MPhil Syllabus Mumbai University

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M.Phil. Programme

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 All prospective research scholars for M.Phil and Ph. D will submit a n application to the
Department ofPhilosophy to enroll into theprogramme.
 The process of admission includes submitting all relevant documents and anin terview.
 For both M.Phil and PhD , PET/NET/SET clearance isrequired.
 PET validity is now for three years as per new VCD 947 of2018
 TheDepartmentofPhilosophywillfollowtheUniversityofMumbaiVCD/947of2018availableo
nthe University of Mumbai Department of PhilosophyWebsite.
http://mu.ac.in/portal/wp -content/uploads/2014/05/examthesisunivvcd9472018.pdf


Aims and objectives for M.Phil / Ph.D programme
1. Acquainting the learner with the various themes and debates in the Contemporary Philosophy
2. Developing the ability for critical and close reading of Philosophical texts
3. Acquainting the learner with the conventions and nuances of Academic Writing
4. Exploring t he special aspects of Philosophical Research
5. Facilitating the identification of research problem that might orient the learner to work on a
dissertation
Learning Outcomes of the M.Phil / PhD Course Work
All research scholars and prospective candidates pursuing M.Phil/PhD and enrolling for this
course will be able to write research papers meant for presentation as well as publication and hone
their critical skills in application of concepts, identifying philosophical problems and learning to
analyze and develop original ideas, distinguish conceptual issues, leading to a dissertation or
thesis. He/She will also develop skills of organizing and participating in seminars, workshops and
conferences by availing of opportunities for active involvement in year r ound departmental
academic activities.
Coursework for M. Phil Degree and Ph. D in Philosophy
(Faculty of Humanities)

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4 | P a g e The following four papers will be offered as course work in the M. Phil programme with 4
credits each for Paper I (Research Methodology) and paper III (Advance course in
Philosophy titled ‘Critiques in Philosophy’) and three credits each for Paper II ( Study of a
Philosophical Text -I ) and Paper IV (Study of a Philosophical Text -II ) totaling 14 credits .



Semester I


PaperI - Research Methods & Techniques (3 Credits) (Three hours of teaching per
week) plus Self-study component comprised of academic tasks assigned in class leading to
internals evaluation for 1 credit: Tot al 4credits

Paper II - Study of a Philosophical Text (I): Critical Study of an Indian /Western Text as
decided every year by Faculty of the Department ( 2 Credits) (Two hours of teaching per week)
plus Self- study component comprised of academic tasks assigned in class leading to internals
evaluation for 1 credit: Total 3Credits



Semester II


Paper III - Critiques in Philosophy (3 Credits) (Three hours of teaching per week) plus Self-
study componen t comprised of academic tasks assigned in class leading to internals evaluation
for 1 credit: Total 4Credits

Paper IV - Study of a Philosophical Text (II): Critical Study of an Indian /Western Text as
decided every year by Faculty of the Department ( 2 Credits) (Two hours of teaching per week)
plus Self-study component comprised of academic tasks assigned in class leading to internals
evaluation for 1 credit: Total 3Credits
Paper I
Research Methodology

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5 | P a g e Semester I
Paper I: Research Methodology and Techniques
Unit I (25)
1. Forms of R esearch: Report, Article, Assignment, Dissertation andThesis;
2. Data collection: Qualitative and Quantitative methods, Text as data inphilosophy
3. ComputerApplications


Unit II (25)
4. Natural Science and Social ScienceResearch
5. Philosophical Research and Scienti ficResearch
6. Ethics of Research: Avoiding plagiarism inResearch





7. Methods andMethodology Unit III (25)
8. Methods in Western Philosophy - Analytical, Phenomenological, Dialectical,Feminist
9. Methods in Indian Philosophy - Empiricist, Rationalist, Exegetical,Sceptical


There will be an external examination of the Research Methods and Techniques paper for
75 marks and 25 marks are for internal evaluation

References :
1. Balasubrmanian, R. Research Methodology in Philosophy. Madras: RIASP,1984.
2. Buchler, Justus 1961 The Concept of Method. London: Columbia UniversityPress.
3. Carnap, Rudolf 1966 “The Experimental Method” in Philosophica Foundations of
Physics: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science , New York: Basi cBooks.
4. Collingwood, R.G. 1933 An Essay on Philosophical Method , Oxford: Clarendon Press.
5. Cummins & Slade 1979 Writing the Research Paper - Boston: Houghton MifflinCo.

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6 | P a g e 6. Dilthey, Wilhelm. 1996. Hermeneutics and the Study of History: Selected Works, Volume
IV. Edited by R. A. Makkreel and F. Rodi. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UniversityPress.
7. Hempel, Carl. 1966 (1932) “The Function of General Laws in History” in 20 th Century
Philosophy: The Analytic Tradition ed. Morris Weitz, 254 -68. New York: The FreePress.
8. Kothari C.R.1985 Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques. New Delhi: Wiley
EasternLtd.
9. Parsons, C.F. 1973 Thesis and Project Work London: George Allen andUnwin.
10. Passmore, John 1961 Philosophical Reasoning. London: GeraldDuckworth.
11. Feinberg,J oel2002 DoingPhilosophy:AGuidetotheWritingofPhilosophyPapers
Wadsworth: Belmont.
12. Martinich, A.P. 1995 Philosophical Writing: An Introduction Blackwell:Malden
13. Makkreel, Rudolf. 2009. “Hermeneutics” in A Companion to the Philosophy of History
and Historiography ed. Aviezer Tucker, 529 -539. Malden MA and Oxford:
WileyBlackwell.
14. MLA Handbook 8thEdition
15. Passmore, John 1961Philosophical Reasoning. London: GeraldDuckworth
16. Sherratt, Yvonne. 2006. Continental Philosophy of Social Science: Hermeneutics,
Genealogy and Critical Theory from Greece to the Twenty -First Century Cambridge:
Cambridge UniversityPress.
17. Vaughn, Lewis Writing Philosophy: A Student’s Guide to Writing PhilosophyEssays.
18. Wallerstein, Immanuel et al.1996. Open the Social Sciences: Report of the Gulbenkian
Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences New Delhi: VistaarPublications.
19. Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences, New Delhi: Vistaar
Publications

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In this paper a student is required to make a critical study of one philosophical text with the help
of the guiding teacher. The text may be chosen with the help of the guiding teacher at the
beginning of the course as per the course requirement of the students and keeping in mind their
dissertation topic. The texts selected for study will be submitted to the Department Research
Committee /Research Advisory Committee for approval.

The student should give in writing the text which she or he wishes to study and prepare a
bibliography of the articles and books related to it. She or he will have to read the text critically,
present the key arguments in the text and justify th e appraisal given. The student is also expected
to critically evaluate what others have said about the text.

There will be an external examination for this paper for 75 marks and internal assessment
for 25 marks. Paper II: Study of One Philosoph ical Text (I)
(75)

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Paper III: Critiques in Philosophy Semester II


Unit I
Empiricism and Critique (25)
a. Problems of Induction (Hume) and Critical Rationality (KarlPopper)
b. Myth of the Given (Sellars) and The Two Dogmas of Empiricism (W.V.O.Quine)
c. The Myth of the Subjective (Davidson) and On the very idea of a conceptual
scheme(Davidson)
d. Incommensurability (ThomasKuhn)


Unit II


Contribution of Contemporary Indian Thinkers (25)
1. Nature, place and status of Mysticism in Indian tradition: (Matilal B.K., “The Logical
Illumination of IndianMysticism”)
2. Is the Indian -Western divide in Philosophy justified? (Mohanty J.N. “What the East and
the West can learn from each other inPhilosophy?”)
3. A methodological look at the pre -suppositions of Indian Philosophy: (Daya Krishna,
“Three Conception s of IndianPhilosophy”)
4. Situating Buddha: (Kulkarni N.G., “Was the Buddha ARationalist?”)
Unit III
Enlightenment and Critique (25):
1. The Enlightenment as public use of reason (Kant)
2. The dialectic of Myth and Enlightenment (Adorno & Horkheimer)
3. The Enlightenment as Unfinished (Habermas)
4. The Enlightenment and Gender (Schott)

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9 | P a g e Reading List


Unit I: References
1. Popper Karl, The Logic of Scientific Discovery , Hutchinson, London,1959
2. Quine WVO, “Two dogmas of Empiricism” in Philosophical Review (60)1951
3. WVO, Quine, “Epistemology Naturalized” in Ontological Relativity and Other Essays,
Columbia University Press, New York,1969
4. Kuhn, Thomas, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, University of Chicago Press,
Chicago,1962
5. Davidson, D, “The Myth of the Subjective” in Subjective Intersubjective Objective,
OUP, 2001
6. Sellars, W., “Myth of the Given” in Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind, Harvard
University Press, 1997

Unit II: References
1. Philosophy, Culture and Religion: Mind Language and World -The Coll ected Essays of
Bimal Krishna Matilal Ed. By Jonardan Ganeri, OUP, Delhi, 2002 pp.38 -64
2. Explorations in Philosophy: Indian Philosophy - Essays By J.N. Mohanty, Ed. Bina
Gupta, Oxford, 2001pp.83 -101
3. Indian Philosophy: A Counter Perspective, by Daya Krishna, OUP, Delhi, New York,
1991 pp. 16 -34
4. Philosophical Reasoning: Critical Essays on Issues in Metaphysics, Language, Logic,
Ethics and Indian Philosophy by Prof. N.G. Kulkarni, Ed. By Geeta Ramana, Sarvodaya
Books, New Delhi, 2015pp.373 -381

Unit III References
1. Horkheimer, Max & Theodor W. Adorno, 2002, Dialectic of Enlightenment. Standford:
Stanford University Press.
2. Habermas, J ürgen 1987 The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity: Twelve Lectures
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press

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Paper IV: Study of One Philosophical Text (II) (75) 1997 “Modernity: An Unfinished Project” in Habermas and the Unfinished Project of
Modernity ed. Maurizio Passerin d’Entr éves and Seyla Benhabib Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press
3. Kant, Immanuel 2006 “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment” in Toward
Perpetual Peace and Other Writings on Politics, Peace and History ed. Pauline Kleingeld
New Haven and London: Yale University Press
4. Schott, Robin May 1997 “The Gender of Enlighte nment” in Feminist Interpretations of
Immanuel Kant ed. Robin May Schott University Park: The Pennsylvania University
Press





In this paper a student is required to make a critical study of one philosophical text with the help
of the guiding teacher. The text may be chosen with the help of the guiding teacher at the
beginning of the course as per the course requirement of the students and keeping in mind their
dissertation topic. The texts select ed for study will be submitted to the department research
committee for approval.
The student should give in writing the text which he or she wishes to study and prepare a
bibliography of the articles and books related to it. She or he will have to read th e text critically,
present the key arguments in the text and justify the appraisal given. The student is also expected
to critically evaluate what others have said about the text.
There will be an external examination for this paper for 75 marks and inter nal assessment
for 25 marks.

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