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Objectives
- Preparing philosophy researchers.
- Generating, consolidating and strengthening research groups in different areas of hermeneutical thinking, as well as ethics and political philosophy.
- Creating an academic venue for philosophical analysis of issues of national and global relevance.
Study Plan
The syllabus is divided in four areas:
Fundamentals Area
The objective is to guarantee that students acquire the necessary knowledge to conduct research on ethics, political philosophy, or hermeneutics, as well as the required skills to study philosophical texts. It is divided in two seminars. In the first seminar, they study one philosopher or school of thought that is considered a reference in Western tradition of ethics and political philosophy, or hermeneutics. The second seminar complements the first seminar through the study of related philosophers of schools of thought.
Concentration Area
The purpose is for students to broaden their knowledge about specific problems in the research areas of the Master's degree. It includes two seminars that should help students define the topic of their research and provide the necessary interpretation tools to develop their project.
Elective Complementary Area
It allows students to complement their philosophical knowledge with a related subject, according to their own research interest. It includes one seminar of the syllabus of any Master's degree course offered by the University.
Research Area
It includes one project seminar, during which students must define their research project, and two semesters of tutorship, during which the project director provides a personalized monitoring of the project development until the date of the defense.
Research or Concentration Areas
Ethics and Political Philosophy
The major currents in practical philosophy from classical and contemporary thinkers converge in the study of the motives and justification of human conduct, as well as in the origin and foundation of the state and the constitution of the citizen. The former is the subject of moral or ethical philosophy and is depicted in the study of concepts such as fair, good, and correct, from an individual and collective viewpoint. The lines of research on ethics comprise, among other issues, the relation between deontological and teleological ethics; Kantianism, utilitarianism and pragmatism in ethics; communitarianism's challenge to liberalism; gender perspectives in the construction of the moral person; naturalization of ethics; bioethics and biopower. Political philosophy deals with the problem of justification of exercising political power and its subsequent restriction to freedom. Its lines of research comprise the study of theories of justice and their influence on the theory of the state and society; the legitimation and legitimacy of the state; economic globalization, crisis of nation-states and universal justice, among others.
Hermeneutics
More than a particular philosophical doctrine, hermeneutics constitutes one of the most representative theoretical positions in the different currents of contemporary intellectual debates. Common to every type of hermeneutical discourse, it is the reluctance to create a theoretical system —regardless of its area— on a single universal principle that serves as ultimate criterion of truth or unquestionable standard for action. In this connection, hermeneutics aims at making justice to forms of human experience and knowledge that, although do not operate with standardized, commonly accepted schemes of scientific-instrumental rationality, represent genuine paths of access to the truth. This explains also the central role played by hermeneutics in recognizing the interpretative character of every discourse, of plurality and the inherent difference in culture, and the subsequent need for dialogue as the only way to determine the criteria to define truth and guidelines for action in a heterogeneous, ever-changing world. The lines of research in this area are based on the study of classical authors of hermeneutics such as Heidegger and Gadamer, on the investigation of their philosophical background from Aristotelian ethics to the conception of the interpretation in Nietzsche, and the application of these theoretical elements in fields such as ethics, aesthetics and politics, among others.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics as a philosophical area emerges in the 18th century, around the question of sensitive experience that allows us to relate to the world with an approach that transcend the mere cognitive or moral interest. Aesthetics deals with questions on criteria of taste; which factors determine that something is a work of art; the relation between aesthetic experience, knowledge and morale, and the connections between our historical-cultural horizon and beauty, between the sublime and art. Although the 20th century posed new problems for aesthetics, the previous question still remain and have expanded to include the current inquiries about its pertinence for politics, ethics and epistemology.
More than a specific philosophical subject, aesthetics is really a horizon of reflection that can be studied based on different approaches, such as hermeneutics, phenomenology and critical philosophy, among others. Bearing these approaches in mind, the lines of research to develop in this course include proposals that range from classical aesthetics to contemporary aesthetics, focusing mainly on fundamental concepts and authors of modern aesthetics; problematic relations between aesthetics and politics; and the connections between aesthetics and theory of art.
Model Program
First Semester
Second Semester
Third Semester
Alumni Profile
Master's degree graduates with non-philosophy undergraduate degrees will develop and strengthen complementary skills to analyze the philosophical dimension of their knowledge. They will have a specific and different profile that will strengthen understanding of their respective areas and will broaden their application fields.
Similarly, graduates with philosophy undergraduate degrees will enhance and complement their specific knowledge in the area, developing specific research skills that will improve their academic work.
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