Philosophy

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Post Doc

It is the level of academic specialization that is focused on special and/or pioneering topics in the domain of philosophical studies. It can be established in order to delve into a specific topic or meet professional and pastoral updating and retraining needs.

Access Criteria:

In order to access Post Doc courses, a Doctorate in Philosophy is required. Each Faculty can introduce their own criteria regarding the recognition of pastoral and/or professional experience to allow Licentiates in Philosophy to enroll as well.

Duration: at least 1 year.

Workload: at least 60 ECTS.

Next level:

not regulated.

Courses are organized and degrees are issued under each institution’s responsibility.

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Doctorate in Philosophy

Doctorate in Philosophy

Access Criteria:

In order to access the 3rd cycle of the Faculty of Philosophy, a Licentiate in Philosophy is required [1]. Each Faculty can lay down their own access criteria and related curricular requirements for admission.

Duration: 3 years [2].

Workload: not specified.

Next level: Post Doc.

The 3rd cycle degree in Philosophy can be awarded to students who:

  • have proved they are endowed with a systematic understanding of Christian wisdom and, in particular, regarding the domain of philosophical studies they have chosen [3];
  • have developed the full capability to use the specialist knowledge they have acquired in order to devise, design, and implement original research projects, in order to contribute to the progress of philosophical knowledge in the light of evangelization [4];
  • have acquired the ability to develop and disseminate a sapiential outlook, that is able to integrate different scientific, technological, and cultural inputs, in a single-minded vision of truth [5];
  • are able to systematically convey, through academic teaching, the knowledge they have acquired [6];
  • are able to communicate with academic and professional experts, in the various fields of knowledge, in order to contribute to human civilization through the evangelizing mission of the Church [7].

[1] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 49 § 1
[2] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 15
[3] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 81 § 1
[4] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art.: 3, §§ 1-2; 39; 49, § 2
[5] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 8
[6] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 50, § 1
[7] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 3, § 1. Cf Giovanni Paolo II, «Proemio», Cost. Apostol. Sapientia Christiana, I, II. (appendice)

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Licentiate in Philosophy

Licentiate in Philosophy

Access Criteria: 

In order to access the Second cycle of the Faculty of Philosophy, a Baccalaureate in Philosophy is required.

Duration: 2 years [1].

Workload: at least 120 ECTS.

Next level: Doctorate in Philosophy.

The degree of the 2nd Cycle of Philosophy can be awarded to students who:

  • have demonstrated an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the specialist subject they have chosen, as well as their contribution to progress in the knowledge of truth to make our worldly existence more human [2], in relation to the new challenges brought to the Church by cultural change [3];
  • have acquired the ability to enhance the metaphysical component of the problem of being, and are able to achieve a useful transcendence to reach the absolute [4] and, through the implementation of a specialist methodology, are able to deal with the different modern and contemporary metaphysical currents and the variety of wisdoms coming from different cultural contexts [5];
  • are also able to reconcile theology with philosophy and science, fully respecting their mutual autonomy, but also being fully aware of their inherent unity [6];
  • are able to clearly and unambiguously convey the unity of truth, through its intellectual and rational promotion, and the testimony of love that is inseparably connected to it [7];
  • are able to convey this theoretical and practical knowledge when filling ecclesiastical posts, with particular reference to teaching in major Seminaries or equivalent schools [8];
  • have fully developed the theoretical, methodological, and language skills to continue their studies in the 3rd cycle of Philosophy.


[1] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art 82, b)
[2] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 2
[3] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 1
[4] Cf. Fides et ratio, n. 83
[5] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 3-4; Fides et ratio, n. 83
[6] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 7; Benedetto XVI, Discorso ai partecipanti al IV Convegno Ecclesiale Nazionale, Verona, 19 ottobre 2006 (Osservatore Romano, 20 ottobre 2006, pp. 6-7)
[7] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 6; Caritas in veritate, n. 3
[8] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 50, § 1

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Baccalaureate in Philosophy

Baccalaureate in Philosophy

Access Criteria: 

In order to access the First cycle of the Faculty of Philosophy, appropriate degrees are required to enroll in a university pursuant to the laws of the student’s nation or of the region where the Faculty is located [1].

Duration: 3 years [2].

Workload: at least 180 ECTS.

Next level: Licentiate in Philosophy or other study courses of the 2nd Cycle in which a 1st Cycle philosophical degree is required.

The 1st Cycle degree in Philosophy can be awarded to students who:

  • have demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the basic principles of philosophy, organically focusing on investigating the world, man, and God [3];
  • have demonstrated knowledge and understanding of the main philosophical subjects [4] and the history of philosophy (ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary) [5] and, by applying a basic methodology, are able to organize this knowledge in relation to Christian Revelation and to what is related to it [6];
  • have demonstrated critical knowledge and understanding of the relations between reason and Christian faith, i.e. between philosophy and theology, from a systematical and historical standpoint, being careful to safeguard the autonomy of both domains and the connection between them [7];
  • have demonstrated critical knowledge and understanding of the main philosophical questions regarding the search for the truth in its sapiential and metaphysical aspects, with respect to the current rapid cultural change [8];
  • have demonstrated the ability to adequately and consistently convey the unified vision of knowledge stemming from the knowledge of Christian Revelation and what is connected to it [9];
  • have developed the basic intellectual, methodological, and linguistic attitudes and skills in philosophical subjects to enroll in the 2nd cycle of Philosophy (or the 1st cycle of Sacred Theology).

 

[1] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 32
[2] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 82, a)
[3] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 81
[4] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, Norme applicative, art. 66
[5] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, Norme applicative, art. 66
[6] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 3, § 1
[7] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, Norme applicative, art. 64. Fides et Ratio, n. 75
[8] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, Norme applicative, art. 64. Fides et Ratio, n. 75
[9] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 3, § 1

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Short Cycle in Philosophy

Short cycle in Philosophy

This cycle corresponds to the preliminary two-year course in philosophy that is required by the five-year study curriculum of the Faculty of Theology. Therefore, this philosophy course does not award an academic degree in philosophy. This course ends with a certification of philosophical studies which testifies to attended courses and obtained credits [1].

Access Criteria: 

In order to access the Short cycle of the Faculty of Philosophy, appropriate degrees are required to enroll in a university pursuant to the laws of the student’s nation or of the region where the Faculty is located [2].

Duration: 2 years.

Workload: at least 120 ECTS.

Next level: completion of the 3rd year of the 1st Cycle in Philosophy (60 ECTS) or enrollment into the final three years of sacred theology of the 1st Cycle of ecclesiastical studies.

Students who complete the Short Cycle in Philosophy:

  • are endowed with introductory principles to understand fundamental philosophical issues, which are considered in particular in the light of scientific rationality, challenged by the religious dimension [3];
  • are endowed with the hermeneutic and methodological principles that are useful in order to understand the relationship between philosophy and theology [4];
  • have achieved a level of understanding of the notion of truth that is able to stand up to contemporary relativism [5];
  • have demonstrated the ability to convey the unified vision of knowledge stemming from the knowledge of Christian Revelation and what is connected to it [6];
  • have developed the necessary intellectual, methodological, and linguistic attitudes and skills to continue their 1st Cycle philosophical studies by completing the last year (60 ECTS) or enroll in the three-year theology course of the 1st Cycle of ecclesiastical studies.

 

[1] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 14
[2] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 32
[3] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 15
[4] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 15
[5] Cf. Decreto di riforma degli studi ecclesiastici di filosofia, 8
[6] Cf. Veritatis Gaudium, art. 3, § 1