Applying to philosophy PhD programs w/multiple grad degrees?

In our latest "how can we help you?" thread, Claire writes:

I'm another unusual applicant to PhD programs, and I'm hoping for some advice on how to proceed. I have a PhD in History from Cambridge, with several prestigious scholarships. I also have one BA in Sociology (UCSC), another in History (UCR), a masters in medieval history (Cambridge), and another masters in urban and regional planning (Virginia). I also worked for a while in digital humanities and in cancer research (medical abstracting). I gave up on academia because History just didn't make me passionate enough, and I felt I would get backed into a temporal corner. I'm a broader thinker and needed something that makes my sense of wonder come alive. I now know that philosophy is what does that. I might seem like a perennial student, but the truth is, I've always sought out philosophical issues in each degree, and am currently writing a book that touches on philosophical topics in many ways. Writing this book is actually what got me looking into academic philosophy in the first place.

I want to dive into a PhD in philosophy now, and pursue research (and teaching, if I'm lucky) in the field. But how do I proceed with getting enough official philosophy background and letters of recommendation to be admitted? I have never taken a class in philosophy (but a lot of social theory, and a lot of independent reading). I have maxed out all student loan possibilities, so can't do a third BA or MA. What are my chances of being admitted straight to philosophy programs with my existing profile? Since I gave up on academia after my last PhD, I also haven't been in touch with anyone who might be a letter writer. I'm not sure what they'd think of me asking for one at this point. Any advice? Much appreciated.

Good questions! Amanda submitted the following response:

I think you'd be okay if it were just a history Ph.D., but all the other graduate degrees on top of that will probably work against you. People have a tendency toward "judgeness" in these situations (in my experience) and might see you, as you say, as a "professional student."

I would also be cautious about saying things about finding your passion in philosophy. As sad as it is, the field is full of philosophers who felt that way initially and now look back on that old self with a jaded eye roll. No, not everyone, but many are cynical and bitter, having learned that the profession is not what they hoped.

I'd argue that the best way to increase your odds of achieving your goals is to take a handful of philosophy courses (4-6) in the "core" areas, i.e., epistemology, metaphysics, history, ethics. These should be either upper-division undergrad courses or grad courses. I recommend taking them at a school with either an MA or Ph.D. program in philosophy. In-person is best as that would make it easier to get letters, but online courses would be okay. This would achieve both the goal of showing background in philosophy and getting letters of rec from philosophers. It would be best to find a program that allows people to enroll in one-off courses, but auditing could work with the right personal statement and letters of rec.

A possible alternative path would be to sneak your way into a Phil adjunct teaching position and then sell yourself as self-taught. With all your degrees, you will be able to get by with minimal official training. While in general, there is skepticism of self-teaching, a Ph.D. changes things. Create a syllabus and explain that your other academic work created a familiarization with philosophy. A school that really needs instructors might hire you. However, COVID is going to make things far more difficult than before.

Amanda's reply seems broadly right to me. I agree that there may be a danger of Claire coming across as a "professional student" who can't quite make up their mind about what they want to do. Given that in my experience philosophy PhD programs typically want and expect their graduates to go onto a career in philosophy, this could work against her. Then again, I imagine that Claire's unique background could look interesting to an admissions committee member. But in any case, I think Amanda is probably right: Claire should try taking some courses in philosophy, ideally graduate level ones. My spouse did this for a couple of years in her field (which was very different than her undergraduate degree), and it absolutely helped her to get into excellent PhD programs.

But these are just my thoughts. What are yours? It might be especially good (for obvious reasons) to hear from those who have served on PhD admissions committees!

Comments

[Assoc Prof]

Given the time required for a philosophy PhD, I wonder if the inquirer could instead find a way to work philosophy into their scholarship as a historian — by studying intellectual history, maybe, or the theoretical foundations of the field.

A similar tactic could apply for philosophers, too. If someone is interested in doing work in a related discipline, it is sometimes be possible to do this in the form of interdisciplinary research.

[anon grad student]

Disclaimer: I'm just a graduate student. If there is a good philosophy department near Claire, it might be worth seeing if she/they can sit in on some classes. My department at least seems pretty chill about that sort of thing. That seems like a good way to start making connections and getting to know potential letter writers.

[Another Grad Student]

Seconding the post by "Assoc Prof", Claire should first look into whether she can channel her philosophical interests to her work as a historian.

If she does find it necessary to pursue philosophy as such, I would suggest she double-check whether academic philosophy, as it is practiced in the Anglophone world, aligns closely with the sort of "philosophical" topics or interests that sparkle her interest. After all, much of the forms of inquiry that can be labeled as philosophy isn't given much attention by today's academic philosophers (meaning of life, broad reflection on human history, etc.) I suspect this is one of the reasons that so many philosophers are cynical toward beginners who declare broad passions for the discipline. So Claire would be well-advised to take a few courses in philosophy first in some collegiate form.

Lastly, if Claire does eventually decide to pursue philosophy full-time, she may benefit from one of the terminal MA programs. They should be helpful in helping her cultivate a respectable background in philosophy and help her figure out her research interests (hopefully in a way that her previous background, esp. PhD in history, can come in as an asset). Re her concerns over cost and loan, most of such programs (contrasting MA programs offered by PhD-granting departments) offer tuition scholarships, and quite a few of them provide stipend/living cost assistance/TA-ship, etc. See https://www.philosophicalgourmet.com/m-a-programs-in-philosophy for more.

[Claire]

OP here. Thank you, everyone, for your advice. Unfortunately, I live a 3-hour drive away from the nearest MA or PhD program, otherwise taking some graduate classes in one would be ideal. I've been looking for online MA programs that would help me transition to philosophy, but have found nothing in the US other than seminaries and evangelical colleges. There are online one-year masters' based in the UK, but with the exchange rate and overseas student rates, they are prohibitively expensive (in addition to being narrower in focus). Harvard extension has an online graduate certificate of 4 courses - the best solution I've found in the US, other than doing another BA. There do seem to be some decent online BA programs in philosophy. It's a shame that the trend hasn't continued into graduate programs (as far as I can tell - please let me know if there's a good one I've missed!)

But at least there are some funded in-person MA's, as Another Grad Student mentioned. Perhaps I will go down that route pre-PhD, depending on how many times I can convince my husband to move.

In any case, I am definitely starting to think of ways to join my previous doctoral work and potential teaching more explicitly with philosophy (sadly, the lack of colleges around here mostly limits the latter).

Thanks again to you all for the helpful suggestions!

[anon grad student]

(I'm the first anon grad student.) Another quick thought that's related to Assoc Prof's suggestion --- and that may even be what they had in mind --- is to try to collaborate with a philosopher. For example, there are ethicists who write things that are (I think) historically influenced: I'm thinking, e.g., of Kwame Anthony Appiah's The Honor Code.

I'm guessing that the 3-hr-drive thing will make that hard, but perhaps you could find people online. Also, personally, I would try to sit in on a real philosophy class --- and preferably at an institution that's either in the Leiter top 50 or that sends its undergrads to top 50 schools --- before applying to an MA. I would personally do this, because I think it's helpful to get some sense for the culture and sociological norms of professional philosophy before deciding whether to invest even an MA's worth of time into it. (Also I'm guessing getting letters from reputable people would help with getting into good, funded MAs, though I don't know how necessary this is.)