The MA program in Philosophy offered by the Institute of Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities is a two-year, full-time program [IB1] comprising four semesters. Students need to have some philosophical background – in practice, this means students are expected to have completed a minimum of 30 ECTS [DMA2] credits as part of their BA studies. Students will have the opportunity to design their own study plan and research program under the supervision of a director of their studies (in most cases, different from their thesis supervisor). This ensures flexibility and a personalised study trajectory, but also sufficient guidance so that students acquire both extensive and in-depth knowledge in the major fields of philosophy. At the same time students are required to engage in research either in some areas of history of philosophy, or in some field of systematic philosophy. These studies lead up to the MA thesis project.

The program enables students to carry out a research program in philosophy and prepares them for doctoral studies.

Our faculty have significant international experience. They have studied and/or taught and pursued research in highly acclaimed universities and research centres in Europe and North America. The different departments of the Institute of Philosophy have academic co-operations and exchange programs with various European universities and research centres. It has Erasmus+ partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, Tel Aviv, and with several major European Universities.

Specializations

Instead of tracks of specialisations the program in philosophy is organised in a flexible way so that students can plan their studies under the guidance of the director of studies. Students are required to choose a focal point in their study and research: either history of philosophy or systematic philosophy. They have to earn 48 ECTS credits [DMA3] in subjects belonging to this focal area.

Strengths of the degree program

Our Institute stands out among centres for the study of philosophy internationally for its balance between the history of philosophy and the systematic aspects of the discipline. This way our students are not only well versed in the details of the development of the Western philosophical traditions but also learn to appreciate the connections between the discussions and issues philosophical disciplines currently focus, on the one hand, and the historical motivations of these discussions, on the other. Our students gain insight into how issues at the forefront of today’s philosophical research were articulated and tackled through the ages.

Career opportunities

This program is recommended to applicants who would like to deepen their knowledge in philosophy and intend to pursue an academic career or intend to work as experts in the humanities, with an emphasis on philosophy, or to be potentially employed outside of academia in publishing houses, cultural centres, international companies, civil service or non-governmental organizations, among other places.

Head of the program: Prof. István Bodnár.

See more information: https://www.elte.hu/en/philosophy-ma
 

The Logic and Philosophy of Science Master's Program was launched in September 2010. The program is open to students from all over the world with a BA or BSc degree in philosophy, mathematics, physics, computer science, linguistics, social science, and all related fields.

The curriculum includes core courses in logic and formal approaches to philosophy of science, and advanced optional courses in logic, philosophy of mathematics, foundations of physics, logical methods in linguistics, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and formal models in social sciences. Students can choose a focus according to their own fields of interests. In general, the program is research oriented, aiming to prepare students for a PhD program.

A selection of special courses offered in the last years:

Alternative set theories
Causality, determinism, and quantum mechanics
Combinatorial logics
Definability theory
First-orderization of special relativity theory
Formal approaches to Wittgenstein's philosophy
From spacetime physics to the metaphysics of space and time
Paradoxes, circularity, well-foundedness
Proper names: theories of meaning and reference
The metaphysics of fictional characters
The modal logic of branching spacetime
The semantics of natural kind terms
Universal algebraic logic

(For further details, see the curriculum here.)

The program is administered by the Department of Logic, in cooperation with other departments and research institutes in Budapest, especially with the Algebraic Logic Group of Rényi Institute of Mathematics.

The department organizes and hosts a weekly colloquium: Logic and Philosophy of Science Seminar (LPS). Our MA and PhD students regularly and actively participate in these events.

Head of the program: Prof. Zsófia Zvolenszky.

See more information: https://www.elte.hu/en/logic-and-philosophy-of-science-ma