velimir Stojkovski

The Conceptual Priority of the Perfect , Matthew Peter Zdon

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Dangerous Knowledge? Morality And Moral Progress After Naturalism , Daniel Diederich Farmer

Nietzsche's Revaluation of All Values , Joseph Anthony Kranak

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Re-Enchanting The World: An Examination Of Ethics, Religion, And Their Relationship In The Work Of Charles Taylor , David McPherson

Thomas Aquinas on the Apprehension of Being: The Role of Judgement in Light of Thirteenth-Century Semantics , Rosa Vargas Della Casa

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Naturalized Panpsychism: An Alternative to Fundamentalist Physicalism and Supernaturalism , Earl R. Cookson

The Concept of Personhood in the Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl , Colin J. Hahn

The Humanistic, Fideistic Philosophy of Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) , Charles William Peterson

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Knowledge and Thought in Heidegger and Foucault: Towards an Epistemology of Ruptures , Arun Anantheeswaran Iyer

William James's Undivided Self and the Possibility of Immortality , Anthony Karlin

The Poetics of Remembrance: Communal Memory and Identity in Heidegger and Ricoeur , David Leichter

The Ontological Foundations for Natural Law Theory and Contemporary Ethical Naturalism , Bernard Mauser

Sexualized Violence, Moral Disintegration and Ethical Advocacy , Melissa Mosko

Spinoza on Individuals and Individuation: Metaphysics, Morals, and Politics , Matthew David Wion

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Paradox of Nature: Merleau-Ponty's Semi-Naturalistic Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology , Shazad Akhtar

Hume's Conception of Time and its Implications for his Theories of Causation and Induction , Daniel Esposito

Arabic Influences in Aquinas's Doctrine of Intelligible Species , Max Herrera

The Attestation of the Self as a Bridge Between Hermeneutics and Ontology in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur , Sebastian Kaufmann

Love's Lack: The Relationship between Poverty and Eros in Plato's Symposium , Lorelle D. Lamascus

Friendship and Fidelity: An Historical and Critical Examination , Joshua Walter Schulz

Natural Law Theory and the "Is"--"Ought" Problem: A Critique of Four Solutions , Shalina Stilley

Attending to Presence: A Study of John Duns Scotus' Account of Sense Cognition , Amy F. Whitworth

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Friendship and Self-Identity in the Thought of Paul Ricoeur , Cristina Bucur

The Finality of Religion in Aquinas' Theory of Human Acts , Francisco José Romero Carrasquillo

The finality of religion in Aquinas' theory of human acts , Francisco J Romero

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Self-Identity in Comparative Theology: The Functional lmportance of Charles Taylor's Concept of the Self for a Theology of Religions , Richard Joseph Hanson

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

Husserl's Noema: A Critical Assessment of the Gestalt and Analytic Interpretations , Peter M. Chukwu

A Social Contract Analysis of Rawls and Rousseau: Supplanting the Original Position As Philosophically Most Favored , Paul Neiman

To Validate a Feeling: the Role of the Mood of Angst in Human Being , Gregory P. Schulz

The Conception and Attributes of God: A Comparison of Charles Sanders Peirce and Alfred North Whitehead , Scott W. Sinclair

John Rawls, Public Reason, and Natural Law: A Study of the Principles of Public Justification , Christopher Ward

Submissions from 2006 2006

Hans Jonas's ethic of responsibility applied to anti-aging technologies and the indefinite extension of the human life span , Jeffrey P Goins

David Hume and the Principle of Sufficient Reason , Ginger Lee

Virtue Theory in Plato's Republic , Griffin T. Nelson

The Principle of Alternate Possibilities: Finding Freedom after Frankfurt , Matthew F. Pierlott

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

Is There a Future for Marxist Humanism? , Jacob M. Held

Self-Love and Morality: Beyond Egoism and Altruism , Li Jing

Eikos Logos and Eikos Muthos: A Study of the Nature of the Likely Story in Plato's Timaeus , Ryan Kenneth McBride

Hume's Conclusions on the Existence and Nature of God , Timothy S. Yoder

Theses/Dissertations from 2004 2004

The Foundations of the Politics of Difference , Peter Nathaniel Bwanali

The foundations of the politics of difference , Peter Nathaniel Bwanali

The Place of Justice in the Thinking of Emmanuel Levinas , Michael H. Gillick

New Waves in Metaethics: Naturalist Realism, Naturalist Antirealism and Divine Commands , Daniel R. Kern

Reason in Hume's Moral System , John Muenzberg

Conceiving Mind: A Critique of Descartes' Dualism and Contemporary Immaterialist Views of Consciousness , Kristin P. Schaupp

Respecting Plurality in Times of Change: Hannah Arendt's Conceptions of Political, Personal, and Ethical Responsibility , Stephen Schulman

Francis Suárez on the Ontological Status of Individual Unity vis-à-vis the Aristotelian Doctrine of Primary Substance , John W. Simmons

Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on the Possibility of Knowing Without a God's-Eye-View , Russell Snell

Theses/Dissertations from 2003 2003

Building a Heideggerian Ethic , Kelly A. Burns

St. Thomas Aquinas and the Self-Evident Proposition: A Study of the Manifold Senses of a Medieval Concept , Michael V. Dougherty

Ricoeur's Narrative Development of Gadamer's Hermeneutics: Continuity and Discontinuity , Keith D'Souza

Beauty's Resting Place: Unity in St. Augustine's Sensible Aesthetic , Matthew J. Hayes

Empathy and Knowledge: Husserl's Introductions to Phenomenology , Kevin Hermberg

The Transactional Model: A Critical Examination of John Dewey's Philosophy of Freedom , Mark N. Lenker III

Reflection on the "good" As a Source of Freedom in Virtue Theory , John D. Morse

Theses/Dissertations from 2002 2002

An Evaluation of Alvin Plantinga's Religious Epistemology Does It Function Properly? , James Beilby

Merleau-Ponty: Embodied Subjectivity and the Foundation of Ethics , Sarah A. Fischer

Kant on Love for Oneself: Why Respect for the Moral Law, But not the Desire for Happiness, is a moral incentive , Lawrence Masek

Essence, Individuation, and Artifact: An Aristotelian Model for Familiar Concrete Particulars , Chad V. Meister

Normative Strategies for Resolving Human Rights Conflicts , Eugene T. Rice

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227 Philosophy Thesis Topics To Use Right Now

A philosophy dissertation everyone’s favorite. The long list of philosophers and their allegories or theories is not a subject most students would want to listen to comfortably. However, students still have to write a philosophical thesis in their undergraduate or post-graduate to graduate.

Let us narrow down this elephant in the room for you.

What Is A Philosophical Thesis?

A philosophical paper is not a report of what various scholars have had to say on a particular issue. It is a reasoned defense of a particular thesis. Unlike other papers that present the latest findings of tests or experiments, this paper tries to persuade the reader to give in to a particular point of view together with grounds or justification for its acceptance.

The introduction of a philosophy paper states what the writer is trying to show the reader. When writing a dissertation in philosophy, follow the following simple guidelines for efficiency:

• Very carefully and think about your topic
• Have a rough idea of what you intend to establish
• Determine how you’ll go about convincing the reader that your thesis is correct.

For an outstanding philosophy thesis, ensure that you say what you mean and in a way that minimizes the chances of being misunderstood. It is the general rule thumb for this paper that every student should have at his/her finger-tips.

What To Avoid in a Philosophy Dissertation

Understanding the do’s and don’ts of any paper is essential in ensuring that you stick within the scope of what is required of you. Here are some of the things to avoid in philosophical thesis papers for college:

• Lengthy quotations: It is essential to understand that quotations are an essential part of philosophy papers. However, stating long quotes that run into paragraphs or more does not make your paper sound original. One will only see this as a duplication of another person’s work.
• Circular reasoning: If you presuppose the truth of whatever it is that you are trying to bring out in the course of arguing for it, then you are guilty of begging the question.
• Lengthy introductions: An intro should only serve the purpose of giving the context of your philosophy topic and creating interest in the reader. You can do it in less than four short and precise questions. Overloading your introduction only serves to drain your readers’ energy before they get into the real deal – the body.
• Fence sitting: Most students are guilty of presenting several positions in their papers and then saying they are not qualified to settle the matter. Do not close by saying that philosophers have been divided over a particular issue. That only shows how shallow and scanty you were in your research process.

Always organize your work carefully, using the right words to present your stance without any disputes. The stance should also come out naturally without making the reader feel that you are forcing him/her to ascribe to your particular point of view.

It is also essential to support your arguments with undisputed evidence. Do not assume that your reader may not be skeptical of your arguments. Every reader is skeptical of whatever they read, and if sufficient evidence is not provided, then you might not convince anyone at the end of your 20-page long thesis.

Now, for you to have a strong thesis, ensure that it is:

• Answering a specific question;
• Engaging; one that can be challenged or opposed, thus also defended;
• Passes the “so what? Or why should I care?” test;
• Supported by your paper; and
• Not too broad nor too vague.

To have a strong argument in your philosophical paper, demonstrate these sorts of things that make your opponent’s views false in a fashion that does not presuppose that your position is correct. Your philosophy research topics will play a significant role in supporting this claim.

You can find philosophy research paper topics from:

Early American Imprints of 1639 to 1819 Early English Books Online of 1475 to 1700 Internet archives The War Diaries of Jean-Paul Sartre The Metaphysics of Morals by Emmanuel Kant

And many more sources that are readily available in your college library or online catalogs.

We now advance to our professional philosophy topics list:

Sample Thesis Topics For Philosophy of the Human Sciences

• Critique of mainstream assumptions and practices of human behavior globally
• How are constructions of human nature affect our associations and lineation
• Adopting a human science framework to the problem of racial discrimination in the US
• How to adopt positivism in a world bombarded by negative news all the time
• A rigorous and systematic approach to man’s natural behavior
• The role of the Greek philosophers in shaping human sciences around the 18th century
• How existential phenomenology found its way from Europe
• Cultural and biological dimensions of human science research programs
• The role of qualitative research methods across the discipline of the human sciences
• How humanistic psychology offers more substantive findings in human science tradition
• An evaluation of the colleges and universities dedicated to humanistic/human science philosophy
• Discuss the impact of the American infusionism into the cultures and systems of the world
• Fundamental tenets of Western civilization in developing countries
• An assessment of the ancient nature of human interactions
• Political and cultural standards acceptable to all human interactions

Philosophy Potential Senior Thesis Topics

• A philosophical perspective of evil actions and evil persons
• How the ideology of Darwinism has affected the aspect of natural selection
• Distinguishing the underlying differences between intervention and information
• Psychoanalysis of melancholia in teenagers
• Investigating the use of biology in dealing with human philosophical issues
• The evolution of philosophical writings from the 15th century to the 21st century
• Examine the connection between shame and an immoral piece of art
• How depression relates to natural and interactive children
• What is the logic behind nightmares and madness in dreams?
• An investigation of how man is adapting to the invasion of privacy by new technologies
• The ethical and practical arguments against voluntary euthanasia
• Discuss the relationship between value, dignity, and human virtue in the Modern Virtue Theory
• The evolution of personal and corporate responsibility in the 21st century
• Trends in sex and sexuality as seen in the 21st century
• Why arousal of an emotion in the listener is essential in the delivery of any speech

Undergraduate Philosophy Thesis Topics

• Modern science: Should we employ a monistic or pluralistic model?
• How moral philosophy can help improve our understanding of folk psychology
• Why is it close to impossible to escape mental externalism?
• The emergence of technology and resulting bioethics as seen in the 21st century
• Investigate the willingness to accept punishment after committing a civil crime
• Why artificial intelligence may not be a genuinely creative entity
• Discuss empathy, fiction, and morality in the development of fiction stories and folklores
• The role of sporting activities in developing virtues and morals in the society
• Is voluntary suicide justified for any reason whatsoever?
• Why postmodern philosophical theories and market anarchism are enemies
• Discuss the ultimate goal of humanity in the backdrop of the changing roles
• Give a detailed analysis of the relationship between fate, destiny, and free will
• What is the essence of dreams and visions to man?
• Evaluate the sources of your self-worth in the light of personal attributes
• What is the impact of a person’s name on who they become in the future?

Best-Rated Political Philosophy Thesis Topics

• Consider the dividing line between distributive justice and the family
• Investigate the gendered basis for care and caregiving
• What are the underlying differences between multiculturalism and feminism
• Discuss the liberal versus radical feminist positions on pornography
• How social beings should live together considering the underlying differences
• Following the example of Plato, discuss what it means to have an ideal society
• Given the knowledge and resources available, discuss the best form of society using the US as a case study
• The evolution of democracy in the US presidential election
• How the history of the past several centuries has impacted the role of citizens in participation in democracy
• What is the essence of having a conservative free-market economy in the 21st century?
• The role of the government in regulating the economy
• Should the economy incorporate both capitalist and socialist structures?
• Do we have an economically viable socialist alternative to capitalism?
• Is it worth fighting for an economically viable alternative to capitalism?
• The conservative view of the post-World-War-Two period

Thesis Topics on the Renaissance and Philosophy

• The impact of the renaissance period o man’s view of the world
• Compare and contrast the High Renaissance in Rome as compared to the of Northern Europe
• The impact of the scientific revolution on the renaissance period
• The early renaissance period in Florence and the existence of the Flemish art
• Discuss the contributions of some of the godfathers of the Renaissance
• The perfect interplay between music and painting during the renaissance period
• The humanist intellectual, cultural, and artistic revolution of the Renaissance
• Religious symbolism and naturalistic beauty as exemplified in the renaissance period
• The role of sexuality and eroticism in the works of the 16th-century renaissance art
• How the discoveries of the renaissance period helped shape people’s attitudes towards life
• Identify and explain the role of the Carolingian Renaissance on the Bible
• The impact of the Great migration and economic changes on literature and art
• Discuss how art patronage was conducted in Italy during the Renaissance
• How science has made advancements in renaissance culture and art
• Impacts of the early Renaissance on the medical innovations

Master Thesis Topics in Philosophy

• Discuss the benefits and impacts of the renaissance period on the man
• How the renaissance period played a part in the reformation of the world
• A comparative analysis of philosophy, art, and culture during the Renaissance
• How much influence did the renaissance period have on dressing?
• Conduct a critical analysis of Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance
• The contribution of sculptors of the Italian Renaissance
• Discuss artistic renaissance humanism during 1400 and 1650
• The Renaissance and religion: A case study of the Catholic church
• Artistic revolution as a significant element of the Renaissance
• The role of William Shakespeare in the renaissance period
• Discuss the classical and Renaissance humanities art of the Greco-Roman artists
• The cultural, economic, and political influence of the Renaissance
• The age of revolutionary, Renaissance, and enlightenment period
• The representation of nature in the European renaissance artistic works
• How Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Rafael contributed to the new era of the Renaissance

Introduction to Philosophy Thesis Topics

• Discuss whether people are good or evil by nature
• What are the limitations to free will in making personal decisions?
• What is the impact of the belief in God on a person’s way of life?
• Discuss the compatibility issues between science with religion
• Give a detailed argument for or against utilitarianism
• What is the logic behind psychological and ethical egoism?
• Ascertain the relevance of morals to culture or society
• The role of Aesop’s fables in contributing to human philosophy
• Discuss the history and development of African philosophy
• What are the central tenets of African Sage Philosophy?
• The critical role played by altruism and group selection
• Conduct a detailed analysis of the American Enlightenment Thought
• How does the American Wilderness Philosophy vary from that of today?
• A case study of Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
• Critically evaluate motion and its place in nature
• Discuss association in the philosophy of the mind
• How Bolzano’s mathematical knowledge played a crucial role in human philosophy

Thesis Papers Topics on Buddhist Philosophy

• The view of sin and punishment between the Buddhist and Hindu religions
• Buddhist believe in rebirth, which is determined by the actions one does in daily life.
• Misconceptions about sexuality in the Buddhist religion
• Discuss the relationship between Shinto with China and Buddhism
• Analyze the four noble truths of Buddhism
• The concept of salvation according to the Zen Buddhism religion
• A detailed study of the confluence of Buddhism and Hinduism in India
• An analysis of the faith and practices of Buddhism as a religion in India
• The role of Mahatma Gandhi in advancing the ideologies and practices of Buddhism
• Evaluate the vase of treasure hidden in the Buddhist iconography
• Compare and contrast the various variations between Buddhism and Christianity
• Elements of the Buddhism religion that make it sacred
• Discuss the concept of anger and how to manage it in the Buddhism religion
• Cultural histories and the expansion of the Buddhism religion in China
• Differences in the Japanese versus Chinese Buddhism practices

Types of Philosophy Thesis Topics

• Discuss the role of aesthetics in the study of philosophy
• How epistemology has contributed to the growth in philosophical literature
• Elaborate the role of ethics on the survivability of a society
• How logic has been crucial in making rational decisions in a man
• What are the limitations of metaphysics as a branch of philosophy?
• Analyze the philosophy of mind given the fundamental tenets
• Discuss the major revolutions of the African philosophy
• Why does Eastern philosophy have a lower absorption rate?
• Reasons why Western philosophy has a greater acceptance in the world as compared to others
• Give the unique characteristics of the ancient and classical philosophy
• Why the medieval and post-classical philosophies have a place in the modern world
• The modern and contemporary philosophy in terms of improvements
• Discuss the philosophy of language theories and stances in Europe
• What is the impact of the philosophy of science theories and stances?
• Discuss the epistemological stances of different philosophical schools of thought

Epistemology Paper Topics

• The concept of skepticism among different readers
• Analyze the internalist vs. externalist accounts of knowledge and justification
• Discuss the structure of knowledge and justification
• What contributes to contextualism in epistemology?
• Impacts of the relevant alternative accounts of knowledge
• Discuss the pros and cons of the epistemology of lotteries
• A case study of foundationalism and coherentism
• The impacts of facts and beliefs on people
• Is skepticism doomed to an inevitable defeat?
• Arguments and positions in epistemology in the 21st century
• The pros and cons of different positions in epistemology
• Relevant arguments and principles in epistemology: A case of The Closure Principle
• Critically discuss Shoemaker’s ‘self-blindness’ concept
• How the epistemology of attitudes like the belief is very different from the epistemology of other mental states
• Fundamental flaws in various epistemological theories

High-Quality Philosophy Project Topics

• Discuss the concept of happiness
• Why egoism is a negative trait
• Discuss the motive behind acts of charity
• Is love merely an illusion of the mind?
• Are criminals evil by nature?
• Is the current generation less affectionate?
• Discuss the concept of true friendship
• Is there happiness in achieving nothing?
• Does a perfect life exist?
• Why do people struggle to attain perfectionism?
• The impact of technology of taking away emotions
• Analyze time management among high school versus campus students
• Is obsession replacing true love?
• Is the concept of ‘You Only Live Once’ viable?
• Why are most geniuses’ introverts?

Easy Philosophy Paper Topics

• Discuss the existence of fate in the modern world
• Can we achieve an ideal society?
• Is life meaningful after all?
• Why should people work, yet they will die in the end?
• Is the concept of feminism overhyped?
• Is every human action predetermined?
• Discuss the components of the human consciousness
• Why do people tend to do the bad instead of the good?
• Are atheists deceiving themselves?
• Why is the world changing so fast?
• Is there life after death?
• Why must everyone go to school?
• Who determines what clothes each gender should don?
• The impact of religious beliefs on science
• Does death usher in the new life?

Top Philosophical Topics To Write About

• Will the world ever come to an end?
• Why do people have different religions?
• Does stealing originate from the person’s mind?
• Who is responsible for the rot in the society
• The role of parents in instilling morals
• Why do people believe in revenge?
• What makes man different from animals?
• Why should we care about our neighbors?
• Is humility a virtue for ladies?
• Why are most men aggressive
• Discuss the role of sleeping at night
• Should people eat food after all?
• Is man the biggest threat to himself?
• Is the judicial system serving justice?
• Will robots make the world better?

Good Philosophy Topics

• Do beliefs and superstitions match?
• Is sex necessary?
• Why should people love each other?
• Should a woman head the house also?
• Are other planets mere superstitions?
• Are the stars in the sky fantasies?
• Why bother about planning?
• Do aliens exist?
• Why is man rational?
• What is the effect of finding a purpose in life
• Do shooting stars fall on earth?
• Why do fiction movies move people?
• Does the moon exist?
• Are we living reality or a fantasy?
• Can one love more than two people?

Interesting Philosophy Topics

• Was man made out of clay?
• Do guns protect?
• Does true love exist among teenagers?
• Beauty and morality
• Religion and power
• Memories and love
• Peace and war
• Religion and own belief system
• Angels and demons
• Heaven and earth
• Plastic surgery and ethics
• Character and upbringing
• Dreams and the future
• The rich and the poor
• Is death inevitable

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Scholars' Bank

Philosophy theses and dissertations, dauerhafte uri für die sammlung.

This collection contains some of the theses and dissertations produced by students in the University of Oregon Philosophy Graduate Program. Paper copies of these and other dissertations and theses are available through the UO Libraries .

Philosophy dissertations

undergraduate Y4

I supervise at least one undergraduate a year. Many of the same questions come up each year. I have prepared below a set of guidelines to help when starting out on a dissertation.

Please note that this is personal advice and not to be taken as a substitute for the undergraduate handbook and marking scheme.

Do’s and Don’t’s for a dissertation

• Have a claim. You should be able to state your claim clearly in 1–2 sentences.
• Have claim of the right size – viz. a size you can defend (be careful not to be too ambitious here)
• Have a rigorous argument for your claim. Your argument should be able to convince a rational person who does not already believe your claim
• Make your dissertation clearly understandable to a philosopher who is not an expert in this area
• Explain why your claim is important
• Be honest if you do not conclusively establish your claim – e.g. clarify that your claim follows conditional on certain stated assumptions, list unresolved objections
• Make clear your original contribution
• Make use of your supervisor for feedback on drafts

Don’t:

• Aim for this to be your magnum opus or last word on the topic
• Try to solve a major problem (e.g. the mind-body problem, external world scepticism)
• Cover every possible view in the field
• Include extra material unless it advances your argument
• Have one massive 6,000 word chapter
• Leave it until Semester 2 to start work

How to write a dissertation

The points above give you an idea of what to aim for but they don’t provide a method for how to get there. There are many ways to write a dissertation. It may be reassuring to know that there are simple methods that can reliably produce an excellent dissertation. The algorithm below is one method:

• Find the general area you like (e.g. phenomenal consciousness)
• Select one article/book chapter in that area that you find fascinating (e.g. Smith (2009))
• Summarise Smith (2009) carefully in your own words, paying attention to whether each step in the argument follows from the previous
• Look for weaknesses in Smith (2009)’s argument
• Which new resources do you need to draw on?
• Which alternative conclusions follow?
• Which objections can be raised to your proposal?
• Draw on relevant bits of surrounding literature to support (5)

You have a first class dissertation!

Filling the dissertation with enough words

A common worry among students is whether they are able to write enough words. The longest piece of philosophical writing they may have done so far is 3,000 words. How can you write a sustained argument that lasts for 8,000 words? This turns out to be easier than you might think. Indeed, the difficulty often turns out to be not going over the word limit.

For the sake of argument, let us see how following the algorithm above might work out in terms of word count.

• Introduction (500 words): What is your claim, the outline of your argument?
• Chapter 1 (1,000 words): Why is your claim important? What are the pay-offs?
• Chapter 2 (2,000 words): Careful and charitable summary of X in your own words
• Chapter 3 (2,000 words): Your rigorous criticism of X
• Chapter 4 (2,000 words): How X should be corrected, associated costs, consequences for views that use X, possible objections
• Conclusion (500 words): Summary and next steps for future work

And we are done!

Milestones to aim for

Milestones depend on the specific project and you should talk to your supervisor about your workload and what would be a reasonable plan for finishing the dissertation in the year. Below is a rough plan that one might aim for.

• End Y3: meet supervisor & agree on general topic
• Summer vacation: background reading on topic
• Start Y4: find 1 article/chapter to focus

Year 4, Semester 1:

• Start: meet with supervisor & agree plan for year
• Middle: first draft of 2 chapters
• End: polished draft of 2 chapters

Year 4, Semester 2:

• Start: first draft of entire dissertation
• Middle: polished draft of entire dissertation
• End: revisit, revise, and submit dissertation

Background reading

A dissertation in philosophy is a story … like all good stories, it only includes what is essential to the story — Robert Paul Wolff’s astute advice that applies just as well to UG dissertations as well as PhD theses

Be concise, but explain yourself fully — Jim Pryor with an excellent 3-stage plan for writing philosophy

Style is the feather in the arrow, not the feather in the cap — Peter Lipton has some wonderful and concise writing advice

Read your work aloud. … Be firm: take your prose to the gym, and keep working at it until the bones and sinews show through! — Peter Smith, previously editor of Analysis , with some fantastic advice

What is an argument? — Jim Pryor’s guide is essential reading for anyone writing philosophy; it contains a lexicon of philosophical terms and a taxonomy of good and bad arguments, which is useful for classifying the arguments you consider

St Andrews Research Repository

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• Philosophical, Anthropological & Film Studies (School of)

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St Andrews is one of the leading international centres for philosophy in Britain. We offer graduate teaching at a level that matches the best graduate programmes elsewhere in the world, in a wide area of philosophy and the history of philosophy.

For more information please visit the Department of Philosophy home page.

This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

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Aggregating value. trade-offs, thresholds, and total goodness in lives , philosophy and philosophy : the subject matter and the discipline , believing, imagining, and their relationship : a new theory of belief via the imagination , intuition, metacognition, and philosophical inquiry , what people say : publicity without semanticity .

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Concepts: ontology of the unbound , the role and responsibility of higher education in the 21st century: a call for an education revolution , can we discount hard incompatibilism on the basis of blame , epistemic luck and the ability hypothesis , the importance of time to wittgenstein's thought , kant's aesthetics reception of the third critique in romantic germany and modern japan , reasonable coercion: a contractualist justification of state punishment , metaethical inferentialism , in today 's society in the west , do trauma survivors face epistemic injustice , language, thought, and culture , what is the connection between ethics and aesthetics for wittgenstein , digital consciousness: towards an account of possible minds in future technologies , what are the harmful effects of pornography and what should we do about them , what is expert disagreement , if camus' account of absurdity in the myth of sisyphus is the case, does postulating a meaning of life constitute philosophical suicide , climbing the ladder: how does wittgenstein propose we overcome tractarian nonsense , moral ignorance, agency and responsibility , predicate nominalism: an alternative account of gender properties in the form of identity predicates , letting morality speak for itself: answering "why be moral" in a different voice , thinking the body in heidegger and merleau-ponty .

Library Guides

Dissertations 4: methodology: introduction & philosophy.

• Introduction & Philosophy
• Methodology

Introduction

The methodology introduction is a paragraph that describes both the design of the study and the organization of the chapter. This prepares the reader for what is to follow and provides a framework within which to incorporate the materials. 

This paragraph says to the reader, “This is the methodology chapter, this is how it is organized, and this is the type of design I used.” 

In this introduction, you can also state:  

The objectives of your research and/or 

The research question or hypothesis to be tested 

Research Philosophy

Carrying out your own research for your dissertation means that you are engaging in the creation of knowledge. Research philosophy is an aspect of this. It is belief about the way studies should be conducted, how data should be collected and how it is then analysed and used.  At its deepest level, it includes considerations of what is (ontology), like, is there an objective truth or is it everything subjective, and how to know (epistemology), like, can we know the truth, and how can we get to know it.

Writing about your research philosophy, therefore, involves reflecting on your assumptions and beliefs about data collection to develop, analyse, challenge and evaluate them.  

If you need to have a research philosophy section in your dissertation, the handout attached below provides some guidance.  

• Research Philosophies Offers descriptions of different research philosophies
• << Previous: Structure
• Next: Methods >>
• Last Updated: Sep 14, 2022 12:58 PM
• URL: https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/methodology-for-dissertations

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How to Write a Philosophy Paper

• Develop a Thesis
• Formulate an Argument
• Structure & Outline
• Grammar & Style

Developing Your Thesis

What is a Thesis?

The thesis is the most important part of your paper; it tells the reader what your stance is on a particular topic and offers reasons for that stance.

Since the rest of your paper will be spent defending your thesis--offering support for the thesis and reasons why criticism of the thesis may not be valid--it's crucial that you develop a strong thesis.

A strong thesis will:

• Answer a question;
• Be engaging;  it can be challenged or opposed, thus also defended;
• Pass the "so what? why should I care?" test;
• Be supported by your paper;
• Not be too broad nor too vague.

Source: Writing Guide for Philosophy. George Mason University.

Image source:  Sergui Bacioiu.  Ripple effect on water.  CC BY 2.0.  Wikimedia Commons.

Thesis Resources

• Developing Your Thesis An overview of writing a thesis statement with guided questions for evaluating the quality of your statement. Everettcc.
• How to Write a Thesis Statement Emphasizes the characteristics of a well-developed thesis statement. Indiana University.
• Thesis Statements "...describes what a thesis statement is, how thesis statements work in your writing, and how you can discover or refine one..." University of North Carolina.
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Oxford theses

The Bodleian Libraries’ thesis collection holds every DPhil thesis deposited at the University of Oxford since the degree began in its present form in 1917. Our oldest theses date from the early 1920s. We also have substantial holdings of MLitt theses, for which deposit became compulsory in 1953, and MPhil theses.

Since 2007 it has been a mandatory requirement for students to deposit an electronic copy of their DPhil thesis in the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) , in addition to the deposit of a paper copy – the copy of record. Since the COVID pandemic, the requirement of a paper copy has been removed and the ORA copy has become the copy of record. Hardcopy theses are now only deposited under exceptional circumstances. 

ORA provides full-text PDF copies of most recent DPhil theses, and some earlier BLitt/MLitt theses. Find out more about Oxford Digital Theses, and depositing with ORA .

Finding Oxford theses

The following theses are catalogued on SOLO (the University libraries’ resource discovery tool) :

• DPhil and BLitt and MLitt theses
• BPhil and MPhil theses 
• Science theses

SOLO collates search results from several sources.

How to search for Oxford theses on SOLO

To search for theses in the Oxford collections on SOLO :

• navigate to the SOLO homepage
• click on the 'Advanced Search' button
• click the 'Material Type' menu and choose the 'Dissertations' option
• type in the title or author of the thesis you are looking for and click the 'Search' button.

Also try an “Any field” search for “Thesis Oxford” along with the author’s name under “creator” and any further “Any field” keywords such as department or subject. 

Searching by shelfmarks

If you are searching using the shelfmark, please make sure you include the dots in your search (e.g. D.Phil.). Records will not be returned if they are left out.

Oxford University Research Archive (ORA)

ORA was established in 2007 as a permanent and secure online archive of research produced by members of the University of Oxford. It is now mandatory for students completing a research degree at the University to deposit an electronic copy of their thesis in this archive. 

Authors can select immediate release on ORA, or apply a 1-year or 3-year embargo period. The embargo period would enable them to publish all or part of their research elsewhere if they wish. 

Theses held in ORA are searchable via  SOLO , as well as external services such as EThOS and Google Scholar. For more information, visit the Oxford digital theses guide , and see below for guidance on searching in ORA.

Search for Oxford theses on ORA

Type your keywords (title, name) into the main search box, and use quotes (“) to search for an exact phrase.

Refine your search results using the drop-downs on the left-hand side. These include:

• item type (thesis, journal article, book section, etc.)
• thesis type (DPhil, MSc, MLitt, etc.)
• subject area (History, Economics, Biochemistry, etc.)
• item date (as a range)
• file availability (whether a full text is available to download or not)

You can also increase the number of search results shown per page, and sort by relevance, date and file availability. You can select and export records to csv or email. 

Select hyperlinked text within the record details, such as “More by this author”, to run a secondary search on an author’s name. You can also select a hyperlinked keyword or subject. 

Other catalogues

Card catalogue  .

The Rare Books department of the Weston Library keeps an author card index of Oxford theses. This includes all non-scientific theses deposited between 1922 and 2016. Please ask Weston Library staff for assistance.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

You can use ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global  to find bibliographic details of Oxford theses not listed on SOLO. Ask staff in the Weston Library’s Charles Wendall David Reading Room for help finding these theses. 

Search for Oxford theses on ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

Basic search.

The default Basic search page allows for general keyword searches across all indexes using "and", "and not", "and or" to link the keywords as appropriate. Click on the More Search Options tab for specific title, author, subject and institution (school) searches, and to browse indexes of authors, institutions and subjects. These indexes allow you to add the word or phrase recognised by the database to your search (ie University of Oxford (United Kingdom), not Oxford University).

Advanced search

The Advanced search tab (at the top of the page) enables keyword searching in specific indexes, including author, title, institution, department, adviser and language. If you are unsure of the exact details of thesis, you can use the search boxes on this page to find it by combining the key information you do have.

Search tools

In both the Basic and Advanced search pages you can also limit the search by date by using the boxes at the bottom. Use the Search Tools advice in both the Basic and Advanced pages to undertake more complex and specific searches. Within the list of results, once you have found the record that you are interested in, you can click on the link to obtain a full citation and abstract. You can use the back button on your browser to return to your list of citations.

The Browse search tab allows you to search by subject or by location (ie institution). These are given in an alphabetical list. You can click on a top-level subject to show subdivisions of the subject. You can click on a country location to show lists of institutions in that country. At each level, you can click on View Documents to show lists of individual theses for that subject division or from that location.

In Browse search, locations and subject divisions are automatically added to a basic search at the bottom of the page. You can search within a subject or location by title, author, institution, subject, date etc, by clicking on Refine Search at the top of the page or More Search Options at the bottom of the page.

Where are physical Oxford theses held?

The Bodleian Libraries hold all doctoral theses and most postgraduate (non-doctoral) theses for which a deposit requirement is stipulated by the University:

• DPhil (doctoral) theses (1922 – 2021)
• Bachelor of Divinity (BD) theses
• BLitt/MLitt theses (Michaelmas Term 1953 – 2021)
• BPhil and MPhil theses (Michaelmas Term 1977 – 2021)

Most Oxford theses are held in Bodleian Offsite Storage. Some theses are available in the libraries; these are listed below.

Law Library

Theses submitted to the Faculty of Law are held at the Bodleian Law Library .

Vere Harmsworth Library

Theses on the United States are held at the Vere Harmsworth Library .

Social Science Library

The Social Science Library holds dissertations and theses selected by the departments it supports. 

The list of departments and further information are available in the Dissertations and Theses section of the SSL webpages. 

Locations for Anthropology and Archaeology theses

The Balfour Library holds theses for the MPhil in Material and Visual Anthropology and some older theses in Prehistoric Archaeology.

The Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library holds theses for MPhil in Classical Archaeology and MPhil in European Archaeology.

Ordering Oxford theses

Theses held in Bodleian Offsite Storage are consulted in the Weston Library. The preferred location is the Charles Wendell David Reading Room ; they can also be ordered to the Sir Charles Mackerras Reading Room .

Find out more about requesting a digitised copy, copyright restrictions and copying from Oxford theses .

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• Library Information and Support for Undergraduate Extended Essays and Dissertations Moodle page  (for Philosophy Tripos students only. Brings together links to Faculty guidance, resources and support for researching, writing and referencing your coursework, and lists of the good examples of extended essays and dissertations that can be accessed online or in print at the Philosophy Library (Raven login required))

Two examples of good work - two dissertations that were marked as firsts:

Resolutions and Strength of Will

Do we need to be essentialists about biological species to show that they are  explanatorily useful?

• Extending your Submission Date

You are expected to manage your time so that you are able to submit your assessed work on the advertised deadline. 

Extensions to submission dates for coursework and/or dissertations may be possible, although consider that any extension may overlap with revision or preparation time for other modules. Only in exceptional circumstances will an extension be granted for more than seven days. If you require an extension, then your College should  submit an application to the EAMC . Please speak to your DoS who will support you with any decision related to this matter.

Please discuss this fully with your DoS who will assist and advise. 

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Dissertation examples

Listed below are some of the best examples of research projects and dissertations from undergraduate and taught postgraduate students at the University of Leeds We have not been able to gather examples from all schools. The module requirements for research projects may have changed since these examples were written. Refer to your module guidelines to make sure that you address all of the current assessment criteria. Some of the examples below are only available to access on campus.

• Undergraduate examples
• Taught Masters examples

Examples of doctoral proposals

• Example doctoral proposal 5
• Example doctoral proposal 4
• Example doctoral proposal 3
• Example doctoral proposal 2
• Example doctoral proposal 1