Director: Assistant Dean Sara Faherty (sara.faherty@utoronto.ca)

The Combined JD/PhD (Philosophy) Program enables students to pursue a profound investigation of the complex issues that lie at the intersection between law and philosophy.

The program allows students to complete the two degrees one year faster than if they were pursued separately. At the end of that period, the student will have completed the JD degree and reached the dissertation stage of the PhD in philosophy.

Admission to the PhD program requires either a four-year bachelor's degree or a Master's degree in philosophy, from a recognized university. A student seeking admission on the basis of a four-year bachelor's degree must have completed at least six full courses in philosophy (twelve semester courses), with minimum average grades of B+ in the applicants' overall program and A- in the philosophy courses. A student seeking admission on the basis of a master's degree in philosophy must have an average grade of at least an A- in that program. 

Requirements

  1. In the first year of the program students complete all the first year courses at the Faculty of Law.
  2. In the second and third years of the program, the Director must approve all courses* with the following minimum requirements.
  • Successfully complete 48** credits at the Faculty of Law AND
  • Successfully complete 4 half-courses in philosophy at 2 credits each AND
  • Satisfy the compulsory requirements of the upper years of the JD including the moot, a perspective course, and an International/Comparative/Transnational Perspective (ICT) course - see JD Degree Requirements in the Academic Handbook for details.
  • Courses taken during the second and third year count towards the credit requirement at the Faculty of Law.

 * In order to complete the requirements of the 3 year JD program, the student must have a minimum of 48 law credits in the second and third year of the program PLUS the 4 half-courses in Philosophy.

** Students who intend to complete their JD one year later (i.e. year 4) must do a minimum of 38 law credits in years 2 and 3 and the remaining 10 law credits in year 4. This may apply to students who decide to do more philosophy graduate courses in Year 2 and Year 3 than the required four half courses.

3.    In the fourth year of the program:

  • Students must complete qualifying year requirements in philosophy and meet the research tool requirement. 
  • Dissertation as required by the Department of Philosophy and the School of Graduate Studies.

Note: Notwithstanding the Department of Philosophy's course selection process, students must meet the Faculty of Law course selection deadline.

Students must submit their proposed course selections for years two and three of the program to the Director prior to the applicable course selection deadlines in each year and in each Faculty. Any changes must also be approved by the Director.

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Admissions

Those interested in the combined program must obtain separate admission to both the PhD program in philosophy and the JD program. The program is designed for students who are already qualified to enter the PhD in philosophy as well as the JD program, but in limited cases candidates who have completed a master's program in another discipline may be considered.

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Contact

To apply to the JD Program at the Faculty of Law, see Application Procedure for the JD Program on this Web site. For more information about this combined program, contact the: 

Admissions Office
Faculty of Law
University of Toronto
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5S 2C5
Telephone: (416) 978-3716
E-mail: admissions.law@utoronto.ca 

Admission applications for the PhD program in philosophy may be obtained from:

Graduate Department of Philosophy
Jackman Humanities Building
170 St. George Street, Room 410
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario M5R 2M8
Tel: (416) 978-3312
Fax: (416) 978-8703
For more information: http://philosophy.utoronto.ca/st-george/graduate/admission/

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