Philosophy

The Philosophy Department at Carnegie Mellon University is distinguished by its scientific approach to philosophical issues in:

Cognition, AI, and Philosophy of Psychology

• history and philosophy of psychology
• artificial intelligence
• neural networks
• knowledge representation
• semantics and pragmatics of natural language
• foundations of computation

Decision, Rational Choice, and Applied Ethics

• foundations of decision theory
• game theory
• rational choice
• political philosophy
• bioethics
• ethics and public policy

Epistemology, Scientific Method

• epistemology
• foundations of statistics
• belief revision and knowledge representation
• causal inference and discovery
• computational learning theory
• automated deduction

Logic and Mathematical Thought

• proof theory
• category theory
• constructive logic and type theories
• automated deduction
• logic of computation
• history of modern logic
• philosophy of mathematics
• philosophy of logic

Philosophy of Language and Linguistics

• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of linguistics (foundations of linguistic theory)
• Formal semantics of natural language
• Pragmatics
• Information structure and discourse dynamics

The PhD program seeks students interested in any of the above areas or combinations thereof and provides full tuition and health insurance along with a generous stipend for teaching assistance.

The department's interdisciplinary research thrust affords an unusually broad range of career possibilities. Graduates of the program have been offered positions in Philosophy, Mathematics, Psychology, Computer Science, and Statistics, as well as research positions in industry. This wide range of interesting career opportunities reflects the department's unique dedication to serious, interdisciplinary research ties.

The PhD requirements are designed to be flexible, allowing students the freedom to develop programs emphasizing their particular research interests. Core requirements are ordinarily filled within the first two years.

A typical course schedule might look as follows:

• Graduate application
• Sample of original written work
• Personal research statement
• Three (or more) letters of recommendation
• Transcripts from all previously attended colleges or universities
• GRE scores (Institution code: 2074; Department code: 2801)
• TOEFL or IELTS scores for non-native English speaking applicants
• $50 application fee

Scanned versions of official transcripts, GRE score reports, and TOEFL / IELTS scores can be uploaded in lieu of sending paper copies.

Want to improve your English level for admission?

Prepare for the program requirements with English Online by the British Council.

• ✔️ Flexible study schedule
• ✔️ Experienced teachers
• ✔️ Certificate upon completion

📘 Recommended for students with an IELTS level of 6.0 or below.

Enroll in the course