Curriculum of the MA and PhD in Philosophy
of the Natural and Cognitive Sciences
The Superior Council of the Universidad Austral approved through Resolutions Nº 57/19 and Nº 60/19 the curricula of the Master’s and Doctorate in Philosophy with Orientation in the Fundamentals of Natural and Cognitive Sciences. The approved plan, shared almost entirely by both programs, is as follows:
| Cod. | Asignatura | Régimen | Modalidad | Carga Horaria | ||||||
| Teórica | Práctica | Total | ||||||||
Ciclo de Fundamentación |
||||||||||
| 1 | Cuestiones de epistemología | Trimestral | Virtual | 35 | – | 35 | ||||
| 2 | Introducción a la filosofía de la física y de las ciencias formales | Trimestral | Virtual | 30 | – | 30 | ||||
| 3 | Introducción a la filosofía de la química y de la biología | Trimestral | Virtual | 30 | – | 30 | ||||
| 4 | Filosofía de la persona y ciencias cognitivas | Trimestral | Virtual | 35 | – | 35 | ||||
| 5 | Ciencia y sociedad | Trimestral | Virtual | 35 | – | 35 | ||||
| 6 | Ciencia y teología | Trimestral | Virtual | 35 | – | 35 | ||||
| 7 | Relaciones históricas entre ciencia y religión | Trimestral | Virtual | 35 | – | 35 | ||||
| 8 | Cuestiones éticas en torno a la ciencia y a la tecnología | Trimestral | Virtual | 35 | – | 35 | ||||
| Carga horaria total | 270 | |||||||||
Ciclo Metodológico |
||||||||||
| 9 | Metodología de la investigación I | Bimestral | Virtual | – | 52 | 52 | ||||
| 10 | Metodología de la investigación II* | Bimestral | Semipresencial | – | 64 | 64 | ||||
| 11 | Metodología de la investigación III* | Bimestral | Semipresencial |
12
|
40 | 52 | ||||
| 12 | Metodología de la investigación IV*** | Bimestral | Virtual | – | 40 | 40 | ||||
| Carga horaria total | 208 | |||||||||
Ciclo de Especialización |
||||||||||
| 13 | Seminarios de Especialización | – | Presencial o Virtual | 130 | ||||||
| Carga horaria total | 130 | |||||||||
Actividades Complementarias |
||||||||||
| 14 | Tutoría Académica Personalizada | 40 | ||||||||
Actividades de Investigación |
Maestría |
Doctorado |
||||||||
| 15 | Trabajo de Tesis | 1000 | 3000 | |||||||
Carga horaria total de la carrera |
1608 |
3648 |
||||||||
* La asignatura divide su carga horaria en 50 horas a distancia y 14 horas presenciales.
** La asignatura divide su carga horaria en 40 horas a distancia y 12 horas presenciales.
*** La asignatura Metodología de la Investigación IV solamente será dictada para alumnos del Doctorado.
Organisation of the curriculum
Both careers have a semi-structured curriculum that is dictated under the distance modality. The curriculum is comprised of:
Foundation Cycle: this cycle introduces the essential contents for interdisciplinary dialogue between the natural and cognitive sciences, philosophy and theology. It consists on eight compulsory courses. The subjects, on the one hand, ensure all students access to minimum contents of the contemporary interdisciplinary dialogue between natural sciences, philosophy and theology. On the other hand, they present an overview of the various approaches that frame interdisciplinary research: 1) epistemological framing; 2) the fundamentals of natural sciences (philosophy of physics, chemistry, biology, etc.); 3) the study of the human person; 4) the ethical dimension; 5) the relationships between science and society; 6) the historical perspective; 7) the dialogue between science and theology.
Methodologycal Cycle: the methodological cycle is completed with the development of three or four research methodology workshops. The first two workshops will focus on the development of academic writing skills. The third workshop will lay the foundations for the development of the thesis project. The last workshop, typical of the doctorate, will take place at the end of the degree and will guide future doctoral students in the writing of a postdoctoral research project.
Specialisation Cycle: students must attend at least 150 hours of optional seminars offered by the Institute of Philosophy, another Academic Unit of the Austral University, or other Universities or Research Centers.
This cycle is recognised as a personalised phase where students select, with the guidance of their academic tutor, the specialisation seminars they wish to carry out.
Students will be able to carry out the seminars offered by the Institute of Philosophy at the time of enrollment to the race or all those seminars that are created in the future, both in face-to-face and distance mode.
Below is a tentative list of specialisation cycle seminars organized by modality:
| Virtuales | Presenciales |
|---|---|
| Consciencia y autoconsciencia: Cuestiones neurobiológicas | Causación y agentividad humana |
| Teología y método analítico | Contingencia y acción divina |
| Psicología positiva | Cosmología y teología |
| Filosofía de la química | Inteligencia artificial |
| Filosofía de la biología | Epistemología de la religión |
| Reducción, emergencia y superveniencia | Evolución |
| Filosofía de la información | Filosofía de la mente |
| Origen del hombre | Filosofía de la neurociencia |
| Teología filosófica: argumentos a favor y en contra de la existencia de Dios | El fenómeno de la vida: definición, su origen en la tierra y su búsqueda en el universo |
| Problemas de filosofía de la física | Transhumanismo |
| Teología y medioambiente | El debate sobre el determinismo |
| Identidad personal | El debate sobre el realismo científico |
| Neurobiología y experiencia del dolor | Perspectiva de segunda persona |
| El problema de la flecha del tiempo y la irreversibilidad en física |
|
| Modelos cosmológicos contemporáneos | |
| Biología evolutiva del desarrollo | |
| Fenomenología de la corporalidad | |
| Problemas ontológicos de la mecánica cuántica |
This new hybrid postgraduate programs require students to work remotely on virtual classrooms for most of the program, and to participate in four residential on-campus Intensive Study Weeks (two consecutive weeks each of the first two years), in which students will participate on graduate discussion seminars and workshops with world leaders on offered subjects.
The program includes personalised supervision for each student by an Academic Tutor, who will ensure the best distance learning experience on all aspects of the program. It is expected that students will need to dedicate two full days per week for coursework, study-time, and tutorials during the first two years.
Thesis work: to obtain the Master’s or Doctor’s degree it is a mandatory requirement to complete and pass the master’s or doctoral dissertation. This will consist of an original contribution to a specific topic, framed in a recent research or discussion area at the intersection of philosophy and science.
Original contribution means any of the following items:
- the proposal and defense of a novel thesis, argued from a rigorous state of affairs;
- the development of a novel argument for or against a relevant position in an ongoing discussion;
- the demonstration of un-themed assumptions or of unresolved and unnoticed problems in an ongoing investigation or discussion;
- the proposal of a superior, methodological or content position, within the framework of an ongoing investigation or discussion.
The final extension of the Master’s dissertation will be between 15,000 and 25,000 words, and that of the Doctoral dissertation will be between 60,000 and 80,000 words, including the notes and excluding the bibliography. As a whole, notes and quotes will not exceed 15% of the total work extension.
Academic Schedule
The first cohort of the MA and PhD programs will have the following schedule:
Induction to the programs (online): 20-31 July 2020.
First Semester (online): 3 August – 13 November 2020.
On-campus Seminars (Pilar Campus): 30 November – 11 December 2020.
Second Semester (online): 1 March – 16 July 2021.
Third Semester (online): 2 August – 3 December 2021.
On-campus Seminars (Pilar Campus): 21 February – 4 March 2022.
Fourth Semester (online): 7 March – 17 June 2022.
Graduate profile
The programs are geared for students to develop the following skills:
- Understand the philosophical foundations of contemporary scientific discussions.
- Philosophically analyze various questions posed by research in physics, chemistry, biology and cognitive sciences.
- Understand the great currents of thought related to the relationship between science and philosophy.
- Exercise critical thinking that values the contributions of science and philosophy.
- Recognize the cognitive reach of scientific and philosophical methodologies.
- Rethink various classic anthropological and ethical problems in light of contemporary scientific research.
- Identify and analyze the theological questions raised by research in physics, chemistry, biology and cognitive sciences.
- Autonomously develop a personal research project, which can be framed in the work of an interdisciplinary team of science, philosophy and / or theology. (Doctorate)
