The goal of this program is to prepare students for obtaining their PhD degree through acquisition of latest research methodologies, participation in conferences and teaching expertise in higher education.

The Doctoral School of Philosophy offers doctoral studies in the following fields:

• Aesthetics Doctoral Program
• Analytic Philosophy Doctoral Programme
• Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Doctoral Programme
• Art History Doctoral Program
• Ethics and Political Philosophy Doctoral Programme
• Film, Media and Culture Theory Doctoral Programme
• Hermeneutics Doctoral Programme
• Intercultural Philosophy Doctoral Programme
• Logic and Philosophy of Science Doctoral Programme
• Modern Philosophy Doctoral Program
• Phenomenology Doctoral Programme
• Religious Studies Doctoral Program

More detailse about the Tracks/Specializations are available on this link.

Aesthetics Doctoral Program
The Aesthetics PhD. Program has been launched as an independent doctoral program in 1995. It was integrated into Doctoral School of Philosophy some years later, but the program preserved its independent profile. According to the first principle the Aesthetic Doctoral Program does not limit the possible subjects for dissertations, but remains open for all high quality and well-founded research project. According to the second principle it is not a general, but higher level formation remaining in the framework of university teaching, but a very specific scientific activity. The core of the teaching in the Aesthetics program is the history of aesthetics and philosophy of art. The most important teaching method is tutorial consultation. We organize at the end of each semester a conference where all doctoral students have to present their actual work.

Analytic Philosophy Doctoral Programme
The analytic tradition in philosophy has been prominent in the English-speaking world since the second half of the 20^th century and became influential in Hungary since the 1990s due in large part to János Kelemen’s teaching and research as well as his participation in launching, in 1995, the Doctoral Program in Analytic Philosophy. Since 2015, Zsófia Zvolenszky has been head of the Program. Several faculty members teaching and advising in the Program are internationally renowned scholars in analytic philosophy; the majority regularly teaches English-language courses. Hungarian as well as international students with an MA in Philosophy (or equivalent) can apply to the Doctoral Program, which has a Hungarian as well as an English version. The Analytic Philosophy Program encompasses the following areas: philosophy of language, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, epistemology; ethics, metaethics, moral philosophy; history of analytic philosophy; analytic approaches to feminist philosophy; analytic aesthetics and philosophy of art; analytic political philosophy. Further areas covered through cooperation with other doctoral programs in Philosophy, primarily the Doctoral Program in Logic and Philosophy of Science: philosophical logic; philosophy of mathematics; mathematical logic; philosophy of science.

Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Doctoral Programme
This program, established in 1995, focuses on Greco—Roman philosophy from the Presocratics to late antiquity, on Patristics and on Medieval thought, but its scope extends to the reception of ideas from these periods in the Renaissance and in modern times, too. The research topics pursued by our doctoral students include standard philosophical themes – issues in ancient and medieval epistemology, natural philosophy, metaphysics and ethics – as well as questions at the interface of philosophy and other disciplines, for instance, the history of science, rhetorics, aesthetics, theology and religious studies. The curriculum is primarily based on the close-reading of primary sources. In the first two years, our students acquire the skills necessary for analysing source texts, the methods of philology, history of concepts, and those of analytic philosophy. In the third and fourth years, the doctoral candidates focus on their specific research topic and work on their Ph.D. thesis. Applicants are expected to have some knowledge of Greek or Latin at the time of admission, and to be prepared to further develop their skills in Classical languages throughout their four years of study. Our program is open to both Hungarian and foreign applicants.

Art History Doctoral Program
The principle aim of the Art History Doctoral Program is research in art history mainly in Hungary, from the Middle Ages to our days. The program focuses not only on classical subjects of the history of arts, but deals also with monuments and the theoretical questions of protection of monuments and historical buildings, it analyses and presents for the international scientific research national art collections, follows and researches  Hungarian art products in abroad. That is why in the program we accentuate not only theoretical and historical formation of students, but also practical knowledge in the field (museums, collections, restorer workshops, etc.).

Ethics and Political Philosophy Doctoral Programme
The Ethics and Political Philosophy Program seeks to offer an overall view of modern and contemporary political philosophy as well as of ethical issues in various fields. With special emphasis on modern, especially 18th century history of ideas, the program intends to cover both classical authors (from Machiavelli to Rawls) and the main currents of political thought (from conservatism through Marxist thought to neoliberalism). Within a broader field of positions normative conceptions of the political, including contemporary critical theories, are given a certain priority.

Film, Media and Culture Theory Doctoral Programme

The Institute of Art Theory and Media Studies of Eötvös Loránd University launched its Doctoral Program in the Theory of Film, Media and Culture in September 2007.

This PhD program is the main center for the research of contemporary culture at the Faculty of Humanities. The faculty members of the institute that hosts the program are outstanding professionals of Hungarian film- and media research. Their activity entails  both the research and the production of media. The scientific background of the program involves both traditional disciplines like the history of film and television, theories of genre and of public sphere, and contemporary cultural studies as well as new theories of visuality. The program pays special attention to the social rooting of the emergence of meaning in culture. It also focuses on the political character of the technologies of the creation and reproduction of knowledge. The program considers the transition between disciplines in the analysis of contemporary culture important. Continuing the tradition of the faculty, the program stresses the importance of the textual and aesthetic aspects of film and media. It relates these perspectives to researches regarding the production, technology and regulation of analogue and digital contents. Besides the classical aspects of the aesthetics of reception, the program devotes attention to the examination of the creation and consumption of contemporary culture. The program is connected to the most important domestic scientific and professional workshops and builds lasting partnerships with influential universities abroad. The program considers the intensive joint workshop activity of doctoral students and professors as a key element in the process of teaching and learning.

Hermeneutics Doctoral Programme
Inactive

The doctoral program was established in 1993 and was led since by Prof. István M. Fehér. Hermeneutics is an important school of contemporary philosophy, and being the theory of interpretation it plays a significant role in human sciences. Given that philosophy is inevitably presented in texts, the philosophical relevance of hermeneutics is evident. Furthermore, several neighboring disciplines – among others aesthetics, sociology, psychology –  rely on theories and concepts of hermeneutics. The doctoral program is organized along following three major aspects: a historical account of hermeneutics from Romanticism to Heidegger, Gadamer – including French developments – is combined with a systematic discussion both in philosophy and in other disciplines. Last but not least the program focuses on the contemporary self-reflection of hermeneutics.

Intercultural Philosophy Doctoral Programme
The program offers a framework for students who do research on philosophy or on the history of religion in a non-European tradition. Interculturality here may mean the analysis of another culture with our tools and concepts; or the historical study of the contacts of a culture with Europe; or investigations into the interactions of two Eastern cultures, or of phenomena (like Buddhism) crossing many borders; or finally, a purely theoretical contrastive analysis of analogous theories and concepts in different cultures. The program is philologically oriented; a basic requirement is that students have to be able to work directly with original texts in at least one of the languages involved, e.g. Sanskrit, Pali, Chinese, Tibetan or Arabic. Possible research areas are South Asia, East Asia and Islam.

Logic and Philosophy of Science Doctoral Programme
The main scope of the program is logic and formal approaches to philosophy of science, primarily philosophy of physics and mathematics. We also offer courses and research topics in the fields of philosophy of language and formal semantics, as well as on themes in epistemology and metaphysics related with philosophy of science. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, the Logic and Philosophy of Science program is open to both Hungarian and foreign students who hold an MA/MSc degree either in philosophy or in some other relevant field. The flexible curriculum and the strongly tutorial character of teaching bridge the differences in the backgrounds. We host the weekly Logic and Philosophy of Science Seminar, which aims to bring together the faculty and students, as well as the wider Budapest community of scholars interested in philosophical problems of sciences. The doctoral program is in cooperation with our Master’s program in Logic and Philosophy of Science and the doctoral program in Analytic Philosophy. Together, these three programs and the external scholars involved into our work form a center of international importance in the field of logic and scientific oriented theoretical philosophy.

Modern Philosophy Doctoral Program
This doctoral program, launched in 1999, prepares students for scholarly and teaching careers with a concentration on 17th- and 18th-century philosophy. In addition to offering courses on prominent canonical figures like René Descartes, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and John Locke, we also study 'minor' figures (e.g. Robert Burton, Moses Mendelssohn, Thomas Reid) and non-mainstream philosophical strands. Concerning the philosophical background of applicants, we are open to both 'Continental' and 'analytic' approaches; we adhere to the idea that answers to philosophical questions arise in dialogue with past philosophies. The focus of research and teaching is on the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, anthropology, social and political philosophy of the early modern period. Our program is open to both Hungarian and foreign applicants.

Phenomenology Doctoral Programme
The importance of this program is due to the fact that Phenomenology is not only one of the philosophical movements of 20th century, but also the common starting point for the different approaches of Continental philosophy. Phenomenology has not only influenced 20th century philosophy in general, but also the human sciences (anthropology, psychology, sociology, etc.). The doctoral program of phenomenology has been working together with young scholars (mainly former students of the Program) of the Hungarian Phenomenological Society (founded in 2005), that organizes conferences, workshops and summer universities, and edits a philosophical review (Aspecto) and a book series (Aspecto books) printed by the publishing house L’Harmattan-Budapest.

Religious Studies Doctoral Program
The Religious Studies program follows the same principles—and implements them at a higher scientific level—as the Centre for Religious Studies coordinating BA and MA education. To understand the ancient or eastern cultures and the Middle Ages as a whole, even to understand contemporary societies, to interpret their language and literature, it is essential to study the religion(s) of that culture. Ethnography (cultural anthropology), philosophy, and their sub-areas and some of their common clusters (e.g folk religion, ritual research, philosophy of religion) are particularly closely related to religious studies, but archaeology and art history also always examine religion- or ritual-related objects. Religious Studies education and research operates in an ideologically neutral framework, and is based on the principles of respect, understanding and tolerance for religious cultures and for the religious human being, as well as on the principle of objective and empathic scientific research, and on the professional, balanced presentation of results.