Revised MPhilSyllabus 2018 Credit Semester and PhD Course Work 1 Syllabus Mumbai University

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University of Mumbai
Department of Philosophy
M. Phil Degree and Ph. D Degree in PHILOSOPHY (Faculty of
Humanities)

All prospective research scholars for M.Phil and Ph. D will submit an application to
the Department of Philosophy to enroll into the programme.

The process of admission includes submitting all relevant documents and fulfilling
the criteria as laid down by the UGC.

The Department of Philosophy w ill follow in general the UGC guidelines M.Phil /Phd
of May 2016 available on the University of Mumbai Department of philosophy
website ( www.mu.ac.in/philosophy ) and adopted by the University of Mumbai in
November 2017


 M. Phil Degree
1. The M. Phil. D egree programme in philosophy shall consist of course work
consisting of three theory papers in the first two semesters and one
dissertation during the third and fourth semesters


2. A candidate, admitted to the M. P hil. Course, is required to pay tuition and
other fees, if any, from the date of registration till the date of submission of
the dissertation.

3. Candidates have to maintain an attendance of 75% as per University norms
for all the theory papers.

4. Continuou s evaluation through seminars, discussions, workshops, per iodic
tests, book reviews, film/ text interpre tation and projects is an integral part
of the M. Phil. Course programme. The teacher shall devise the method of
implementation of such continuous evaluation. Hence, there wi ll be internal
evaluation for 25 marks for each of the theory papers.

5. Ordinarily the medium of answers for the M. Phil. Examination shall be
English.

6. There will be a final examination of 75 marks for each theory paper.

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7. To pass the theory examination, a candidate must obtain a minimum of 55 %
or its equivalent in the UGC 7 point scale grading system in all the four
papers.

8. The candidate will be eligible to appear for the final examination in the
theory papers on complet ion of two semesters. A candidate who has
appeared and passed the theory examinations in all the papers at the end of
the two semesters will be eligibl e to submit the dissertation before the end
of the fourth semester.

9. On failing to submit the dissertat ion within the stipulated time, the candidate
shall be required to register afresh for the course, and the result of the
theory papers already obtained shall be treated as null and void.

10. No candidate will be permitted to submit the dissert ation, unless sh e/he has
passed all the three theory papers.

11. The candidate will be admitted to appear for the theory examination as a
whole or paper wise on application in the prescribed form and payment of
prescribed examination fee. Similarly, the candidate shall pay the prescribed
fees while submitting the dissertation for evaluation .

12. The allocation of research supervisor for a selected research scholar for M.
Phil as well as PhD shall take into account the research interests of the
schol ar as indicated during the time of the interview/ viva voce , the
availability of supervisor s, the specializations within the faculty of t he
department and the relevant UGC guidelines.

13. On completion, the candidate will submit the dissertation to the Depart ment
in triplicate, duly certified by candidate and guide as original research .

14. On the acceptance of the dissertation by an external examiner d uly
appointed by the University and the viva voce conducted by the external
examiner and Guide, the candidate wi ll be declared to have passed the M.
Phil. Degree examinati on.

15. A candidate who is enrolled for the M. Phil. Degree course but does not clear
all the theory papers in the first attempt can be permitted for re -exami nation
when it is offered again subject to fulfilling of terms of attendance
participation and internals evaluation.

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The following three papers will be offered as course work in the M. Phil
programme with 4 credits each for paper I and paper II and six credits for paper III
which is an advance course in philosophy titled ‘ Critiques in Philosophy’ totaling
14 credits .
Semester I

Paper I Research Methods & Techniques (2 Credits) (Two hours of teaching
per week) plus Self- study component comprised of academic tasks assigne d in class
(2 Credits –evaluated as internals))

Paper II Critical Study of an Indian 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 ( 2 Credits -evaluated as
internals )

Semester II

Paper III Critiques in Philosophy (3 Credits) (Three hours of teaching per week)
plus Self- study component c omprised of academic tasks assigned in class (3 credits -
evaluated as internals)

Semester I

Paper I : Research Methodology and Techniques

Unit 1 (25)
1. Forms of Research : Report, Article, Assignm ent, Dissertation, and Thesis;
2. Data collection: Qualitative and Quantitative meth ods, Text as data in
philosophy
3. Computer Applications

Unit II (25)
4. Natural Scien ce and Social Science Research
5. Philosophical Research and Scientific Research.
6. Ethics of Research: Avoiding plagiarism in research.

Unit III (25)

7. Methods and Methodology
8. Methods in Western Philosophy - Analytical, Phenomenological, Dialectical,
Feminist
9. Methods in Indian Philosophy - Empiricist, Rationalist, Exegetical, Sceptical

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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. Lo ndon: Columbia University
Press.
3. Carnap, Rudolf 1966 “The Experimental Method” in Philosophical
Foundations of Physics: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science , New
York: Basic Books.
4. Collingwood, R.G. 1933 An Essay on Philosophical Method , Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
5. Cummins & Slade 1979 Writing the Research Paper - Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co 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 University Press.
7. Hempel, Carl. 1966 (1932) “The Function of General Laws in History” in
20th Century Philosophy: The Analytic Tradition ed. Morris Weitz, 254 -68.
New York: The Free Press
8. Kothari C.R.1985 Research Methodology: Methods & Techniques. New
Delhi: Wiley Eastern Ltd.
9. ParsonsC.F 1973 Thesis and Project Work London: George Allen and
Unwin.
10. Passmore, John 1961 Philosophi cal Reasoning. London: Gerald
Duckworth. 11. Feinberg, Joel 2002 Doing Philosophy: A Guide to the
Writing of Philosophy Papers 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: Wiley Blackwell.
14. MLA Handbook 8th Edition
15. Passmore, John 1961Philosophical Reasoning. London: Gerald Duckworth
16. Sherratt, Yvonne. 2006. Continental Philosophy o f Social Science:
Hermeneutics, Genealogy and Critical Theory from Greece to the Twenty -
First Century Camb ridge: Cambridge University Press.
17. Vaughn, Lewis Writing Philosophy: A Student’s Guide to Writing
Philosophy Essays .
18. Wallerstein, Immanuel et al.1996. Open the Social Sciences: Report of the
19. Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the S ocial Sciences New
Delhi: Vistaar Publications

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Paper II : Study of One Philosophical Text (75)

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 selecte d 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.


Semester II : Paper III : Critiques in Philosophy


Unit I
Post Positivist Responses and Challenges (25)
a. Problems of Induction and Critical Rationality (Karl Popper )
b. The Two Dogmas of Empiricism (WVO Quine )
c. On the very idea of a conceptual scheme (Davidson)
d. Incommensurability ( Thomas Kuhn )

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 Indian Mysticism”)
2. Is the Indian -Western divide in Philosophy justified? (Mohanty J.N. “What the
East and the West can learn from each other in Philosophy?”)
3. A methodological look at the pre -suppositions of Indian Philosophy: (Daya
Krishna, “Three Concept ions of Indian Philosophy”)
4. Situating Buddha: (Kulkarni N.G, “Was the Buddha A Rationalist?”)

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Unit III: (25)

Structuralist and poststructuralist perspectives on language:
a)Ferdinand de Saussure: influence, sign -signifier, langue -parole, structure
b)Michel Foucault - appropriation of Nietzsche, critique of modern human
sciences; archaeological project; discourse on language
c)Jacques Derrida: appropriation of Heidegger, crit ique of phonocentrism,
différance
d)Luce Irigaray: critique of “specula(riza)tion”, “Woman” as a placeholder for
différance , writing the feminine, “mechanics’ of fluids”

Beyond the symbolic order:
a)Gilles Deleuze: appropriation of Bergson & renewal of m etaphysics, from a
“logic of sense” (language) to thinking (with F élix Guattari) on “bodies
without organs” (nature)
b)Rosi Briadotti: difference, gendered nomadism, zōē’s biological
egalitarianism
c)Alain Badiou: appropriation of Plato & Marx, ontology and mathematics,
event.
d)Slavoj Žižek: appropriation of German idealism & Marx, subject and
ideology, the Real.
(Any four topics in Unit III may be covered)
Reading List
Unit I: References

1. Popper Karl, The Logic of Scientific Discovery , Hutchinson, L ondon, 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 Revo lutions, University of
Chicago Press, Chicago, 1962.
Unit II: References
1. Philosophy, Culture and Religion: Mind Language and World -The Collected 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, 2001 pp.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, 2015 pp.373 -381

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Unit III References
Badiou, Alain 2003 Infinite Thought: Truth and the Return to Philosoph y Continuum:
London and New York
2005 Being and Event Continuum: London and New York
Briadotti, Rosi 1993 “Embodiment, Sexual Difference, and the Nomadic Subject”
Hypatia , 8 (1), pp. 1 -13
1994“Toward a New Nomadism: Feminist Deleuzian Tracks; or,
Metaphysics and Metabolism,” in Constantin Boundas & Dorothea Olkowski
(eds.) Gilles Deleuze and the Theatre of Philosophy Routledge: New York
2002 Metamorphoses: Towards a Materialist Theory of Becoming Polity:
Cambridge
2006 Transp ositions On Nomadic Ethics Cambridge Malden: Polity Press
2009 “Animals, Anomalies, and Inorganic Others” PMLA , 124 (2): 526 -532
Derrida, Jacques 1989/1978 Edmund Husserl's Origin of Geometry: An Introduction
University of Nebraska Press: Nebraska
1978 Writing and Difference University of Chicago Press: Chicago
1982 Margins of Philosophy , tr., Alan Bass, University of Chicago Press:
Chicago
2002 “ Geschlecht: Sexual Difference, Ontological Difference” in Heidegger
Reexamined vol 1 ed. Hubert Dreyfus a nd Mark Wrathall Routledge: New York and
London
Deleuze, Gilles 1990 (1969) The Logic of Sense Columbia University Press: New York
& Félix Guttari 1987 (1980) A Thousand Plateaus University of Minnesota
Press: Minneapolis
1988 (1986) Foucault University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis
Foucault, Michel 1973 (1966) The Order of Things Vintage: New York
1972 ( 1969) The Archaeology of Knowledge Harper and Row: New
York
2003 Abnormal: Lectures at the Collège de France 1974 -75 Verso: London
Gatens, Moira 2000 Feminism as "Password": Re -Thinking the "Possible" with
Spinoza and Deleuze” Hypatia , 15 (2): 59 -75
Glendinning, Simon 1999 Edinburgh Encyclopedia of Continental Philosophy
Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh (Relevant essays)
Gutting, Gary, 1989 Michel Foucault's Archaeology of Scientific Reason Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge
Irigaray Luce 1985a Speculum of the Other Woman . Ithaca: Cornell University Press
1985b This Sex which is not One. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
2004 “Towards a Sharing of Speech” in her Key Writings , 77-94. London:
Continuum.
Saussure, Ferdinand de 2011 (1916) Course in General Linguist ics Columbia
University Press: New York
Sturrock, John 1979 Structuralism and Since Oxford University Press : Oxford
Žižek, Slavoj 2003 (1993) Tarrying with the Negative: Kant, Hegel and the Critique of
Ideology Duke University Press: Durham
Students can refer to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

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University of Mumbai

Department of Philosophy
Ph. D Degree in PHILOSOPHY (Faculty of Humanities)

 Ph. D Degree

1. The course work for Ph. D in Philosophy will consist of the following:
a. Four Credit course in paper titled “ Research Methodology and Techniques ”
offered during the second half of the term, that is October - November.
b. Four credit course in “Study of One Philosophical Text ”.
c. One credit advanced course o f paper titled “Critiques in Philosophy”. This
means that the research scholar attempts a written test (external evaluation)
for 25 marks in any one unit of this paper and submits an assignment for 25
marks (internal evaluation) in that unit.
 The research scholar will require 75 % at tendance in each of the
three credit courses as detailed above.
 The evaluation and credit for the course work will follow the
academic structure and modality indicated in the M.Phil programme
which will also offer the course to students registered for a Ph .D.
 A course completion certificate will thereafter be issued on passing
the above 9 credit course work with 55% in all the papers.

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