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Overview
The UBC Masters in Philosophy provides an opportunity for excellent students to study philosophy at an advanced level, to broaden their understanding of some fundamental questions, and to acquire the skills and knowledge that are necessary for the development their own philosophical research.
There are two routes by which a Masters degree in Philosophy can be gained at UBC: a thesis-based route and a coursework based one.
The requirements of the coursework-based route are usually met by taking ten courses, with at least six of these being taught in the Department of Philosophy. Completion of the thesis-based route usually involves taking six courses, and then writing a thesis. In both routes it is normal for students to complete the degree within two years.
Students have considerable flexibility as to the areas of philosophy in which they choose to specialize. Those wishing to study the work of philosophers writing in languages other than English have the opportunity to learn the languages in question. Most of our students also gain experience of teaching philosophy, through working as a teaching assistant in a variety of undergraduate courses.
What makes the program unique?
The UBC Department of Philosophy is home to a number of internationally celebrated thinkers, with expertise in a broad range of philosophical topics, and with a variety of unique perspectives on the arts, on the biological, social and psychological sciences, on language, on knowledge, on history, and on value. All of the department’s faculty members work closely with the students who are enrolled in our graduate programs.
The UBC Philosophy Masters program provides a great degree of flexibility, enabling students to shape their study around their own areas of interest and expertise. The department has a supportive, collegial, and philosophically inspiring culture. Students have a range of opportunities to participate fully in its intellectual life. They are also encouraged to participate in the broader community of philosophers, with several sources of funding being available that enable students to present their research at international academic conferences.
Quick Facts
Program Enquiries
Still have questions after reviewing this page thoroughly?
Contact the program
Contact the program
Admission Information & Requirements
1) Check Eligibility
Minimum Academic Requirements
The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies establishes the minimum admission requirements common to all applicants, usually a minimum overall average in the B+ range (76% at UBC). The graduate program that you are applying to may have additional requirements. Please review the specific requirements for applicants with credentials from institutions in:
Each program may set higher academic minimum requirements. Please review the program website carefully to understand the program requirements. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission as it is a competitive process.
English Language Test
Applicants from a university outside Canada in which English is not the primary language of instruction must provide results of an English language proficiency examination as part of their application. Tests must have been taken within the last 24 months at the time of submission of your application.
Minimum requirements for the two most common English language proficiency tests to apply to this program are listed below:
TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language - internet-based
Overall score requirement: 100
Reading
22
Writing
21
Speaking
21
Listening
22
IELTS: International English Language Testing System
Overall score requirement: 7.0
Reading
6.5
Writing
6.5
Speaking
6.5
Listening
6.5
Other Test Scores
Some programs require additional test scores such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Test (GMAT). The requirements for this program are:
The GRE is not required.
2) Meet Deadlines
Application open dates and deadlines for an upcoming intake have not yet been configured in the admissions system. Please check back later.
3) Prepare Application
Transcripts
All applicants have to submit transcripts from all past post-secondary study. Document submission requirements depend on whether your institution of study is within Canada or outside of Canada.
Letters of Reference
A minimum of three references are required for application to graduate programs at UBC. References should be requested from individuals who are prepared to provide a report on your academic ability and qualifications.
Statement of Interest
Many programs require a statement of interest, sometimes called a "statement of intent", "description of research interests" or something similar.
Supervision
Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.
Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Master of Arts in Philosophy (MA)
Applicants should browse faculty profiles and indicate in their application who they are interested in working with. No commitment from a supervisor prior to applying is necessary, but contacting faculty members is encouraged.
Citizenship Verification
Permanent Residents of Canada must provide a clear photocopy of both sides of the Permanent Resident card.
4) Apply Online
All applicants must complete an online application form and pay the application fee to be considered for admission to UBC.
Tuition & Financial Support
Tuition
| Fees | Canadian Citizen / Permanent Resident / Refugee / Diplomat | International |
|---|---|---|
| Application Fee | $114.00 | $168.25 |
| Tuition * | ||
| Installments per year | 3 | 3 |
| Tuition per installment | $1,838.57 | $3,230.06 |
| Tuition per year (plus annual increase, usually 2%-5%) | $5,515.71 | $9,690.18 |
| Int. Tuition Award (ITA) per year (if eligible) | $3,200.00 (-) | |
| Other Fees and Costs | ||
| Student Fees (yearly) | $1,116.60 (approx.) | |
| Costs of living | Estimate your costs of living with our interactive tool in order to start developing a financial plan for your graduate studies. | |
* Regular, full-time tuition. For on-leave, extension, continuing or part time (if applicable) fees see UBC Calendar.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. Tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors. In recent years, tuition increases have been 2% for continuing domestic students and between 2% and 5% for continuing international students. New students may see higher increases in tuition. Admitted students who defer their admission are subject to the potentially higher tuition fees for incoming students effective at the later program start date. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
All fees for the year are subject to adjustment and UBC reserves the right to change any fees without notice at any time, including tuition and student fees. Tuition fees are reviewed annually by the UBC Board of Governors. In recent years, tuition increases have been 2% for continuing domestic students and between 2% and 5% for continuing international students. New students may see higher increases in tuition. Admitted students who defer their admission are subject to the potentially higher tuition fees for incoming students effective at the later program start date. In case of a discrepancy between this webpage and the UBC Calendar, the UBC Calendar entry will be held to be correct.
Financial Support
Applicants to UBC have access to a variety of funding options, including merit-based (i.e. based on your academic performance) and need-based (i.e. based on your financial situation) opportunities.
Scholarships & awards (merit-based funding)
All applicants are encouraged to review the awards listing to identify potential opportunities to fund their graduate education. The database lists merit-based scholarships and awards and allows for filtering by various criteria, such as domestic vs. international or degree level.
Graduate Research Assistantships (GRA)
Many professors are able to provide Research Assistantships (GRA) from their research grants to support full-time graduate students studying under their supervision. The duties constitute part of the student's graduate degree requirements. A Graduate Research Assistantship is considered a form of fellowship for a period of graduate study and is therefore not covered by a collective agreement. Stipends vary widely, and are dependent on the field of study and the type of research grant from which the assistantship is being funded.
Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTA)
Graduate programs may have Teaching Assistantships available for registered full-time graduate students. Full teaching assistantships involve 12 hours work per week in preparation, lecturing, or laboratory instruction although many graduate programs offer partial TA appointments at less than 12 hours per week. Teaching assistantship rates are set by collective bargaining between the University and the Teaching Assistants' Union.
Graduate Academic Assistantships (GAA)
Academic Assistantships are employment opportunities to perform work that is relevant to the university or to an individual faculty member, but not to support the student’s graduate research and thesis. Wages are considered regular earnings and when paid monthly, include vacation pay.
Financial aid (need-based funding)
Canadian and US applicants may qualify for governmental loans to finance their studies. Please review eligibility and types of loans.
All students may be able to access private sector or bank loans.
Foreign government scholarships
Many foreign governments provide support to their citizens in pursuing education abroad. International applicants should check the various governmental resources in their home country, such as the Department of Education, for available scholarships.
Working while studying
The possibility to pursue work to supplement income may depend on the demands the program has on students. It should be carefully weighed if work leads to prolonged program durations or whether work placements can be meaningfully embedded into a program.
International students enrolled as full-time students with a valid study permit can work on campus for unlimited hours and work off-campus for no more than 20 hours a week.
A good starting point to explore student jobs is the UBC Work Learn program or a Co-Op placement.
Tax credits and RRSP withdrawals
Students with taxable income in Canada may be able to claim federal or provincial tax credits.
Canadian residents with RRSP accounts may be able to use the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) which allows students to withdraw amounts from their registered retirement savings plan (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for themselves or their partner.
Please review Filing taxes in Canada on the student services website for more information.
Cost Estimator
Applicants have access to the cost estimator to develop a financial plan that takes into account various income sources and expenses.
Career Options
Alumni on Success
Enrolment, Duration & Other Stats
These statistics show data for the Master of Arts in Philosophy (MA). Data are separated for each degree program combination. You may view data for other degree options in the respective program profile.
ENROLMENT DATA
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applications | 75 | 83 | 88 | 66 | 55 |
| Offers | 10 | 8 | 15 | 8 | 7 |
| New Registrations | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Total Enrolment | 10 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
Completion Rates & Times
This program has a graduation rate of 100% based on 14 students admitted between 2015 - 2018. Based on 22 graduations between 2020 - 2023 the minimum time to completion is 1.7 years and the maximum time is 2.73 years with an average of 1.79 years of study. All calculations exclude leave times.
Disclaimer
Admissions data refer to all UBC Vancouver applications, offers, new registrants for each registration year, May to April, e.g. data for 2022 refers to programs starting in 2022 Summer and 2022 Winter session, i.e. May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023. Data on total enrolment reflects enrolment in Winter Session Term 1 and are based on snapshots taken on November 1 of each registration year. Program completion data are only provided for datasets comprised of more than 4 individuals. Graduation rates exclude students who transfer out of their programs. Rates and times of completion depend on a number of variables (e.g. curriculum requirements, student funding), some of which may have changed in recent years for some programs.
Research Supervisors
Supervision
Students in research-based programs usually require a faculty member to function as their thesis supervisor. Please follow the instructions provided by each program whether applicants should contact faculty members.
Instructions regarding thesis supervisor contact for Master of Arts in Philosophy (MA)
Applicants should browse faculty profiles and indicate in their application who they are interested in working with. No commitment from a supervisor prior to applying is necessary, but contacting faculty members is encouraged.
Advice and insights from UBC Faculty on reaching out to supervisors
These videos contain some general advice from faculty across UBC on finding and reaching out to a supervisor. They are not program specific.
This list shows faculty members with full supervisory privileges who are affiliated with this program. It is not a comprehensive list of all potential supervisors as faculty from other programs or faculty members without full supervisory privileges can request approvals to supervise graduate students in this program.
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Alford-Duguid, Dominic (Philosophy; Philosophy of mind/cognitive science; Philosophy of Language)
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Amijee, Fatema (Metaphysics; Modern Philosophy; feminist philosophy; History of Analytic Philosophy)
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Anderson, Scott Allen (intersection of ethics and social and political philosophy, largely focused on how to use and regulate power, coercion, and social norms; action theory and moral psychology, privacy, and problems related to the intensification of technology and information.)
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Ayars, Alisabeth (Ethics, Metaethics, Metaphysics, Moral Psychology, Epistemology, Cognitive Science)
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Aydede, Murat (Philosophy; Philosophy of Mind)
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Ballarin, Roberta (Philosophical logic, nature and sources of necessity)
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Bartha, Paul (Philosophy of sciences and technologies; Environmental philosophy; philosophy of science; Philosophy of Probability; Confirmation; Decision Theory)
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Beatty, John Henry (Socio-political dimensions of genetics and evolutionary biology)
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Bedke, Matthew (Philosophy; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; Foundations of Ethics; Social Organization and Political Systems; Ethics and Fundamental Issues of Law and Justice; epistemology; ethics; metaethics; philosophy of law; political philosophy)
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Berryman, Sylvia (Philosophy; Ancient Greek natural philosophy; Aristotle's ethics; ethics and global poverty; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies)
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Brownlee, Kimberley (Philosophy; Applied Ethics; Ethics and Fundamental Issues of Law and Justice; Ethics and Health; Human Rights and Liberties, Collective Rights; Social Aspects of Aging; Belonging; Civil Disobedience and Conscientious Objection; Loneliness; Philosophy of Punishment; Social Human Rights; Virtues and Vices)
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Griffin, Michael (Greek philosophy, Ancient philosophy, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Proclus, Neoplatonism, Ancient logic )
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Ichikawa, Jonathan (Epistemology; Feminist philosophy; Human rights, justice, and ethical issues; Philosophy of language; Social philosophy; epistemology; ethics; Philosophy of Language; feminist philosophy; ethics of belief; knowledge; skepticism; context-sensitivity; consent; ethics of sex; rape culture)
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Jenkins, Carrie (Philosophy; Creative writing; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; Creative scholarship; Creative Writing; epistemology; Language and meaning; Metaphysics; Philosophy of love; Romantic love; Fiction; Poetry)
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Lopes, Dominic (Aesthetics)
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Margolis, Eric (Humanities and the arts; Philosophy of cognitive science; Philosophy of Mind)
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Mole, Christopher (Philosophical issues that arise from the attempt to understand the mind scientifically, aesthetics of literature )
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Prueitt, Cat (Epistemology and Methodology; Asian Philosophy; Metaphysics; Philosophy of Language; Philosophy of mind/cognitive science)
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Richardson, Alan Walter (History of philosophy of science in early twentieth century)
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Schabas, Margaret (History and philosophy of economics; Economics and business administration; History and Philosophy of Economics; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; science studies; History fo Early Modern Philosophy)
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Simchen, Ori (Philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of law )
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Slingerland, Edward (Asian Studies, Chinese philosophy, philosophy, religion, religion and conflict, secularism, spontaneity, ethics, science-humanities integration, interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary research, Chinese thought, religious studies (comparative religion, cognitive science and evolution of religion), cognitive linguistics (blending and conceptual metaphor theory), ethics (virtue ethics, moral psychology), evolutionary psychology, the relationship between the humanities and the natural sciences, and the classical Chinese language)
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Stephens, Christopher (Philosophy; philosophy of biology; philosophy of science; rationality; scientific philosophy; Why be rational?)
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Thompson, Evan (Philosophy; Asian Philosophies; Cognitive Science; Phenomenology; Philosophical Foundations; Philosophy of Mind; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; Theories and Philosophies)
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Wylie, Alison (Philosophy; feminist philosophy; philosophy of archaeology; philosophy of science; philosophy of the social and historial sciences; Philosophy, History and Comparative Studies; research ethics (non-medical); science studies)
Further Information
Specialization
Philosophy offers courses in most major areas of the discipline, including epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, political and social philosophy, philosophy of art, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, logic, philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of mathematics, and history of philosophy.
Program Website
Faculty Overview
Academic Unit
Program Identifier
VGMMAA-T0
Classification
Program Enquiries
Still have questions after reviewing this page thoroughly?
Contact the program
Contact the program
Departments/Programs may update graduate degree program details through the Faculty & Staff portal. To update contact details for application inquiries, please use this form.
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