This report ranks graduate programs primarily on the basis of the quality of faculty. In October 2017, we conducted an on-line survey of approximately 550 philosophers throughout the English-speaking world. The survey was built using Qualtrics survey software and run by the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Research (CITR) at Western Illinois University. 274 philosophers responded and completed some or all of the surveys. The survey presented 91 faculty lists, from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand. Note that there are some 110 PhD-granting programs in the U.S. alone, but it would be unduly burdensome for evaluators to ask them to evaluate all these programs each year. The top programs in each region were selected for evaluation, plus a few additional programs are included each year to “test the waters.”
The faculty lists are based on current information as to their shape for fall 2018, and are confined to full- or part-time faculty (status indicated), excluding adjuncts. Emeritus faculty members were also excluded. A penultimate copy of the draft list can be found here (LR link to file). Or ask W-B if they want a PDF they host on their site.
The lists that followed indicated which faculty were age 70-74 in 2018 with an *, and which were 75 or older in 2018 with a #, which were part-time, and which were philosophers or cognate faculty in other units at the university, but involved with the supervision of PhD students.
Different respondents had different “centers of gravity” in their scoring: some gave no 5s, others gave no score lower than a 2. It was also clear that respondents had different philosophies of evaluation: some clearly tried to consider the breadth of strength in a department, while others ranked a program highly or lowly based simply on its strength in his or her fields. The range of evaluations for single departments should be a cautionary note to all undergraduates about relying too much on the advice of just one or two faculty advisors. Idiosyncrasy abounds, even at top departments!
As in the past, we did not include the name of the university with the faculty lists. This has proved beneficial in forcing evaluators to respond to the current faculty. As one respondent put it a few years ago: “surprisingly tough to say what I think, without the institutional halo effect front loaded.”
The survey prompt for each list of faculty was:
Please rate the overall quality of the graduate program’s faculty.
The survey taker was then given a dropdown menu from which to select a ranking:
At the top of the list there was a blank for non-responses. The blank was the default for all responses even in the specialty areas.
The invitation letter gave invitees instructions on several matters, including which schools and specialty areas to rate. Specifically they were told: “Individuals should NOT rate their Ph.D. granting institution or graduate programs that employs them. The editors will “clean” the data of any such stray ratings.” All of the improper and stray ratings of this sort were removed from the data set before the calculation of the means in both the overall ratings and the specialty ratings.
“Faculty quality” should be taken to encompass the quality of philosophical work and talent represented by the faculty and the range of areas they cover, with the two weighted as you think appropriate. Since the rankings are used by prospective students, about to embark on a multi-year course of study, you may also take in to account, as you see fit, considerations like the status (full-time, part-time) of the faculty; the age of the faculty (as a somewhat tenuous guide to prospective availability, not quality); and the quality of training the faculty provide, to the extent you have information about this.
Evaluators were selected with an eye to balance, in terms of area, age and educational background–though since, in all cases, the opinions of research-active faculty were sought, there was, necessarily, a large number of alumni of the top programs represented. Approximately half those surveyed were philosophers who had filled out the surveys in previous years; the other half were nominated by members of the Advisory Board, who picked research-active faculty in their fields.
Despite the increase in the total number, and diversity, of respondents, the results were remarkably stable from prior years: where there were changes, there were rational reasons for those changes.
Here are the philosophers, by field, who filled out reputational surveys this year. The school from which the evaluator received the PhD (or equivalent) is listed in parentheses. A very rough characterization of the philosopher’s area(s) is given in the last column. Here are the 274 evaluators who completed some or all of the overall and specialty survey.
Name | PhD School | Current School | AREAS |
---|---|---|---|
Anna Alexandrova | University of California, San Diego | Cambridge University | PS&M, M&E |
Torin Alter | University of California, Los Angeles | University of Alabama | M&E |
Mark Alznauer | University of Chicago | Northwestern University | History |
Kristin Andrews | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul | York University , Toronto | PS&M |
Stephen Angle | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Wesleyn | Value, Chinese |
Kwame Anthony Appiah | Cambridge University | New York University | Race, Feminism, Value |
Avery Archer | University of St. Andrews/Stirling Joint Program | George Washington University | M&E, Value, PS&M |
Andre Ariew | University of Arizona | University of Missouri | PS&M |
Brad Armendt | University of Illinois, Chicago | Arizona State University | PS&M, M&E |
Joachim Aufderheide | University of St. Andrews/Stirling Joint Program | King's College, London | History |
Murat Aydede | University of Maryland | University of British Columbia | M&E, PS&M |
David Bakhurst | Oxford University | Queen's University | M&E, Value |
Rachel Barney | Princeton University | University of Toronto | History, Value |
Jeffrey Barrett | Columbia University | University of California, Irvine | PS&M, M&E |
John Bengson | University of Texas, Austin | University of Wisconsin | M&E, Value |
Jose Bermudez | Cambridge University | Texas A&M University | M&E, PS&M |
Sven Bernecker | Stanford University | University of California, Irvine | M&E, PS&M |
Jessica Berry | University of Texas, Austin | Georgia State University | History |
Christopher Bertram | University College London | University of Bristol | Value |
Cristina Bicchieri | Cambridge University | University of Pennsylvania | PS&M, Value, M&E |
John Bickle | University of California, Irvine | Missisippi State University | PS&M, M&E |
Alexander Bird | Cambridge University | University of Bristol | PS&M, M&E |
Brian Bix | Oxford University | University of Minnesota | Value |
Chris Bobonich | University of California, Berkeley | Stanford University | History, Value |
Paul Boghossian | Princeton University | New York University | M&E |
David Bourget | Australian National University | University of Western Ontario | M&E, PS&M |
David Braddon-Mitchell | Australian National University | Sydney | M&E, PS&M |
David Braun | University of California, Los Angeles | University at Buffalo | M&E |
Lee Braver | Emory University | University of South Florida | History |
Tad Brennan | Princeton University | Cornell University | History |
Bill Brewer | Oxford University | King's College, London | M&E |
Berit Brogaard | University at Buffalo | University of Miami | M&E, PS&M |
John Brunero | Columbia University | University of Nebraska | Value |
Lara Buchak | Princeton University | University of California, Berkeley | PS&M, M&E |
Alex Byrne | Princeton University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | M&E, PS&M |
Agnes Callard | University of California, Berkeley | University of Chicago | History, M&E, Value |
Taylor Carman | Stanford University | Columbia University | History |
John Carriero | Harvard University | University of California, Los Angeles | History, M&E |
Peter Carruthers | Oxford University | University of Maryland | M&E, PS&M, History |
Thomas Carson | Brown University | Loyola/Chicago | Value, History |
Victor Caston | University of Texas, Austin) | University of Michigan | History |
Mazviita Chirimuuta | University of Bristol | University of Pittsburgh | PS&M, M&E |
Maudemarie Clark | University of Wisconsin, Madison | University of California, Riverside | History |
Jonathan Cohen | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | University of California, San Diego | M&E, Value, PS&M |
Juan Comesaña | Brown University | University of Arizona | M&E |
Kevin Connolly | University of Toronto | Minerva Schools at KGI | PS&M, M&E |
Roger Crisp | Oxford University | Oxford University | Value |
Steven Crowell | Yale University | Rice University | History |
Javier Cumpa | Madrid) | Madrid | PS&M, M&E |
Gregory Currie | University of California, Berkeley | University of York | Value, M&E |
David Danks | University of California, San Diego | Carnegie Mellon University | PS&M |
Stephen Darwall | University of Pittsburgh | Yale University | Value, History |
Shamik Dasgupta | New York University | University of California, Berkeley | M&E, PS&M |
Stephen Davies | University College London | University of Auckland | Value |
Jake Davis | City University of New York Graduate Center | New York University | Chinese, Value, PS&M |
Keith DeRose | University of California, Los Angeles | Yale University | M&E |
Dan Devereux | University of Chicago | University of Virginia | History, Value |
John Doris | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Washington University St. Louis | Value, PS&M, M&E |
Stephen Downes | Virginia Tech | University of Utah | PS&M, M&E |
James Dreier | Princeton University | Brown University | Value |
Julia Driver | Johns Hopkins University | Washington University St. Louis | Value |
Gerald Dworkin | University of California, Berkeley | University of California, Davis | Value |
David Ebrey | University of California, Los Angeles | University of California, Berkeley | History |
William Edmundson | University of California, Berkeley | Georgia State University | Value |
Frances Egan | University of Western Ontario | Rutgers University | M&E, PS&M |
Marc Ereshefsky | University of Wisconsin, Madison | University of Calgary | PS&M |
Jeremy Fantl | Brown University | University of Calgary | M&E |
Matthew Festenstein | Cambridge University | York University , Toronto | History, Value |
Johann Frick | Harvard University | Princeton University | Value |
Daniel Garber | Harvard University | Princeton University | History, P&M |
Sebastian Gardner | Cambridge University | University College London | History, Value |
Aaron Garrett | New School SR | Boston University | History |
Don Garrett | Yale University | New York University | History |
Gerald Gaus | University of Pittsburgh | University of Arizona | Value, PS&M |
Berys Gaut | Princeton University | St. Andrews/Stirling | Value |
Ken Gemes | University of Pittsburgh | Birkbeck | History, P&M |
Rocco Gennaro | Syracuse University | Southern Indiana | M&E, Value, History, PS&M |
Margaret Gilbert | Oxford University | University of California, Irvine | M&E, PS&M, Value |
Michael Gill | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | University of Arizona | History |
Anthony Gillies | University of Arizona | Rutgers University | PS&M, M&E |
Michael Giudice | McMaster University | York University , Toronto | Value |
Warren Goldfarb | Harvard University | Harvard University | M&E, PS&M, History |
Alvin Goldman | Princeton University | Rutgers University | M&E, Value, PS&M |
John Greco | Brown University | Saint Louis University | M&E |
Leslie J. Green | Oxford University | Oxford University | Value, Feminism |
Paul Griffiths | Australian National University | Sydney | PS&M |
Stephen Grimm | University of Notre Dame | Fordham | M&E, Value |
Gary Gutting | Saint Louis University | University of Notre Dame | History, PS&M, M&E |
Paul Guyer | Harvard University | Brown University | History, Value |
Ben Hale | Stony Brook | University of Colorado, Boulder | Value |
Michael Hardimon | University of Chicago | University of California, San Diego | Race, History |
William Harper | University of Rochester | University of Western Ontario | History |
Verity Harte | Cambridge University | Yale University | History, M&E |
John Hawthorne | Syracuse University | University of Southern California | M&E, History |
Benjamin Hellie | Princeton University | University of Toronto | M&E, PS&M |
David Hilbert | Stanford University | University of Illinois, Chicago | M&E, PS&M |
Barry hilbert | Stanford University | Rutgers University | M&E, PS&M |
Christopher Hill | Harvard University | Brown University | M&E |
Chris Hitchcock | University of Pittsburgh | CalTech | PS&M, M&E |
Wesley Holliday | Stanford University | University of California, Berkeley | M&E, PS&M |
Robert Hopkins | Cambridge University | New York University | Value, M&E, History |
Leon Horsten | Leuven | University of Bristol | PS&M, M&E |
John Horty | University of Pittsburgh | University of Maryland | M&E, PS&M, Value |
Stephen Houlgate | University of Edinburgh | University of Warwick | History |
Andrew Huddleston | Princeton University | Birkbeck | History, Value |
Michael Huemer | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | University of Colorado, Boulder | M&E, Value |
Nicholas Huggett | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | University of Illinois, Chicago | PS&M |
Simon Hutteger | Salzburg | University of California, Irvine | PS&M, M&E |
Thomas Icard | Stanford University | Stanford University | M&E, PS&M |
Brad Inwood | University of Toronto | Yale University | History |
Terence Irwin | Princeton University | Oxford University | History, Value |
Henry Jackman | University of Pittsburgh | York University , Toronto | History, M&E |
Anne Jacobson | Oxford University | Harvard University | M&E, PS&M, Feminism |
Scott Jenkins | Princeton University | University of Kansas | History |
Robin Jeshion | University of Chicago | University of Southern California | M&E, History |
Thomas Johansen | Cambridge University | Oslo | History, M&E, Value |
Jim Joyce | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | University of Michigan | PS&M, M&E |
Shelly Kagan | Princeton University | Yale University | Value |
Peter Kail | Cambridge University | Oxford University | History, M&E |
Paul Katsafanas | Harvard University | Boston University | Value, M&E, History |
Dan Kaufman | University of Massachusetts, Amherst | University of Colorado, Boulder | History, M&E |
John Kearns | Yale University | University at Buffalo | PS&M, M&E |
Pierre Keller | Columbia University | University of California, Riverside | History |
Hyunseop Kim | New York University | Seoul National University | Value |
Jeffrey King | University of California, San Diego | Rutgers University | M&E |
Alex Klein | Indiana University, Bloomington | California State University, Long Beach | History |
Peter Klein | Yale University | Rutgers University | M&E |
Matthew Kramer | Cambridge University | Cambridge University | Value |
Philip Kremer | University of Pittsburgh | University of Toronto | PS&M, M&E |
Uriah Kriegel | Brown University | Jean Nicod | M&E, PS&M |
Frederick Kroon | Princeton University | University of Auckland | PS&M, M&E |
Jennifer Lackey | Brown University | Northwestern University | M&E |
Peter Lamarque | Oxford University | University of York | Value, M&E |
Gerald Lang | Oxford University | University of Leeds | Value |
Ben Laurence | University of Pittsburgh | University of Chicago | Value |
Mi-Kyoung Lee | Harvard University | University of Colorado, Boulder | History |
Brian Leftow | Yale University | Oxford University | History, M&E |
Brian Leiter | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | University of Chicago | History, Value |
Mary Leng | University of Toronto | York University , Toronto | PS&M |
Ernest LePore | University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul | Rutgers University | M&E, PS&M |
Yong Li | Saint Louis University | Wuhan | Chinese, Value |
Martin Lin | University of Chicago | Rutgers University | History |
Bernard Linsky | Stanford University | University of Alberta | M&E, History |
Elisabeth Lloyd | Princeton University | Indiana University, Bloomington | PS&M, Feminism |
Antonia LoLordo | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | University of Virginia | History |
Dominic Lopes | Oxford University | University of British Columbia | Value |
Edouard Machery | Sorbonne | University of Pittsburgh | M&E, PS&M |
Colin Macleod | Cornell University | University of Victoria, British Columbia | Value |
Penelope Maddy | Princeton University | University of California, Irvine | PS&M, M&E |
Ronald Mallon | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | Washington University St. Louis | PS&M, Race, M&E, Value |
Edwin Mares | Indiana University, Bloomington | Victoria University, Wellington | M&E, PS&M, History |
Mohan Matthen | Stanford University | University of Toronto | History, PS&M, M&E |
Robert May | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | University of California, Davis | M&E, PS&M, History |
Kevin Mccain | University of Rochester | University of Alabama | M&E, PS&M |
Edwin McCann | University of Pennsylvania | University of Southern California | History |
Matt McGrath | Brown University | University of Missouri | M&E |
Michael McKenna | University of Virginia | University of Arizona | M&E, Value |
Brian McLaughlin | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | Rutgers University | M&E, PS&M |
Jeff McMahan | Oxford University | Oxford University | Value |
Lionel McPherson | Harvard University | Tufts University | Race, Value |
Yitzhak Melamed | Yale University | Johns Hopkins University | History |
Alfred Mele | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Florida State University | M&E, History |
Angela Mendelovici | Princeton University | University of Western Ontario | M&E, PS&M |
Stephen Menn | University of Chicago | McGill | History |
Alex Miller | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | Otago | M&E, Value |
Cheryl Misak | Oxford University | University of Toronto | History |
Friederike Moltmann | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | CNRS | M&E, PS&M |
Michelle Montague | University of Colorado, Boulder | University of Texas | M&E |
Christopher Morris | University of Toronto | University of Maryland | Value |
John Morrison | New York University | Columbia University | M&E |
Jessica Moss | Princeton University | New York University | History |
Dean Moyar | University of Chicago | Johns Hopkins University | History |
Dominic Murphy | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | Sydney | PS&M, M&E |
Colleen Murphy | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign | Value |
Steven Nadler | Columbia University | University of Wisconsin | History |
Jennifer Nagel | University of Pittsburgh | University of Toronto | M&E, PS&M, History |
Bence Nanay | University of California, Berkeley | Antwerp | M&E, PS&M, Value |
Alan Nelson | University of Illinois, Chicago | University North Carolina | History, P&M |
Ram Neta | University of Pittsburgh | University North Carolina | M&E |
Daniel Nolan | Australian National University | Australian National University | M&E, Value, PS&M |
Alastair Norcross | Syracuse University | University of Colorado, Boulder | Value |
Calvin Normore | University of Toronto | University of California, Los Angeles | History, PS&M, Value |
Jill North | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | Cornell University | PS&M, M&E |
John Norton | New South Wales | University of Pittsburgh | PS&M, M&E |
Andreja Novakovic | Columbia University | University of California, Riverside | History |
Martha Nussbaum | Harvard University | University of Chicago | History, Value, Feminism |
Brian O'Connor | Oxford University | Dublin | History, Value |
Timothy O'Connor | Cornell University | Baylor University | M&E |
Samir Okasha | Oxford University | University of Bristol | PS&M, M&E |
Graham Oppy | Princeton University | Monash University | M&E, Value |
Peter Pagin | Stockholm | Stockholm | M&E, PS&M, History |
Clare Palmer | Oxford University | Texas A&M University | Value |
Robert Pasnau | Cornell University | University of Colorado, Boulder | History, M&E |
Derk Pereboom | University of California, Los Angeles | Cornell University | M&E |
Richard Pettigrew | University of Bristol | University of Bristol | PS&M |
Gualtiero Piccinini | University of Pittsburgh | Univeristy of Missouri, St. Louis | M&E, PS&M |
David Pitt | City University of New York Graduate Center | California State University, Los Angeles | M&E |
Oliver Pooley | Oxford University | Oxford University | PS&M, M&E |
Alexander Prescott-Couch | Harvard University | Oxford University | PS&M |
Huw Price | Cambridge University | Cambridge University | PS&M, M&E |
Duncan Pritchard | University of St. Andrews/Stirling Joint Program | University of California, Irvine | M&E |
Ian Proops | Harvard University | University of Texas | History, M&E |
Wlodek Rabinowicz | Uppsala | Lunds | PS&M, M&E |
C. Reeve | Cornell University | University North Carolina | History, Value |
Michael Rescorla | Harvard University | University of California, Los Angeles | PS&M, M&E |
Mathias Risse | Princeton University | Harvard University | Value, History |
Michael Della Rocca | University of California, Berkeley | Yale University | History, M&E |
Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco | Cambridge University | Surrey | Value |
Michael Rosen | Oxford University | Harvard University | History, Value |
A. Rosenberg | Johns Hopkins University | Duke University | PS&M |
Paul Roth | University of Chicago | University of California, Santa Cruz | PS&M, M&E, History |
Ian Rumfitt | Oxford University | Oxford University | M&E, History, Value |
Joseph Salerno | Ohio State University | Saint Louis University | PS&M, M&E |
Nathan Salmon | University of California, Los Angeles | University of California, Santa Barbara | M&E |
Richard Samuels | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | Ohio State University | M&E, PS&M |
Howard Sankey | University of Melbourne | Melbourne | PS&M |
Carolina Sartorio | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | University of Arizona | M&E, Value |
Stephen Schiffer | Oxford University | New York University | M&E |
Tad Schmaltz | University of Notre Dame | University of Michigan | History |
David Schmidtz | University of Arizona | University of Arizona | Value, PS&M, Value |
Stefan Sciaraffa | University of Arizona | McMaster | Value |
Russ Shafer-Landau | University of Arizona | University of Wisconsin | Value |
Scott Shapiro | Columbia University | Yale University | Value, M&E |
Christopher Shields | Cornell University | University of Notre Dame | History, M&E |
Ted Sider | University of Massachusetts, Amherst | Cornell University | M&E |
Wilfried Sieg | Stanford University | Carnegie Mellon University | PS&M, M&E |
Susanna Siegel | Cornell University | Harvard University | M&E |
Allan Silverman | University of California, Berkeley | Ohio State University | History |
Brian Skyrms | University of Pittsburgh | University of California, Irvine | PS&M, M&E |
Chris Smeenk | University of Pittsburgh | University of Western Ontario | PS&M, History |
Sonja Smets | Free Univeristy of Brussels | Amsterdam | PS&M, M&E |
Nicholas Smith | Stanford University | Lewis & Clark | History |
David Sosa | Princeton University | University of Texas | M&E, Value |
Ernest Sosa | University of Pittsburgh | Rutgers University | M&E |
Robert Stainton | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | University of Western Ontario | M&E, PS&M |
Aaron Stalnaker | Brown University | Indiana University, Bloomington | Chinese, M&E |
Kyle Stanford | University of California, San Diego | University of California, Irvine | PS&M |
Kim Sterelny | University of Sydney | Australian National University | PS&M, M&E |
Matthias Steup | Brown University | University of Colorado, Boulder | M&E |
Stephen Stich | Princeton University | Rutgers University | M&E, PS&M, Value |
Michael Strevens | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | New York University | PS&M |
Eleonore Stump | Cornell University | Saint Louis University | History, M&E |
Robert Talisse | City University of New York Graduate Center | Vanderbilt University | History, Value |
John Tasioulas | Oxford University | King's College, London | Value |
Larry Temkin | Princeton University | Rutgers University | Value |
Iain Thomson | University of California, San Diego | University of New Mexico | History |
Justin Tiwald | University of Chicago | San Francisco State University | Value, Chinese |
Charles Travis | University of California, Los Angeles | King's College London | M&E, History |
J.D. Trout | Cornell University | Loyola/Chicago | PS&M, M&E |
John Turri | Brown University | University of Waterloo | M&E, PS&M |
Gabriel Uzquiano | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | University of Southern California | PS&M, M&E |
Peter Vallentyne | University of Pittsburgh | University of Missouri | Value, PS&M |
Bryan van Norden | Stanford University | Vassar | Chinese, Value |
Somogy Varga | Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main | University of Memphis | PS&M, M&E, Value |
Manuel Vargas | Stanford University | University of California, San Diego | M&E, Value, Race |
Katja Vogt | Munich | Columbia University | History, Value |
David Wallace | Oxford University | University of Southern California | PS&M |
Wil Waluchow | Oxford University | McMaster | Value |
Ted Warfield | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | University of Notre Dame | M&E, Value |
Georgia Warnke | Boston University | University of California, Riverside | History, Value, Feminism |
Eric Watkins | University of Notre Dame | University of California, San Diego | History |
Jonathan Weinberg | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | University of Arizona | M&E, PS&M, Value |
Michael Weisberg | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania | PS&M |
Eric Wiland | University of Chicago | Univeristy of Missouri, St. Louis | Value |
Thomas Williams | University of Notre Dame | University of South Florida | History, M&E |
Timothy Williamson | Oxford University | Oxford University | M&E, PS&M, Value |
Robert Wilson | Cornell University | Latrobe | M&E, PS&M |
Eric Winsberg | Indiana University, Bloomington | University of South Florida | PS&M |
Allen Wood | Yale University | Indiana University, Bloomington | History, Value |
Mark Wrathall | University of California, Berkeley | Oxford University | History |
Christian Wuthrich | University of Pittsburgh | Geneva | PS&M, M&E |
Gideon Yaffe | Stanford University | Yale University | M&E, History, Value |
Jose Zalabardo | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor | University College London | History, M&E |
Dean Zimmerman | Brown University | Rutgers University | M&E |