Zimmy64

For the first time this cycle someone has posted a acceptance from one of the programs I applied to and it's driving my crazy.

I'm actually in a similar boat. I was actually a triple major in undergrad (Political Science/Economics/Philosophy, I didn't list my third major because I didn't think it would be relevant to the topic of this thread) and am most engaged when doing scholarship which involves all three. I'm similarly optimistic about my top choice Arizona but like you won't be crushed if rejected (Brown is actually my second choice). I also come from a lesser known university but it was in the Midwest. I was given the advice to apply to M.A. programs as well as Ph.D. programs and potentially use the M.A. program as a springboard to a better Ph.D. program. There are a number of M.A. programs that provide decent funding nowadays (I think Geoff Pynn at NIU posted a list of funded terminal M.A. programs awhile back) and specifically advertise that one of their primary goals is to get students from lesser known universities into top ranked Ph.D. programs (Georgia State University comes to mine and has a focus on political philosophy, philosophy of law, ethics, and even classical liberalism for those so inclined). Another exciting trend speaking of economics is the emergence of PPE studies and efforts to reclaim economics as a part of philosophy as opposed to as part of the social sciences. In my experience economists tend to be normaphobic (afraid to make normative claims) and it drives me crazy. I don't care if you make normative claims I don't like just say something, anything normative (it would be a good start at least). I always like to remind my economics friend that Adam Smith was a professor of philosophy rather than economics. The University of Arizona is also leading the charge in this area with the newly instituted Department of Political Economy and Moral Sciences.

I'm not to sure about my chances either but we're often bad judges of our own abilities. Given that most intellectuals experience some form of imposter syndrome this isn't surprising. I was also told the same things about Political Philosophy/Political Theory crossover. Political Science departments are more likely to hire Political Philosophers but the reverse almost never happens (The only one I'm aware of is Jerry Gaus at Arizona). Political Theory being more descriptive as opposed to more normative (like political philosophy) is another reason I choose Political Philosophy over it. Where is the UMN in your preference order for programs? I'm from Minnesota originally and grew up in a northern suburb of Minneapolis. I can't tell you much about the city however. We never went down there much and I went to undergrad farther up north in Duluth. Best of luck to you too!

I was wondering if there were any political philosophers here. What did everyone focus on for their writing sample? What programs is everyone applying to? Why did you choose Political Philosophy instead of Political Theory? What do you think are the most exciting trends in political philosophy (over the last 25 or so years)? I wrote my writing sample on Edmund Burke's Theory of Liberty arguing against Isaiah Berlin's idea that Burke's Theory of Liberty is essentially negative as opposed to positive. I then applied my interpretation of Burke to show how he could have rationally supported the American Revolution but not the French Revolution. I am applying to Arizona, Brown, Virginia, Duke, Georgetown, UNC, Michigan, Tulane, BGSU, WUSTL, GSU (M.A), UW-Milwaukee (M.A.), and Northern Illinois University (M.A.). The question about Political Theory is a bit odd so if it isn't applicable don't worry. Like many Political Philosophy interested undergrads (presumably) I was a double major (Political Science and Philosophy) and had a hard time deciphering the difference between the two. Eventually after much inquiry I think I got it. I decided to do Political Philosophy as opposed to theory for two main reasons. First, I was told that the job market for political philosophy isn't great but it is marginally better than the theory market (the way it was explained to me is that if the Political Theory market is a 5/10 than the Political Philosophy market is a 6/10). Furthermore I was told that the project is fundamentally different. Theorists start with a rough conception of justice and then try to determine what institutions and social arrangements must meet that rough standard. The project of political philosophy on the other hand is more fundamental being what is justice? I was ultimately more interested in that project although the questions political theorists ask and the theories they propose to answer them are important as well. The trend I find most exciting is the emergence of Neoclassical Liberalism/Bleeding Heart Libertarianism/The Arizona School. The fusion of high liberal sympathies with libertarian-oriented marketism I find very promising (John Tomasi's "Free Market Fairness" is a great example of this). This approach is most common at the University of Arizona (obviously) but has spread across the country by way of former Arizona grad students (Jason Brennan-Georgetown, Matt Zwolinski-University of San Diego, and Kevin Vallier-BGSU) among others such as Mark LeBar (FSU) Loren Lomasky (UVA), Peter Jaworski (Georgetown), John Tomasi (Brown), both Andrew Cohens at GSU, and Jacob Levy (McGill) to name a few. In addition even if you fundamentally disagree with the conclusions proposed by Neoclassical liberalism the future generation of scholars is lucky that they do not have to rely solely on Nozick when teaching philosophical libertarianism. Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a classic no doubt about that but professors now have access to a wide array of scholarship to replace or supplant Nozick's magnum opus. David Schmitz's "The Elements of Justice," Jerry Gaus's "The Tyranny of the Ideal," Loren Lomasky's "Rights, Persons, and the Moral Community", John Tomasi's "Free Market Fairness", Jason Brennan's "Why not Capitalism?" read concurrently with "Why not Socialism?", and Jacob Levy's "Rationalism, Pluralism, and Freedom." Those are just books if you included journal articles I would be typing for days. At the very least it is great to see philosophers prove that libertarianism in political philosophy is more than just Nozick and Locke.

Hey Everyone, I'm applying to philosophy Ph.D. and M.A. programs for Fall 2018 (political philosophy AOI). I'm hoping for the University of Arizona but it's very competitive and I'm not holding my breath. There are some things that give me some hope. Based on my research of the Departments and the work of the faculty there I think I would be a very good fit. I've read research by Jerry Gaus, David Schmitz, Steven Wall, etc and thought to myself this is exactly the kind of research I want to produce someday. Also one of my recommenders isn't well known but was taught by Jerry Gaus when he was in undergrad and David Schmitz and him have collaborated recently. I've also applied to Brown, Georgetown, Virginia, Michigan, Duke, UNC, Tulane, BGSU, WUSTL. My "safety" programs are all M.A. programs. Georgia State, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Northern Illinois University. I'm most likely going to end up at GSU and that's fine with me. A student from my undergrad alma mater got into GSU just last year and I've been told I'm better than she was and would be fine to go straight to a Ph.D. program. Given the option between GSU and BGSU, Michigan, Duke, Tulane, etc I'd rather go to GSU for two years and then try again for Arizona, Brown, UVA, Georgetown. GSU's placement rating is quite good particularly for those four programs. At the moment applications are sent and I'm just waiting.