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Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Published by Grace Graffin at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On January 9, 2023

Introduction

The choice of dissertation topic is crucial for research as it will facilitate the process and makes it an exciting and manageable process. Several dissertation ideas exist in philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, logic, aesthetics, deontology, absurdum, and existentialism. Philosophy dissertations can be based on either primary research or secondary research.

Primary data dissertations incorporate the collection and analysis of data obtained through questionnaires and surveys. On the other hand, secondary data dissertations make use of existing literature to test the research hypothesis . To help you get started with philosophy topic selection for your dissertation, a list is developed by our experts.

These philosophy dissertation topics have been developed by PhD qualified writers of our team , so you can trust to use these topics for drafting your dissertation.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question ,  aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of  dissertation topics for 2022 here.

Philosophy Dissertation Topics of Research

Topic 1: an examination of women's perspective on feminist philosophy..

Research Aim: This study aims to look into the importance of feminism in a philosophical context. It will also identify the factors that lead to postmodernism and liberal feminism from women’s perspectives and will also focus on the impact of feminist philosophy on the development of modern society.

Topic 2: Sociological Functionalism- Investigating the Development and Beliefs

Research Aim: This research study will focus on new types of functionalism and get a deeper understanding of inner and outer circumstances in which different approaches take place. This study will also investigate how the researchers use social theory to acquire a better understanding of the environment in which these concepts are used. It will also promote sociology through informing and inspiring practices and research.

Topic 3: Assessing the History and Development of Philosophical Work from the 15th to 21st Century.

Research Aim: This study aims to find the history and development of philosophical work from the 15th and 21st Centuries. It will examine the theoretical foundations of the practice, applications, and social consequences. This study will also focus on different factors of how philosophy has evolved in these centuries and what changes have occurred.

Topic 4: A Comprehensive View of Social Development of Loneliness.

Research Aim: This study will comprehend how various theoretical points of view are connected or linked r to loneliness. This study will also present an argument for an interpretative social point of view by dissembling the sense of loneliness into key components. It will also focus on the problems and different behaviours of people.

Topic 5: What does it mean to live in an Ideal Society- Discuss using Plato's Philosophies.

Research Aim: Plato is well known for his monologue known as the Republic; he was also the classical political philosopher whose views influenced future political thoughts. Plato’s ideal society was created during a time when Plato was exceedingly optimistic about human nature and its ability to absorb knowledge. This study will conduct a deep analysis of Plato’s ideologies and his views and their impact on the western political world.

More Philosophy Dissertation Research Topics

Topic 1: why we should stop capital punishment and adopt permanent solutions to help solve crimes..

Research Aim: This research aims to analyse the importance of rehabilitation and counseling of criminals to bring them back to their usual walks of life. The whole idea is to eliminate crime, and capital punishment does not provide solutions where a clean society can be developed.

Topic 2: Should people always obey the rules? A closer look at the line between breaking rules and rebellion.

Research Aim: Rules are developed to maintain a balance in society and ensure discipline, which helps an individual in every sphere of their lives. But specific rules are created only for serving a group and not for the whole society’s best interest. This research aims at finding pieces of evidence where rule-breaking is a rebellion and for the upliftment of humanity and not in personal interest.

Topic 3: Loneliness: Reconstructing its meaning

Research Aim: This research aims at finding the meaning of loneliness, what it is to feel lonely, why some people are reclusive, isolate themselves. Loneliness is not always related to sadness, and some people feel better in isolation due to their bitter experiences of life.

Topic 4: Understanding why religion is paramount above anything else for many people around the globe.

Research Aim: Religion forms the basis of life and way of living for many people around the globe. People often get confused with religion and spiritualism, and the grandeur associated with religion becomes more important. The lack of knowledge and education forces blind faith. This research aims to find the reason for dependency on religion and how it negatively affects human lives.

Topic 5: What is the best way to boost a person’s creativity?

Research Aim: This research aims at finding the best possible way to boost a person’s creativity. The most important way is to motivate, inspire, and support them in their process of exploring innovative ideas. Recognition of talent can be the most effective method, which the research will investigate.

Topic 6: Morality and religion: Why are they different, yet they talk about the same thing?

Research Aim: The fundamental essence of religion is compassion and empathy for humans and ensures morality and ethics as a way of life. This research emphasises the primary aim of a religion and how people are getting disoriented and making rituals of religion the prime concern.

Topic 7: Wealth: Is it possible to be rich without having a lot of money?

Research Aim: Wealth and money are co-related as lots of money gives the power to buy anything. But a wealth of human life lies in their moral values, love, affection, proper health and wellbeing, and money cannot accept them. This research topic will speak about becoming wealthy, even with limited monetary wealth.

Topic 8: How can the custom of dowry be eliminated from people’s minds?

Research Aim: Dowry is a social parasite, and it is now a punishable offence by the law. But rules alone cannot change society. The research aims at eradicating the practice of dowry from people’s minds in the light of education.

Topic 9: To love or to be loved: Which is more important?

Research Aim: Love is the feeling of intense desire or deep affection. The most beautiful feeling gives a sense of satisfaction and grows through exchange between two individuals. To love and be loved are two co-related aspects as human expects love in return. The research focuses on the more critical dilemma, being on the giving or receiving side of love.

Topic 10: Why social behaviour and ethics cannot be separated?

Research Aim: The research aims to evaluate the importance of ethics in social behaviour and why they cannot be separated. An ethical society is a proper place to thrive for every individual.

Topic 11: A more in-depth look at things that make human life meaningful.

Research Aim: Money, power does not always buy happiness. The research lays the foundation for the importance of care, compassion, empathy. Love and affection as the more essential aspects that make human life meaningful.

Topic 12: Is it possible to create an ideal society?

Research Aim: An ideal society is free from any crime and economic disparities where everyone is treated equally. This research will discuss whether a perfect community is attainable; it is practically possible or not.

Topic 13: A closer look at modern life values.

Research Aim: The research aims to focus on the change in values in modern times. The research’s primary purpose is to provide a comparative study of how modern people’s mindset has changed over time.

Topic 14: Euthanasia: Is it ethical?

Research Aim: A long time debate exists regarding the ethical side of euthanasia. Ending someone’s life can be considered unlawful as we do not have the right to end something we did not create. This research aims at providing evidence in favour of euthanasia and also the negative aspects.

Topic 15: What is the value of truth? Are there instances when lying is good?

Research Aim: The research aims to provide evidence where lying is not unethical. The study will give an example from Bhagwat Gita, where Lord Krishna lied to safeguard humanity.

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227 Philosophy Thesis Topics To Use Right Now

philosophy thesis topics

A philosophy dissertation everyone’s favorite. The long list of philosophers and their allegories or theories is not a subject most students would want to listen to comfortably. However, students still have to write a philosophical thesis in their undergraduate or post-graduate to graduate.

Let us narrow down this elephant in the room for you.

What Is A Philosophical Thesis?

A philosophical paper is not a report of what various scholars have had to say on a particular issue. It is a reasoned defense of a particular thesis. Unlike other papers that present the latest findings of tests or experiments, this paper tries to persuade the reader to give in to a particular point of view together with grounds or justification for its acceptance.

The introduction of a philosophy paper states what the writer is trying to show the reader. When writing a dissertation in philosophy, follow the following simple guidelines for efficiency:

  • Very carefully and think about your topic
  • Have a rough idea of what you intend to establish
  • Determine how you’ll go about convincing the reader that your thesis is correct.

For an outstanding philosophy thesis, ensure that you say what you mean and in a way that minimizes the chances of being misunderstood. It is the general rule thumb for this paper that every student should have at his/her finger-tips.

What To Avoid in a Philosophy Dissertation

Understanding the do’s and don’ts of any paper is essential in ensuring that you stick within the scope of what is required of you. Here are some of the things to avoid in philosophical thesis papers for college:

  • Lengthy quotations: It is essential to understand that quotations are an essential part of philosophy papers. However, stating long quotes that run into paragraphs or more does not make your paper sound original. One will only see this as a duplication of another person’s work.
  • Circular reasoning: If you presuppose the truth of whatever it is that you are trying to bring out in the course of arguing for it, then you are guilty of begging the question.
  • Lengthy introductions: An intro should only serve the purpose of giving the context of your philosophy topic and creating interest in the reader. You can do it in less than four short and precise questions. Overloading your introduction only serves to drain your readers’ energy before they get into the real deal – the body.
  • Fence sitting: Most students are guilty of presenting several positions in their papers and then saying they are not qualified to settle the matter. Do not close by saying that philosophers have been divided over a particular issue. That only shows how shallow and scanty you were in your research process.

Always organize your work carefully, using the right words to present your stance without any disputes. The stance should also come out naturally without making the reader feel that you are forcing him/her to ascribe to your particular point of view.

It is also essential to support your arguments with undisputed evidence. Do not assume that your reader may not be skeptical of your arguments. Every reader is skeptical of whatever they read, and if sufficient evidence is not provided, then you might not convince anyone at the end of your 20-page long thesis.

Now, for you to have a strong thesis, ensure that it is:

  • Answering a specific question;
  • Engaging; one that can be challenged or opposed, thus also defended;
  • Passes the “so what? Or why should I care?” test;
  • Supported by your paper; and
  • Not too broad nor too vague.

To have a strong argument in your philosophical paper, demonstrate these sorts of things that make your opponent’s views false in a fashion that does not presuppose that your position is correct. Your philosophy research topics will play a significant role in supporting this claim.

You can find philosophy research paper topics from:

Early American Imprints of 1639 to 1819 Early English Books Online of 1475 to 1700 Internet archives The War Diaries of Jean-Paul Sartre The Metaphysics of Morals by Emmanuel Kant

And many more sources that are readily available in your college library or online catalogs.

We now advance to our professional philosophy topics list:

Sample Thesis Topics For Philosophy of the Human Sciences

  • Critique of mainstream assumptions and practices of human behavior globally
  • How are constructions of human nature affect our associations and lineation
  • Adopting a human science framework to the problem of racial discrimination in the US
  • How to adopt positivism in a world bombarded by negative news all the time
  • A rigorous and systematic approach to man’s natural behavior
  • The role of the Greek philosophers in shaping human sciences around the 18th century
  • How existential phenomenology found its way from Europe
  • Cultural and biological dimensions of human science research programs
  • The role of qualitative research methods across the discipline of the human sciences
  • How humanistic psychology offers more substantive findings in human science tradition
  • An evaluation of the colleges and universities dedicated to humanistic/human science philosophy
  • Discuss the impact of the American infusionism into the cultures and systems of the world
  • Fundamental tenets of Western civilization in developing countries
  • An assessment of the ancient nature of human interactions
  • Political and cultural standards acceptable to all human interactions

Philosophy Potential Senior Thesis Topics

  • A philosophical perspective of evil actions and evil persons
  • How the ideology of Darwinism has affected the aspect of natural selection
  • Distinguishing the underlying differences between intervention and information
  • Psychoanalysis of melancholia in teenagers
  • Investigating the use of biology in dealing with human philosophical issues
  • The evolution of philosophical writings from the 15th century to the 21st century
  • Examine the connection between shame and an immoral piece of art
  • How depression relates to natural and interactive children
  • What is the logic behind nightmares and madness in dreams?
  • An investigation of how man is adapting to the invasion of privacy by new technologies
  • The ethical and practical arguments against voluntary euthanasia
  • Discuss the relationship between value, dignity, and human virtue in the Modern Virtue Theory
  • The evolution of personal and corporate responsibility in the 21st century
  • Trends in sex and sexuality as seen in the 21st century
  • Why arousal of an emotion in the listener is essential in the delivery of any speech

Undergraduate Philosophy Thesis Topics

  • Modern science: Should we employ a monistic or pluralistic model?
  • How moral philosophy can help improve our understanding of folk psychology
  • Why is it close to impossible to escape mental externalism?
  • The emergence of technology and resulting bioethics as seen in the 21st century
  • Investigate the willingness to accept punishment after committing a civil crime
  • Why artificial intelligence may not be a genuinely creative entity
  • Discuss empathy, fiction, and morality in the development of fiction stories and folklores
  • The role of sporting activities in developing virtues and morals in the society
  • Is voluntary suicide justified for any reason whatsoever?
  • Why postmodern philosophical theories and market anarchism are enemies
  • Discuss the ultimate goal of humanity in the backdrop of the changing roles
  • Give a detailed analysis of the relationship between fate, destiny, and free will
  • What is the essence of dreams and visions to man?
  • Evaluate the sources of your self-worth in the light of personal attributes
  • What is the impact of a person’s name on who they become in the future?

Best-Rated Political Philosophy Thesis Topics

  • Consider the dividing line between distributive justice and the family
  • Investigate the gendered basis for care and caregiving
  • What are the underlying differences between multiculturalism and feminism
  • Discuss the liberal versus radical feminist positions on pornography
  • How social beings should live together considering the underlying differences
  • Following the example of Plato, discuss what it means to have an ideal society
  • Given the knowledge and resources available, discuss the best form of society using the US as a case study
  • The evolution of democracy in the US presidential election
  • How the history of the past several centuries has impacted the role of citizens in participation in democracy
  • What is the essence of having a conservative free-market economy in the 21st century?
  • The role of the government in regulating the economy
  • Should the economy incorporate both capitalist and socialist structures?
  • Do we have an economically viable socialist alternative to capitalism?
  • Is it worth fighting for an economically viable alternative to capitalism?
  • The conservative view of the post-World-War-Two period

Thesis Topics on the Renaissance and Philosophy

  • The impact of the renaissance period o man’s view of the world
  • Compare and contrast the High Renaissance in Rome as compared to the of Northern Europe
  • The impact of the scientific revolution on the renaissance period
  • The early renaissance period in Florence and the existence of the Flemish art
  • Discuss the contributions of some of the godfathers of the Renaissance
  • The perfect interplay between music and painting during the renaissance period
  • The humanist intellectual, cultural, and artistic revolution of the Renaissance
  • Religious symbolism and naturalistic beauty as exemplified in the renaissance period
  • The role of sexuality and eroticism in the works of the 16th-century renaissance art
  • How the discoveries of the renaissance period helped shape people’s attitudes towards life
  • Identify and explain the role of the Carolingian Renaissance on the Bible
  • The impact of the Great migration and economic changes on literature and art
  • Discuss how art patronage was conducted in Italy during the Renaissance
  • How science has made advancements in renaissance culture and art
  • Impacts of the early Renaissance on the medical innovations

Master Thesis Topics in Philosophy

  • Discuss the benefits and impacts of the renaissance period on the man
  • How the renaissance period played a part in the reformation of the world
  • A comparative analysis of philosophy, art, and culture during the Renaissance
  • How much influence did the renaissance period have on dressing?
  • Conduct a critical analysis of Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance
  • The contribution of sculptors of the Italian Renaissance
  • Discuss artistic renaissance humanism during 1400 and 1650
  • The Renaissance and religion: A case study of the Catholic church
  • Artistic revolution as a significant element of the Renaissance
  • The role of William Shakespeare in the renaissance period
  • Discuss the classical and Renaissance humanities art of the Greco-Roman artists
  • The cultural, economic, and political influence of the Renaissance
  • The age of revolutionary, Renaissance, and enlightenment period
  • The representation of nature in the European renaissance artistic works
  • How Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Rafael contributed to the new era of the Renaissance

Introduction to Philosophy Thesis Topics

  • Discuss whether people are good or evil by nature
  • What are the limitations to free will in making personal decisions?
  • What is the impact of the belief in God on a person’s way of life?
  • Discuss the compatibility issues between science with religion
  • Give a detailed argument for or against utilitarianism
  • What is the logic behind psychological and ethical egoism?
  • Ascertain the relevance of morals to culture or society
  • The role of Aesop’s fables in contributing to human philosophy
  • Discuss the history and development of African philosophy
  • What are the central tenets of African Sage Philosophy?
  • The critical role played by altruism and group selection
  • Conduct a detailed analysis of the American Enlightenment Thought
  • How does the American Wilderness Philosophy vary from that of today?
  • A case study of Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the Existence of God
  • Critically evaluate motion and its place in nature
  • Discuss association in the philosophy of the mind
  • How Bolzano’s mathematical knowledge played a crucial role in human philosophy

Thesis Papers Topics on Buddhist Philosophy

  • The view of sin and punishment between the Buddhist and Hindu religions
  • Buddhist believe in rebirth, which is determined by the actions one does in daily life.
  • Misconceptions about sexuality in the Buddhist religion
  • Discuss the relationship between Shinto with China and Buddhism
  • Analyze the four noble truths of Buddhism
  • The concept of salvation according to the Zen Buddhism religion
  • A detailed study of the confluence of Buddhism and Hinduism in India
  • An analysis of the faith and practices of Buddhism as a religion in India
  • The role of Mahatma Gandhi in advancing the ideologies and practices of Buddhism
  • Evaluate the vase of treasure hidden in the Buddhist iconography
  • Compare and contrast the various variations between Buddhism and Christianity
  • Elements of the Buddhism religion that make it sacred
  • Discuss the concept of anger and how to manage it in the Buddhism religion
  • Cultural histories and the expansion of the Buddhism religion in China
  • Differences in the Japanese versus Chinese Buddhism practices

Types of Philosophy Thesis Topics

  • Discuss the role of aesthetics in the study of philosophy
  • How epistemology has contributed to the growth in philosophical literature
  • Elaborate the role of ethics on the survivability of a society
  • How logic has been crucial in making rational decisions in a man
  • What are the limitations of metaphysics as a branch of philosophy?
  • Analyze the philosophy of mind given the fundamental tenets
  • Discuss the major revolutions of the African philosophy
  • Why does Eastern philosophy have a lower absorption rate?
  • Reasons why Western philosophy has a greater acceptance in the world as compared to others
  • Give the unique characteristics of the ancient and classical philosophy
  • Why the medieval and post-classical philosophies have a place in the modern world
  • The modern and contemporary philosophy in terms of improvements
  • Discuss the philosophy of language theories and stances in Europe
  • What is the impact of the philosophy of science theories and stances?
  • Discuss the epistemological stances of different philosophical schools of thought

Epistemology Paper Topics

  • The concept of skepticism among different readers
  • Analyze the internalist vs. externalist accounts of knowledge and justification
  • Discuss the structure of knowledge and justification
  • What contributes to contextualism in epistemology?
  • Impacts of the relevant alternative accounts of knowledge
  • Discuss the pros and cons of the epistemology of lotteries
  • A case study of foundationalism and coherentism
  • The impacts of facts and beliefs on people
  • Is skepticism doomed to an inevitable defeat?
  • Arguments and positions in epistemology in the 21st century
  • The pros and cons of different positions in epistemology
  • Relevant arguments and principles in epistemology: A case of The Closure Principle
  • Critically discuss Shoemaker’s ‘self-blindness’ concept
  • How the epistemology of attitudes like the belief is very different from the epistemology of other mental states
  • Fundamental flaws in various epistemological theories

High-Quality Philosophy Project Topics

  • Discuss the concept of happiness
  • Why egoism is a negative trait
  • Discuss the motive behind acts of charity
  • Is love merely an illusion of the mind?
  • Are criminals evil by nature?
  • Is the current generation less affectionate?
  • Discuss the concept of true friendship
  • Is there happiness in achieving nothing?
  • Does a perfect life exist?
  • Why do people struggle to attain perfectionism?
  • The impact of technology of taking away emotions
  • Analyze time management among high school versus campus students
  • Is obsession replacing true love?
  • Is the concept of ‘You Only Live Once’ viable?
  • Why are most geniuses’ introverts?

Easy Philosophy Paper Topics

  • Discuss the existence of fate in the modern world
  • Can we achieve an ideal society?
  • Is life meaningful after all?
  • Why should people work, yet they will die in the end?
  • Is the concept of feminism overhyped?
  • Is every human action predetermined?
  • Discuss the components of the human consciousness
  • Why do people tend to do the bad instead of the good?
  • Are atheists deceiving themselves?
  • Why is the world changing so fast?
  • Is there life after death?
  • Why must everyone go to school?
  • Who determines what clothes each gender should don?
  • The impact of religious beliefs on science
  • Does death usher in the new life?

Top Philosophical Topics To Write About

  • Will the world ever come to an end?
  • Why do people have different religions?
  • Does stealing originate from the person’s mind?
  • Who is responsible for the rot in the society
  • The role of parents in instilling morals
  • Why do people believe in revenge?
  • What makes man different from animals?
  • Why should we care about our neighbors?
  • Is humility a virtue for ladies?
  • Why are most men aggressive
  • Discuss the role of sleeping at night
  • Should people eat food after all?
  • Is man the biggest threat to himself?
  • Is the judicial system serving justice?
  • Will robots make the world better?

Good Philosophy Topics

  • Do beliefs and superstitions match?
  • Is sex necessary?
  • Why should people love each other?
  • Should a woman head the house also?
  • Are other planets mere superstitions?
  • Are the stars in the sky fantasies?
  • Why bother about planning?
  • Do aliens exist?
  • Why is man rational?
  • What is the effect of finding a purpose in life
  • Do shooting stars fall on earth?
  • Why do fiction movies move people?
  • Does the moon exist?
  • Are we living reality or a fantasy?
  • Can one love more than two people?

Interesting Philosophy Topics

  • Was man made out of clay?
  • Do guns protect?
  • Does true love exist among teenagers?
  • Beauty and morality
  • Religion and power
  • Memories and love
  • Peace and war
  • Religion and own belief system
  • Angels and demons
  • Heaven and earth
  • Plastic surgery and ethics
  • Character and upbringing
  • Dreams and the future
  • The rich and the poor
  • Is death inevitable

Do you need affordable help with a thesis or a research paper? Contact our thesis help writers now!

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Home > ARTSSCI > Philosophy > dissertations

Philosophy Dissertations and Theses

The Department of Philosophy Dissertations and Theses Series is comprised of dissertations and theses authored by Marquette University's Department of Philosophy doctoral and master's students.

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Place, Attachment, and Feeling: Indigenous Dispossession and Settler Belonging , Sarah Kizuk

Nepantla and Mestizaje: A Phenomenological Analysis of the Mestizx Historical Consciousness , Jorge Alfredo Montiel

The Categories Argument for the Real Distinction Between Being and Essence: Avicenna, Aquinas, and Their Greek Sources , Nathaniel Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Modeling, Describing, and Explaining Subjective Consciousness- A Guide to (and for) the Perplexed , Peter Burgess

Looking Through Whiteness: Objectivity, Racism, Method, and Responsibility , Philip Mack

Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Maritain on the Student-Teacher Relationship in Catholic Higher Education , Timothy Rothhaar

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Empathetic Autistic: A Phenomenological Look at the Feminine Experience , Dana Fritz

Concerning Aristotelian Animal Essences , Damon Andrew Watson

When to Trust Authoritative Testimony: Generation and Transmission of Knowledge in Saadya Gaon, Al-Ghazālī and Thomas Aquinas , Brett A. Yardley

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The Status of Irrationality: Karl Jaspers' Response to Davidson and Searle , Daniel Adsett

Cosmic City - Cosmic Teleology: A Reading of Metaphysics Λ 10 and Politics I 2 , Brandon Henrigillis

Phenomenal Consciousness: An Husserlian Approach , John Jered Janes

Al-Fārābī Metaphysics, and the Construction of Social Knowledge: Is Deception Warranted if it Leads to Happiness? , Nicholas Andrew Oschman

The Epistemology of Disagreement: Hume, Kant, and the Current Debate , Robert Kyle Whitaker

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

'Our Feet are Mired In the Same Soil': Deepening Democracy with the Political Virtue of Sympathetic Inquiry , Jennifer Lynn Kiefer Fenton

Towards a Philosophy of the Musical Experience: Phenomenology, Culture, and Ethnomusicology in Conversation , J. Tyler Friedman

Humor, Power and Culture: A New Theory on the Experience and Ethics of Humor , Jennifer Marra

Care of the Sexual Self: Askesis As a Route to Sex Education , Shaun Douglas Miller

Re-Evaluating Augustinian Fatalism through the Eastern and Western Distinction between God's Essence and Energies , Stephen John Plecnik

The Fantastic Structure of Freedom: Sartre, Freud, and Lacan , Gregory A. Trotter

The Province of Conceptual Reason: Hegel's Post-Kantian Rationalism , William Clark Wolf

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Hume on Thick and Thin Causation , Alexander Bozzo

Evolution, Naturalism, and Theism: An Inconsistent Triad? , David H. Gordon

The Parable As Mirror: An Examination of the Use of Parables in the Works of Kierkegaard , Russell Hamer

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Contextualizing Aquinas's Ontology of Soul: An Analysis of His Arabic and Neoplatonic Sources , Nathan McLain Blackerby

The Social and Historical Subject in Sartre and Foucault and Its Implications for Healthcare Ethics , Kimberly Siobhan Engels

Investigations of Worth: Towards a Phenomenology of Values , Dale Hobbs Jr.

Developing Capabilities: A Feminist Discourse Ethics Approach , Chad Kleist

Hegel and the Problem of the Multiplicity of Conflicting Philosophies , Matthew M. Peters

Aquinas, Averroes, and the Human Will , Traci Ann Phillipson

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Nature, Feminism, and Flourishing: Human Nature and the Feminist Ethics of Flourishing , Celeste D. Harvey

Kierkegaard in Light of the East: A Critical Comparison of the Philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard with Orthodox Christian Philosophy and Thought , Agust Magnusson

The Secular Transformation of Pride and Humility in the Moral Philosophy of David Hume , Kirstin April Carlson McPherson

Living within the Sacred Tension: Paradox and Its Significance for Christian Existence in the Thought of Søren Kierkegaard , Matthew Thomas Nowachek

Moral Imagination and Adorno: Before and After Auschwitz , Catlyn Origitano

Essence and Necessity, and the Aristotelian Modal Syllogistic: A Historical and Analytical Study , Daniel James Vecchio

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Subversive Humor , Chris A. Kramer

Virtue, Oppression, and Resistance Struggles , Trevor William Smith

Health As Embodied Authenticity , Margaret Steele

Recognition and Political Ontology: Fichte, Hegel, and Honneth , Velimir Stojkovski

The Conceptual Priority of the Perfect , Matthew Peter Zdon

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Dangerous Knowledge? Morality And Moral Progress After Naturalism , Daniel Diederich Farmer

Nietzsche's Revaluation of All Values , Joseph Anthony Kranak

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Re-Enchanting The World: An Examination Of Ethics, Religion, And Their Relationship In The Work Of Charles Taylor , David McPherson

Thomas Aquinas on the Apprehension of Being: The Role of Judgement in Light of Thirteenth-Century Semantics , Rosa Vargas Della Casa

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Naturalized Panpsychism: An Alternative to Fundamentalist Physicalism and Supernaturalism , Earl R. Cookson

The Concept of Personhood in the Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl , Colin J. Hahn

The Humanistic, Fideistic Philosophy of Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560) , Charles William Peterson

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Knowledge and Thought in Heidegger and Foucault: Towards an Epistemology of Ruptures , Arun Anantheeswaran Iyer

William James's Undivided Self and the Possibility of Immortality , Anthony Karlin

The Poetics of Remembrance: Communal Memory and Identity in Heidegger and Ricoeur , David Leichter

The Ontological Foundations for Natural Law Theory and Contemporary Ethical Naturalism , Bernard Mauser

Sexualized Violence, Moral Disintegration and Ethical Advocacy , Melissa Mosko

Spinoza on Individuals and Individuation: Metaphysics, Morals, and Politics , Matthew David Wion

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Paradox of Nature: Merleau-Ponty's Semi-Naturalistic Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology , Shazad Akhtar

Hume's Conception of Time and its Implications for his Theories of Causation and Induction , Daniel Esposito

Arabic Influences in Aquinas's Doctrine of Intelligible Species , Max Herrera

The Attestation of the Self as a Bridge Between Hermeneutics and Ontology in the Philosophy of Paul Ricoeur , Sebastian Kaufmann

Love's Lack: The Relationship between Poverty and Eros in Plato's Symposium , Lorelle D. Lamascus

Friendship and Fidelity: An Historical and Critical Examination , Joshua Walter Schulz

Natural Law Theory and the "Is"--"Ought" Problem: A Critique of Four Solutions , Shalina Stilley

Attending to Presence: A Study of John Duns Scotus' Account of Sense Cognition , Amy F. Whitworth

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Friendship and Self-Identity in the Thought of Paul Ricoeur , Cristina Bucur

The Finality of Religion in Aquinas' Theory of Human Acts , Francisco José Romero Carrasquillo

The finality of religion in Aquinas' theory of human acts , Francisco J Romero

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Self-Identity in Comparative Theology: The Functional lmportance of Charles Taylor's Concept of the Self for a Theology of Religions , Richard Joseph Hanson

Theses/Dissertations from 2007 2007

Husserl's Noema: A Critical Assessment of the Gestalt and Analytic Interpretations , Peter M. Chukwu

A Social Contract Analysis of Rawls and Rousseau: Supplanting the Original Position As Philosophically Most Favored , Paul Neiman

To Validate a Feeling: the Role of the Mood of Angst in Human Being , Gregory P. Schulz

The Conception and Attributes of God: A Comparison of Charles Sanders Peirce and Alfred North Whitehead , Scott W. Sinclair

John Rawls, Public Reason, and Natural Law: A Study of the Principles of Public Justification , Christopher Ward

Submissions from 2006 2006

Hans Jonas's ethic of responsibility applied to anti-aging technologies and the indefinite extension of the human life span , Jeffrey P Goins

David Hume and the Principle of Sufficient Reason , Ginger Lee

Virtue Theory in Plato's Republic , Griffin T. Nelson

The Principle of Alternate Possibilities: Finding Freedom after Frankfurt , Matthew F. Pierlott

Theses/Dissertations from 2005 2005

Is There a Future for Marxist Humanism? , Jacob M. Held

Self-Love and Morality: Beyond Egoism and Altruism , Li Jing

Eikos Logos and Eikos Muthos: A Study of the Nature of the Likely Story in Plato's Timaeus , Ryan Kenneth McBride

Hume's Conclusions on the Existence and Nature of God , Timothy S. Yoder

Submissions from 2004 2004

The foundations of the politics of difference , Peter Nathaniel Bwanali

The Foundations of the Politics of Difference , Peter Nathaniel Bwanali

The Place of Justice in the Thinking of Emmanuel Levinas , Michael H. Gillick

New Waves in Metaethics: Naturalist Realism, Naturalist Antirealism and Divine Commands , Daniel R. Kern

Reason in Hume's Moral System , John Muenzberg

Conceiving Mind: A Critique of Descartes' Dualism and Contemporary Immaterialist Views of Consciousness , Kristin P. Schaupp

Respecting Plurality in Times of Change: Hannah Arendt's Conceptions of Political, Personal, and Ethical Responsibility , Stephen Schulman

Francis Suárez on the Ontological Status of Individual Unity vis-à-vis the Aristotelian Doctrine of Primary Substance , John W. Simmons

Through a Glass Darkly: Bernard Lonergan and Richard Rorty on the Possibility of Knowing Without a God's-Eye-View , Russell Snell

Theses/Dissertations from 2003 2003

Building a Heideggerian Ethic , Kelly A. Burns

St. Thomas Aquinas and the Self-Evident Proposition: A Study of the Manifold Senses of a Medieval Concept , Michael V. Dougherty

Ricoeur's Narrative Development of Gadamer's Hermeneutics: Continuity and Discontinuity , Keith D'Souza

Beauty's Resting Place: Unity in St. Augustine's Sensible Aesthetic , Matthew J. Hayes

Empathy and Knowledge: Husserl's Introductions to Phenomenology , Kevin Hermberg

The Transactional Model: A Critical Examination of John Dewey's Philosophy of Freedom , Mark N. Lenker III

Reflection on the "good" As a Source of Freedom in Virtue Theory , John D. Morse

Theses/Dissertations from 2002 2002

An Evaluation of Alvin Plantinga's Religious Epistemology Does It Function Properly? , James Beilby

Merleau-Ponty: Embodied Subjectivity and the Foundation of Ethics , Sarah A. Fischer

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60 Fascinating Philosophy Dissertation Topics on 5 Different Branches

Philosophy Dissertation

Table of Contents

What Are the Main Branches of Philosophy?

Best ethics philosophy dissertation topics, politics philosophy dissertation ideas for college students, interesting philosophy dissertation topics on anthropology, trending logic philosophy dissertation topic ideas.

  • Philosophy Dissertation Topics & Ideas on Aesthetics

Can't Select Philosophy Dissertation Topics? Here's the Solution

Philosophy is a discipline that is applied to almost every area of our lives. The subject deals with many different problems in various fields, such as knowledge, culture, wisdom, values, and so on. While studying this subject, students often cross their path with various academic writing tasks, and in that dissertation is the most important one.

Writing a philosophy dissertation is tedious because it presents many challenges, as most philosophy topics have no specific answers. Such questions entirely rely on critical thinking that students have to develop to defend their arguments effectively. 

Many students struggle to find unique and trending  philosophy dissertation topics . Are you looking for the same? In this blog, we have explained different areas of philosophy and dissertation topics related to them. Go through the list and choose the topic that resonates with your interest.

Before you pick any topic for your dissertation, it is essential to know all the main areas of philosophy. It will help you narrow down the area of your interest and select the best topic to write a perfect dissertation .

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that involves defending and systematizing the different concepts of right and wrong behaviour. It basically deals with resolving questions related to human morality by defining concepts for good and evil.

2. Politics

Every opinion that involves political arguments to solve major societal problems comes under philosophical politics. One may characterize politics as the activities and practices that are concerned with the government.

3. Anthropology

The main aim of anthropology is to study empirical investigations of human nature. It helps in understanding different individuals that create their values related to putting some efforts into research.

It is another branch of philosophy that deals with different sets of questions related to predication, identity, truth, and necessity. It is about applying formal logical techniques to every philosophical problem in the world.

5. Aesthetics

Aesthetics is the philosophical branch that deals with the appreciation of different art, beauty, and good taste. It is also termed as a critical reflection of art because people who study this branch always learn to admire the right things and forget about extracting flaws from anything.

These are the five different branches of philosophy. Our experts have provided the most interesting and unique topics on every branch to make sure you choose an effective one for your dissertation.

Let's get started with the most philosophy dissertation topics on ethics.

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  • How to compare the education quality on the basis of teaching business ethics to students in developed and underdeveloped countries?
  • How is the concept of ‘aesthetics' and ‘business ethics' are interlinked with each other?
  • How is bribery completely against the business ethics?
  • The ethics perspective: What motivates a company's business decisions?
  • How do business ethics contribute to winning employee trust?
  • What is the impact of ethical decision making on online business operations?
  • Why does ethical business decision making come under historical countdown?
  • What is the role of the share market, and how it contributes to exploring business code?
  • Why is it mandatory to get rid of corporate egoism for effective business decision making?
  • University students in business institutes in the USA - An exploration of business ethics perceptions and practice
  • How to conduct a critical analysis by discussing management ethics on the market failure approach?
  • How does an extensive literature review on business ethics help in discussing the parameters of hiring an employee?
  • What is the role of government and people in making the country corruption-free?
  • Why must the citizens hold a right to learn about the wealth of crucial politicians who are governing different states of any country?
  • What are the biggest threats to the United Kingdom's foreign policy?
  • Why should there be a good transparency among different political groups?
  • How can one explain that democracy is the best way to run any nation?
  • Are the governments around the globe taking enough measures to cope with environmental issues like global warming?
  • Discuss the changes and impacts brought by the political party in the United Kingdom since they came to power
  • How has the evolution of the internet changed the practice of election campaigns in recent times?
  • Do imposing ban on illegal practices related to gambling and lotteries have any relation with political parties?
  • How to compare and contrast the functions of the legislative and executives in the presidential and parliamentary system of the UK government?
  • In the wake of the UK Brexit, How can Britain employ its military, economic, and diplomatic power to improve its position in world politics?
  • Why are countries like Iran and Syria punished while Pakistan and China are allowed to get away with international law infringements?

Also Read:  How to Write a Dissertation Proposal to Hear a 'YES' from Professor?

  • How one can determine the impact of political systems on individual societies by using anthropological research?
  • How to explain the expansion and development of anthropology in the late 20th and 21st centuries?
  • Why is it important to study the comparison of different art forms in an anthropological context in Eastern countries and non-Eastern countries?
  • How professionals of Ayurveda discovered and developed medical treatments to cure many rare and deadly diseases?
  • Explain the significance of social anthropology in relation to the overall subject of anthropology
  • Explain the importance of trust in the client-lawyer relationship
  • What can students learn about themselves through anthropological research?
  • What are all evidence of devolution that contributed a significant amount of knowledge over the past million years?
  • How is the field of semiotics used by anthropologists while studying linguistic anthropology?
  • In relation to nutritional anthropology, what have been the significant consequences and benefits of globalization?
  • What are the major difference between biological and physical anthropology?
  • How cultural and religious anthropology help general people understand more about themselves?
  • What are the key parameters that hold students thinking and increases their IQ level?
  • What do students study in advanced logic?
  • Explain axiomatic propositional logic with relevant examples.
  • Describe the deduction theorem in reference to mathematics and present all the key elements by citing relevant examples in it.
  • What is the modal logic and how professors teach students this mathematical logical reasoning by giving relevant examples given in the textbook?
  • On what basis experts tell that physical science alone cannot explain the conscious experience?
  • What are the key reasons behind not declaring humanity as a supreme religion?
  • Is there any logic behind killing people in the name of religion?
  • How to evaluate the relationship between war and peace?
  • Why should parents be held responsible for the actions of their kid?
  • How can one connect traditions supported by humanity and force people to follow them as customs?
  • What moral obligation do develop nations have to address issues such as famine?

Also Read:  How to Write a Dissertation Title? | Tips & Examples Included!

Philosophy Dissertation Topics & Ideas on Aesthetics

  • Is there any fine relationship between morality and arts?
  • How does art specialists relate economic power to class structure?
  • What are the characteristics of aesthetic intelligence, and how does it relate to other sorts of intelligence?
  • Why is it necessary to find the relationship between fine art, commercial art, and craftwork in the field of aesthetics?
  • Why do researchers suggest enhancing a clear conceptual methodological attention to workplace aesthetics?
  • Why universities and different research centers are interested in neuroaesthetics and empirical aesthetics?
  • Why is there a difficulty in understanding aesthetic theology?
  • What technique is helpful in finding the Visual Aesthetic Sensitivity Test (VAST)?
  • Is there any legal act that helps in regulating aesthetic and cosmetic treatments in the UK?
  • Which ‘normative' dimension determine to create a good perception in the residents of the UK?
  • What factors signify semiotics a simple dimension of aesthetics?
  • Which method is considered as the best for effective measurement of architectural aesthetics in private and public buildings?

These are a few philosophy dissertation topics on five different branches. It is quite normal if you get stuck or confused about choosing a topic when you have so many topics in front of you. If you are struggling with the same, you must seek assistance from our professional writers.

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If you are facing difficulty in choosing the best topic for your philosophy dissertation, you should choose Assignment Desk . Our writers have profound knowledge and years of experience in delivering the dissertation on the most engaging topics and within the deadline. When you seek help from us, you can enjoy a lot of benefits listed below.

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Philosophy » Philosophy Dissertation Topics (30 Examples) For Research

dissertation topics for philosophy

Philosophy Dissertation Topics (30 Examples) For Research

Mark Aug 18, 2021 Aug 12, 2021 Philosophy No Comments

Writing about philosophy requires significant time and research. To speed up the process, we have developed a list of some interesting philosophy dissertation topics. The field of philosophy is vast and has a lot of scope for research and development. A list of philosophy dissertation topics is developed consisting of some recent and relevant areas […]

philosophy-dissertation-topics

Writing about philosophy requires significant time and research. To speed up the process, we have developed a list of some interesting philosophy dissertation topics. The field of philosophy is vast and has a lot of scope for research and development.

A list of philosophy dissertation topics is developed consisting of some recent and relevant areas for research. Once you select any research topic on philosophy or project topic on philosophy, we can offer you professional writing services.

A list Of Philosophy Dissertation Topics

Exploring the concepts of logic and metaphysics.

Studying the crossing boundaries in the life sciences.

Exploring the importance of philosophy of mind and language.

To examine the history and aim of science.

A literature review on the prediction of behaviour and phenomenology.

Identifying the ethics of cultural heritage.

Studying the impact of the state of mind on the life choices and decisions.

Exploring the epistemology knowledge theory and solipsism theory.

Comparing and contrasting the concepts of educational freedom.

Exploring humanity in the womb of history.

Analysing the ideas of Plato in the philosophy of the 21st century.

Reclaiming the power of thought and its related theories.

Exploring the quality indicators of life.

Studying the concept of positivism and its impact on human life and nature.

To explore the balancing of efficacy and effectiveness with philosophy and history.

Investigating the legal philosophy as a practical philosophy.

A philosophical argument on the models versus theories as for the primary carrier of nursing knowledge.

Explanation and comparison of the idealised theories.

Agent-based modelling in social science, history, and philosophy.

Philosophy for finance – theory and practice.

A philosophical comparison of the multidimensional model of black identity and nigrescence theory.

Studying the use of history as evidence in the philosophy of science.

Exploring the advancement in the philosophy of medicine.

To study the philosophy of psychology and cognitive science.

Exploring the philosophy of language and philosophy of mind.

Studying the concept of semantic externalism.

Comparing the ancient philosophy with modern philosophy.

Exploring the dynamicist approach to cognition.

Differences and similarities in extended and distributed cognition.

To study the Bayesian epistemology, decision theory and confirmation theory.

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Digital Commons @ USF > College of Arts and Sciences > Philosophy > Theses and Dissertations

Philosophy Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Karl Marx on Human Flourishing and Proletarian Ethics , Sam Badger

The Ontological Grounds of Reason: Psychologism, Logicism, and Hermeneutic Phenomenology , Stanford L. Howdyshell

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Interdisciplinary Communication by Plausible Analogies: the Case of Buddhism and Artificial Intelligence , Michael Cooper

Heidegger and the Origin of Authenticity , John J. Preston

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Hegel and Schelling: The Emptiness of Emptiness and the Love of the Divine , Sean B. Gleason

Nietzsche on Criminality , Laura N. McAllister

Learning to be Human: Ren 仁, Modernity, and the Philosophers of China's Hundred Days' Reform , Lucien Mathot Monson

Nietzsche and Eternal Recurrence: Methods, Archives, History, and Genesis , William A. B. Parkhurst

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Orders of Normativity: Nietzsche, Science and Agency , Shane C. Callahan

Humanistic Climate Philosophy: Erich Fromm Revisited , Nicholas Dovellos

This, or Something like It: Socrates and the Problem of Authority , Simon Dutton

Climate Change and Liberation in Latin America , Ernesto O. Hernández

Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa as Expressions of Shame in a Post-Feminist , Emily Kearns

Nostalgia and (In)authentic Community: A Bataillean Answer to the Heidegger Controversy , Patrick Miller

Cultivating Virtue: A Thomistic Perspective on the Relationship Between Moral Motivation and Skill , Ashley Potts

Identity, Breakdown, and the Production of Knowledge: Intersectionality, Phenomenology, and the Project of Post-Marxist Standpoint Theory , Zachary James Purdue

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Efficacy of Comedy , Mark Anthony Castricone

William of Ockham's Divine Command Theory , Matthew Dee

Heidegger's Will to Power and the Problem of Nietzsche's Nihilism , Megan Flocken

Abelard's Affective Intentionalism , Lillian M. King

Anton Wilhelm Amo's Philosophy and Reception: from the Origins through the Encyclopédie , Dwight Kenneth Lewis Jr.

"The Thought that we Hate": Regulating Race-Related Speech on College Campuses , Michael McGowan

A Historical Approach to Understanding Explanatory Proofs Based on Mathematical Practices , Erika Oshiro

From Meaningful Work to Good Work: Reexamining the Moral Foundation of the Calling Orientation , Garrett W. Potts

Reasoning of the Highest Leibniz and the Moral Quality of Reason , Ryan Quandt

Fear, Death, and Being-a-problem: Understanding and Critiquing Racial Discourse with Heidegger’s Being and Time , Jesús H. Ramírez

The Role of Skepticism in Early Modern Philosophy: A Critique of Popkin's "Sceptical Crisis" and a Study of Descartes and Hume , Raman Sachdev

How the Heart Became Muscle: From René Descartes to Nicholas Steno , Alex Benjamin Shillito

Autonomy, Suffering, and the Practice of Medicine: A Relational Approach , Michael A. Stanfield

The Case for the Green Kant: A Defense and Application of a Kantian Approach to Environmental Ethics , Zachary T. Vereb

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Augustine's Confessiones : The Battle between Two Conversions , Robert Hunter Craig

The Strategic Naturalism of Sandra Harding's Feminist Standpoint Epistemology: A Path Toward Epistemic Progress , Dahlia Guzman

Hume on the Doctrine of Infinite Divisibility: A Matter of Clarity and Absurdity , Wilson H. Underkuffler

Climate Change: Aristotelian Virtue Theory, the Aidōs Response and Proper Primility , John W. Voelpel

The Fate of Kantian Freedom: the Kant-Reinhold Controversy , John Walsh

Time, Tense, and Ontology: Prolegomena to the Metaphysics of Tense, the Phenomenology of Temporality, and the Ontology of Time , Justin Brandt Wisniewski

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

A Phenomenological Approach to Clinical Empathy: Rethinking Empathy Within its Intersubjective and Affective Contexts , Carter Hardy

From Object to Other: Models of Sociality after Idealism in Gadamer, Levinas, Rosenzweig, and Bonhoeffer , Christopher J. King

Humanitarian Military Intervention: A Failed Paradigm , Faruk Rahmanovic

Active Suffering: An Examination of Spinoza's Approach to Tristita , Kathleen Ketring Schenk

Cartesian Method and Experiment , Aaron Spink

An Examination of John Burton’s Method of Conflict Resolution and Its Applicability to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict , John Kenneth Steinmeyer

Speaking of the Self: Theorizing the Dialogical Dimensions of Ethical Agency , Bradley S. Warfield

Changing Changelessness: On the Genesis and Development of the Doctrine of Divine Immutability in the Ancient and Hellenic Period , Milton Wilcox

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

The Statue that Houses the Temple: A Phenomenological Investigation of Western Embodiment Towards the Making of Heidegger's Missing Connection with the Greeks , Michael Arvanitopoulos

An Exploratory Analysis of Media Reporting of Police Involved Shootings in Florida , John L. Brown

Divine Temporality: Bonhoeffer's Theological Appropriation of Heidegger's Existential Analytic of Dasein , Nicholas Byle

Stoicism in Descartes, Pascal, and Spinoza: Examining Neostoicism’s Influence in the Seventeenth Century , Daniel Collette

Phenomenology and the Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry: Contingency, Naturalism, and Classification , Anthony Vincent Fernandez

A Critique of Charitable Consciousness , Chioke Ianson

writing/trauma , Natasha Noel Liebig

Leibniz's More Fundamental Ontology: from Overshadowed Individuals to Metaphysical Atoms , Marin Lucio Mare

Violence and Disagreement: From the Commonsense View to Political Kinds of Violence and Violent Nonviolence , Gregory Richard Mccreery

Kant's Just War Theory , Steven Charles Starke

A Feminist Contestation of Ableist Assumptions: Implications for Biomedical Ethics, Disability Theory, and Phenomenology , Christine Marie Wieseler

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Heidegger and the Problem of Modern Moral Philosophy , Megan Emily Altman

The Encultured Mind: From Cognitive Science to Social Epistemology , David Alexander Eck

Weakness of Will: An Inquiry on Value , Michael Funke

Cogs in a Cosmic Machine: A Defense of Free Will Skepticism and its Ethical Implications , Sacha Greer

Thinking Nature, "Pierre Maupertuis and the Charge of Error Against Fermat and Leibniz" , Richard Samuel Lamborn

John Duns Scotus’s Metaphysics of Goodness: Adventures in 13th-Century Metaethics , Jeffrey W. Steele

A Gadamerian Analysis of Roman Catholic Hermeneutics: A Diachronic Analysis of Interpretations of Romans 1:17-2:17 , Steven Floyd Surrency

A Natural Case for Realism: Processes, Structures, and Laws , Andrew Michael Winters

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Leibniz's Theodicies , Joseph Michael Anderson

Aeschynē in Aristotle's Conception of Human Nature , Melissa Marie Coakley

Ressentiment, Violence, and Colonialism , Jose A. Haro

It's About Time: Dynamics of Inflationary Cosmology as the Source of the Asymmetry of Time , Emre Keskin

Time Wounds All Heels: Human Nature and the Rationality of Just Behavior , Timothy Glenn Slattery

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Nietzsche and Heidegger on the Cartesian Atomism of Thought , Steven Burgess

Embodying Social Practice: Dynamically Co-Constituting Social Agency , Brian W. Dunst

Subject of Conscience: On the Relation between Freedom and Discrimination in the Thought of Heidegger, Foucault, and Butler , Aret Karademir

Climate, Neo-Spinozism, and the Ecological Worldview , Nancy M. Kettle

Eschatology in a Secular Age: An Examination of the Use of Eschatology in the Philosophies of Heidegger, Berdyaev and Blumenberg , John R. Lup, Jr.

Navigation and Immersion of the American Identity in a Foreign Culture to Emergence as a Culturally Relative Ambassador , Lee H. Rosen

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

A Philosophical Analysis of Intellectual Property: In Defense of Instrumentalism , Michael A. Kanning

A Commentary On Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's Discourse on Metaphysics #19 , Richard Lamborn Samuel Lamborn

Sellars in Context: An Analysis of Wilfrid Sellars's Early Works , Peter Jackson Olen

The New Materialism: Althusser, Badiou, and Zizek , Geoffrey Dennis Pfeifer

Structure and Agency: An Analysis of the Impact of Structure on Group Agents , Elizabeth Kaye Victor

Moral Friction, Moral Phenomenology, and the Improviser , Benjamin Scott Young

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

The Virtuoso Human: A Virtue Ethics Model Based on Care , Frederick Joseph Bennett

The Existential Compromise in the History of the Philosophy of Death , Adam Buben

Philosophical Precursors to the Radical Enlightenment: Vignettes on the Struggle Between Philosophy and Theology From the Greeks to Leibniz With Special Emphasis on Spinoza , Anthony John Desantis

The Problem of Evil in Augustine's Confessions , Edward Matusek

The Persistence of Casuistry: a Neo-premodernist Approach to Moral Reasoning , Richard Arthur Mercadante

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

Dewey's Pragmatism and the Great Community , Philip Schuyler Bishop

Unamuno's Concept of the Tragic , Ernesto O. Hernandez

Rethinking Ethical Naturalism: The Implications of Developmental Systems Theory , Jared J.. Kinggard

From Husserl and the Neo-Kantians to Art: Heidegger's Realist Historicist Answer to the Problem of the Origin of Meaning , William H. Koch

Queering Cognition: Extended Minds and Sociotechnologically Hybridized Gender , Michele Merritt

Hydric Life: A Nietzschean Reading of Postcolonial Communication , Elena F. Ruiz-Aho

Descartes' Bête Machine, the Leibnizian Correction and Religious Influence , John Voelpel

Aretē and Physics: The Lesson of Plato's Timaeus , John R. Wolfe

Theses/Dissertations from 2009 2009

Praxis and Theōria : Heidegger’s “Violent” Interpretation , Megan E. Altman

On the Concept of Evil: An Analysis of Genocide and State Sovereignty , Jason J. Campbell

The Role of Trust in Judgment , Christophe Sage Hudspeth

Truth And Judgment , Jeremy J. Kelly

The concept of action and responsibility in Heidegger's early thought , Christian Hans Pedersen

Roots and Role of the Imagination in Kant: Imagination at the Core , Michael Thompson

Theses/Dissertations from 2008 2008

Peirce on the Passions: The Role of Instinct, Emotion, and Sentiment in Inquiry and Action , Robert J. Beeson

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This collection contains some of the theses and dissertations produced by students in the University of Oregon Philosophy Graduate Program. Paper copies of these and other dissertations and theses are available through the UO Libraries .

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  • The Problem of Freedom and Universality: Marxian Philosophical Anthropology  Ralda, Oscar ( University of Oregon , 2024-03-25 ) This dissertation has two principal aims. First, it provides a critical reconsideration of Marx’s philosophical anthropology as it bears on the essential continuity of his emancipatory critique of political economy. Second, ...
  • Living Legality: Law and Dussel's Philosophy of Liberation  Ospina Martinez, Juan Sebastián ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-10 ) In this dissertation I examine the theoretical underpinnings necessary for a philosophy of liberationaccount of law and suggest an alternative conceptualization of the function of law and political institutions, following ...
  • Making Sense of the Practical Lesbian Past: Towards a Rethinking of Untimely Uses of History through the Temporality of Cultural Techniques  Simon, Valérie ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-10 ) This dissertation focuses on the practice of untimely uses of lesbian history, and in particular the diverse practices of engagement with lesbian activist history, all of which aim to mobilize this activist history for the ...
  • An Argument for a Cartographic Approach to Technology  McLevey, Mare ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This dissertation develops a way to study technology and politics that is an alternative to dominant approaches particular to contemporary philosophy of technology’s empirical and ethical turns. Dominant models fix ...
  • Nietzsche, Reification, and Open Comportment  Currie, Luke ( University of Oregon , 2024-01-09 ) This work primarily discusses the “fallacy of reification” from the perspective of Nietzsche’s late philosophy (particularly in the chapter on ‘Reason’ in philosophy in his Twilight of the Idols). While reification is ...
  • Time, Capitalism, and Political Ecology: Toward and Ecosocialist Metabolic Temporality  Gamble, Cameron ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-26 ) The ecological crises that have already marked the 21st century, and which will continue to do so on an increasingly intense and destructive scale, present theory in every discipline and field of study with a number of ...
  • Demystifying Racial Monopoly  Haller, Reese ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) Through analysis of private, public, and state reactions to the Great Depression and northward black migration, this thesis demystifies four key functions of race constitutive of capitalist racial monopoly: historical ...
  • Pragmatism, Genealogy, and Moral Status  Showler, Paul ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) This dissertation draws from recent work in pragmatism and philosophical genealogy to develop and defend a new approach for thinking about the concept of moral status. My project has two main aims. First, I argue that Huw ...
  • Ethics for the Depressed: A Value Ethics of Engagement  Fitzpatrick, Devin ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) I argue that depressed persons suffer from “existential guilt,” which amounts to a two-part compulsion: 1) the compulsive assertion or sense of a vague and all-encompassing or absolute threat that disrupts action and ...
  • Soul and Polis: On Arete in Plato's Meno  Smith III, Ansel ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) In “Soul and Polis: On Arete in Plato’s Meno,” I interpret Meno as a dialogue in which the pursuit of individual arete appears intertwined with political arete. While the differentiation of these two arete is itself ...
  • Place-in-Being: A Decolonial Phenomenology of Place in Conversation with Philosophies of the Americas  Newton, Margaret ( University of Oregon , 2022-05-10 ) Our experiences of place and emplacement are so fundamental to our everyday existence that most of us rarely dedicate much time to thinking about how place and emplacement impact the various aspects of our daily lives. In ...
  • Species Trouble: From Settled Species Discourse to Ethical Species Pluralism  Sinclair, Rebekah ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) In this dissertation, I develop and defend the importance of species pluralism (the recognition and use of multiple species definitions) for both environmental and humanist ethics. I begin from the concern that, since the ...
  • The Hybris of Plants: Reinterpreting Philosophy through Vegetal Life  Kerr, Joshua ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) This dissertation reexamines the place of plants in the history of Western philosophy, drawing on the diverse philosophical approaches of Plato, Aristotle, Goethe, Hegel, and Nietzsche, among others. I suggest that a close ...
  • Decolonizing Silences: Toward a Critical Phenomenology of Deep Silences with Gloria E. Anzaldúa and Maurice Merleau-Ponty  Ferrari, Martina ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) Motivating this dissertation is a concern for how Western philosophical, cultural, and political practices tend to privilege speech and voice as emancipatory tools and reduce silence to silencing. To locate power in silence ...
  • Mere Appearance: Redressing the History of Philosophy  Zimmer, Amie ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) The principal aim of this dissertation is to seriously consider what accounts of fashion and dress can offer—have indeed already offered—to philosophy. In recounting these histories, I have two primary goals. The first is ...
  • Universal History as Global Critique: From German Critical Theory to the Anti-Colonial Tradition  Portella , Elizabeth ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) This dissertation argues for a critical reconstruction of the concept of universal history. In doing so, it draws on theoretical resources offered by a materialist philosophy of history, as it is expressed in both German ...
  • Synoptic Fusion and Dialectical Dissociation: The Entwinement of Linguistic and Experiential Pragmatisms à la Wilfrid Sellars  Naeb, Cheyenne ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) This work will attempt to examine the relationship between experiential and linguistic pragmatism through the lens of the twentieth-century Analytic philosopher, Wilfrid Sellars. I maintain that Sellars meta-linguistic ...
  • Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Questionability of Truth  Emery, James ( University of Oregon , 2020-12-08 ) Does Nietzsche’s inquiry into the question of truth take him beyond the sense of truth as correctness found in Platonism toward a more Greek understanding of truth that brings concealment into an unsettling prominence ...
  • Feminism, Secularism, and the (Im)Possibilities of an Islamic Feminism  Akbar Akhgari, Paria ( University of Oregon , 2020-02-27 ) This project considers attempts by scholars from within as well as outside Muslim countries to analyze gender and sex equality with a new approach that brings Islam and feminism into one discourse, often called “Islamic ...
  • To Write the Body: Lost Time and the Work of Melancholy  Hayes, Shannon ( University of Oregon , 2019-09-18 ) In this dissertation I develop a philosophical account of melancholy as a productive, creative, and politically significant affect. Despite the longstanding association of melancholy with the creativity and productivity ...

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100+ Philosophy Research Paper Topics

philosophy paper topics

One of the most difficult tasks philosophy students faces each year is in having to come up with a philosophy topic to write a paper on. Students can get notifications of big projects months ahead of time and then spend weeks trying to figure out whether their philosophy essay topics are good enough to earn a good grade.

We get it. It’s hard to pull this task together with schedules and responsibilities. This is why we work to find philosophical topics that are current and relatable. We stick to important issues that are at the forefront of the discipline and bring them to you in one convenient philosophical topic for the essay list.

Finding the right philosophy topics can turn regular assignments into A+-winning assignments and we’ve done the work to help you and hundreds of other students get started with these philosophy paper topics. Here are our top 100 philosophy topics for the current school year:

Argumentative Philosophy Research Paper Topics

  • Do people naturally have good and bad qualities?
  • Do we need family support to find happiness?
  • How humans can be happy without reproduction?
  • What is the definitive explanation of happiness?
  • Do most people feel they aren’t living their full lives?
  • Would you marry for money if it meant you could never be happy?
  • Would you like to live your life more than once?
  • Would you rather work vocationalation job or a high-paying job?
  • Are personalities unique or are they just template?
  • Do you think that it is moral to follow all the rules?

Good Philosophy Paper Topics for All Levels

  • Does one need to lead a moral life to achieve happiness?
  • Why do people find life harder than expected?
  • Which is the better teacher? Experience or learning?
  • Do people always do what they want at that moment?
  • Is truth universal or does it change because of perspective?
  • Do animals have a better sense of morals than humans?
  • Can people gain an education without proper schooling?
  • Does one need to be literate to understand philosophy?
  • Which ie preferable? Determinism or Free Will?
  • Is capital punishment ethical in today’s world?

Controversial Topics in Philosophy

  • How does society shape a person’s life and beliefs?
  • Do you need a lot of money to live a rich life?
  • Why are some people living without actually experiencing things?
  • Is spiritual power more important than free will?
  • Do genetics play a bigger role in the way people behave?
  • What impact does the word “love” have on positivity?
  • What is the real reason we live our lives?
  • Is it possible to form a perfect world?
  • Do religion and philosophy contradict one another?
  • Can a world exist without laws or regulations?

Fun Philosophy Paper Topics for High School

  • What would be your form ideal government?
  • What are the different ways in which humans understand each other?
  • How is the concept of happiness defined by different philosophers?
  • Is existence simply a dream experienced by a larger being?
  • If you can spend a week in any period, which would it be?
  • Are we alone in our galaxy or are there other intelligent life forms?
  • What does it mean to have free will versus determinism?
  • If you can change one thing from your past, what would it be?
  • Does religion limit our abilities to explore the meaning of life?
  • What does it mean to be loved or to love others?

Topics for Philosophy Paper on the Classics

  • What does it mean to understand our universe?
  • Does happiness come from our actions toward others?
  • Are our thoughts evidence that we exist?
  • What is the definition of evil as it relates to the modern world?
  • Could societies exist without laws and regulations?
  • Are people born good or evil or are they raised to be one or the other?
  • Is torture a justifiable form of punishment?
  • How can past leaders influence today’s youth positively?
  • Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder?
  • Can we refocus our minds to think more positively?

Easy Philosophy Paper Topics for High School

  • What does it mean to be moral in today’s world?
  • Can wars be justified if it supports the greater population?
  • What does it mean to be a postmodern philosopher?
  • What are today’s most important life values?
  • What is the current perspective on the definition of loneliness?
  • How does one prepare for life after death?
  • Would you like to repeat your life with full knowledge of the prior?
  • Does something better than nothing always lead to benefits?
  • Do people choose to suffer or is it a feeling beyond our control?
  • Should people have to right to die by suicide?

Philosophy Topics to Write About Quickly

  • Do we exist in some form after death?
  • Do supernatural entities exist in the world?
  • Are video games negatively impacting people’s moral values?
  • How does one boost his or her ability to be creative?
  • Is it important to spend your entire life learning?
  • What does it mean to be mentally conscious?
  • What is the definition of loneliness and have you experienced it?
  • What are the most important character traits for leaders to have?
  • Does one need a lot of money to be considered rich?
  • Are we alone in the universe or is there another life?

Philosophical Topics for Essays on Current Issues

  • Are parents responsible for how their children behave?
  • Are the U.S. and U.K. meritocratic societies?
  • Has social media had an impact on people’s morals?
  • Do you agree with the notion that love only exists for 3 years?
  • Are humans more likely to cause trouble because of boredom?
  • Is capital punishment morally justified in modern society?
  • Do humans have the same ideas about what is right and what is wrong?
  • How does death affect how humans view life?
  • Is it complicated to live a life of happiness?
  • Should teenagers be given the responsibility to make their own choices?

Philosophy Thesis Topics for a Big Project

  • Do religion and the belief in God change a person’s behavior?
  • Are Machiavellian ideals still relevant in today’s government?
  • Is animal experimentation ever justified to protect humans?
  • What are the pros and cons of a utilitarian society?
  • What are the pros and cons of a communist government?
  • Why are humans the only species to be violent?
  • Is economic justice more important than legal justice?
  • Should women have univerabortion rightstion?
  • What impact did the 20th-century wave of philosophy have on the U.S.?
  • How do you know that you are different from other people?

Philosophy Research Paper Topics

  • What are the tendencies we see most in humans?
  • Are our morals connected to or influenced by culture?
  • Would you live your life a second time?
  • Should religion have a voice in a nation’s government?
  • What do you think makes for an ideal society?
  • Are truths relative to specific situations or circumstances?
  • What is the most important aspect to gain human knowledge?
  • What is something that veritably upsets you?
  • What is something in your life that you would like to change?
  • What is the most effective way to increase one’s IQ?

Getting a good grade on a philosophy research paper requires you to consider several different options and narrow down those options to a topic you feel you can conduct complete philosophy research on. The topic should also be something that interests you and verges into new areas in the discipline and area of study. This can be a difficult task for many students, so we create custom philosophy research topics to suit every situation. If you can’t find a topic you like from this list, just give us a call, email us, or send us a message via chat. We can direct you to a qualified philosophy expert writer to create a custom list of philosophical ideas to fit your assignment needs.

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Brown University Theses and Dissertations

Brown University Library archives dissertations in accordance with the Brown Graduate School policy .

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"Not the Boss of Me": Reviving the Relationship Between Political and Parental Authority

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Addiction and Responsibility

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Agent Causation and Reduction

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An Incomplete Guide to Dealing with Experts

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Anomaly and Coincidence

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Apriority for Empiricists: Making Sense of Truth by Convention

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Aristotle's Pure Forms: A Study of Some Chapters in Metaphysics Z-H

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Authoring Sex: Agency, Equality, and Respect within Sexual Interaction

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Can Machines Have Desires?

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Concepts in Bounded Rationality: Perspectives from Reinforcement Learning

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Defanging the v-Curry Paradox

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Defending a Desire-­‐Centered Compatibilist Theory of Free Will

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Emotion and Imagination in Action

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Essays on Justice and Social Structure

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ESSE PERCIPI EST CONCEPTUM?: ON CONCEPTUAL AND NONCONCEPTUAL FORMS OF PERCEPTION

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Everyday Life and the Demands of Justice

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Evidence and the Rationality of Belief

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Forms and Physics in Plato's Timaeus

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From Reference to Content: Semantic Intuitions and the Theoretical Basis for Externalism

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How Much Blameworthiness Do We Share? All-or-Nothing Principles of Proportionality in Accounts of Individual Blameworthiness for Collective Harms

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Philosophy Dissertation Topics

How to choose a topic for your philosophy dissertation.

Philosophy is a discipline that covers many potential areas of research. Philosophy is a very playful discipline, as it allows students and researchers to speculate on the different factors that affect our understanding of material reality. This is why it is so crucial to choose the dissertation topic well. Undergraduate and postgraduate philosophy students are oftentimes confused about the choices that are available to them when they embark on the process of writing their dissertation. And let’s face it, the feedback that they get from their supervisors is often not sufficient enough to enable them to make the right choice when it comes to choosing a dissertation. But we can help. Our team of writers has a significant level of expertise in various areas within the field of study of philosophy.

Philosophy students are advised to choose topics that enable them to engage with the scholarly literature on the subject of their choice. This is a very important aspect of the process of writing a dissertation. Students who pay attention to the ongoing debate on the various areas of the discipline of philosophy tend to get higher marks.

Students should also make sure that they feel comfortable with the subject that they are researching. In the following sections, students will be able to find information about some of the most important issues related to the field of philosophy, including ethics, political philosophy and philosophy of mind.

Political philosophy

Philosophy of mind.

Ethics is a field of study within philosophy that deals with the way in which concepts of right and wrong should be identified and defended. The field of ethics is concerning with the assignment of value to the behaviour exhibited by individuals. The study of ethics is aimed at determining what constitutes morally-accepted behaviour. Within the field of ethics, it is possible to identify three particular fields of study. First, meta-ethics, which concerns the link between truth value and moral propositions. Second, normative ethics, which deals with the practical methods that need to be applied for determining the right course of moral behaviour. Third, applied ethics focuses on establishing how a person should exercise a moral choice. Here are a number of dissertation topics that can be written in the field of ethics:

  • What are the main aspects of the debate between cognitivism and non-cognitivism in the field of meta-ethics?
  • Does moral scepticism enhance our knowledge in the field of ethics?
  • In which way does normative ethics enables us to establish right or wrong moral choices?
  • Is Stoic philosophy successful in establishing a strong normative ethical framework?
  • What are the main implications of the deontological ethical framework provided by Kantian philosophy?
  • Is Habermasian discourse theory a worthy successor of Kantian philosophy?

Political philosophy focuses on the interaction between the concepts of justice and liberty in the manner in which the social contract is established. Political philosophy deals with the way in which laws should be implemented and the manner in which they should facilitate the actualization of people’s rights. Political philosophy is also concerned with questions of legitimacy and recognition. There are a number of relevant sub-disciplines within the domain of political philosophy, including the history of political thought, identity politics and post-structuralist political thinking. The history of political thought deals with the way in which the ideas that inform the social contract that prevails in the Western world were configured. Identity politics with the manner in which the normative framework that prevails in the social sphere should be aligned to materialize the rights of individuals and particular social groups. Post-structuralist political thinking is concerned with contesting some of the premises of the Western social contract as it originated during the Enlightenment period. There are a number of potential dissertation topics that can be highlighted:

  • In which way is the rejection of meritocracy by Michael Sandel inimical to the concept of liberty endorsed by classical liberalism?
  • Is progressivism a novel ideological subject or a revamp of classical liberalism?
  • How has the push and pull between liberty and justice affected the development of political theory in the Western world?
  • In which way did John Rawls’ “theory of justice” lead to the propagation of identity politics?
  • Has identity politics exacerbated the spectrum of social fragmentation in Western societies?
  • Has Western political thinking slid into nihilistic tendencies upon the onset of the age of globalization?

Philosophy of mind is an area within the discipline of philosophy that is very popular in British, American and Commonwealth universities. Philosophy of mind focuses on the ontological and functional implications of the relationship between the mind and the body. This is an issue that has occupied the attention of philosophers since classical times. In the modern age, philosophy of mind practitioners have focused on the monist and dualist approaches to the study of consciousness and mental states in general. This is an area of study that has significant repercussions for our understanding of mental properties and functions and the relationship between the body and the mind. The dualist approach to the study of the philosophy of mind is centred of the ideas of René Descartes, which posited that the mind exists independently of the body. Conversely, those who espouse a monist approach to the study of the philosophy of mind, such as Benedict Spinoza, claim that the mind and the body are not independent entities. There are a number of relevant dissertation topics in this area of study:

  • In which way does the dualist philosophy of mind framework proposed by René Descartes promote the idea of a functionalist approach to understanding of mental states?
  • Is the idea of consciousness a physical or mental phenomenon?
  • How is the notion of behaviourism linked to the monist position in the field of philosophy of mind?
  • What are the implications of the interactionist perspective on the dualist position espoused by René Descartes?
  • In what way has the monist-dualist debate affected the debate regarding the notion of consciousness in neuroscience?
  • Is the idea of consciousness explainable by referring to biological occurrences?

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How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

Published on November 11, 2022 by Shona McCombes and Tegan George. Revised on November 20, 2023.

Choosing your dissertation topic is the first step in making sure your research goes as smoothly as possible. When choosing a topic, it’s important to consider:

  • Your institution and department’s requirements
  • Your areas of knowledge and interest
  • The scientific, social, or practical relevance
  • The availability of data and resources
  • The timeframe of your dissertation
  • The relevance of your topic

You can follow these steps to begin narrowing down your ideas.

Table of contents

Step 1: check the requirements, step 2: choose a broad field of research, step 3: look for books and articles, step 4: find a niche, step 5: consider the type of research, step 6: determine the relevance, step 7: make sure it’s plausible, step 8: get your topic approved, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about dissertation topics.

The very first step is to check your program’s requirements. This determines the scope of what it is possible for you to research.

  • Is there a minimum and maximum word count?
  • When is the deadline?
  • Should the research have an academic or a professional orientation?
  • Are there any methodological conditions? Do you have to conduct fieldwork, or use specific types of sources?

Some programs have stricter requirements than others. You might be given nothing more than a word count and a deadline, or you might have a restricted list of topics and approaches to choose from. If in doubt about what is expected of you, always ask your supervisor or department coordinator.

Start by thinking about your areas of interest within the subject you’re studying. Examples of broad ideas include:

  • Twentieth-century literature
  • Economic history
  • Health policy

To get a more specific sense of the current state of research on your potential topic, skim through a few recent issues of the top journals in your field. Be sure to check out their most-cited articles in particular. For inspiration, you can also search Google Scholar , subject-specific databases , and your university library’s resources.

As you read, note down any specific ideas that interest you and make a shortlist of possible topics. If you’ve written other papers, such as a 3rd-year paper or a conference paper, consider how those topics can be broadened into a dissertation.

After doing some initial reading, it’s time to start narrowing down options for your potential topic. This can be a gradual process, and should get more and more specific as you go. For example, from the ideas above, you might narrow it down like this:

  • Twentieth-century literature   Twentieth-century Irish literature   Post-war Irish poetry
  • Economic history   European economic history   German labor union history
  • Health policy   Reproductive health policy   Reproductive rights in South America

All of these topics are still broad enough that you’ll find a huge amount of books and articles about them. Try to find a specific niche where you can make your mark, such as: something not many people have researched yet, a question that’s still being debated, or a very current practical issue.

At this stage, make sure you have a few backup ideas — there’s still time to change your focus. If your topic doesn’t make it through the next few steps, you can try a different one. Later, you will narrow your focus down even more in your problem statement and research questions .

There are many different types of research , so at this stage, it’s a good idea to start thinking about what kind of approach you’ll take to your topic. Will you mainly focus on:

  • Collecting original data (e.g., experimental or field research)?
  • Analyzing existing data (e.g., national statistics, public records, or archives)?
  • Interpreting cultural objects (e.g., novels, films, or paintings)?
  • Comparing scholarly approaches (e.g., theories, methods, or interpretations)?

Many dissertations will combine more than one of these. Sometimes the type of research is obvious: if your topic is post-war Irish poetry, you will probably mainly be interpreting poems. But in other cases, there are several possible approaches. If your topic is reproductive rights in South America, you could analyze public policy documents and media coverage, or you could gather original data through interviews and surveys .

You don’t have to finalize your research design and methods yet, but the type of research will influence which aspects of the topic it’s possible to address, so it’s wise to consider this as you narrow down your ideas.

It’s important that your topic is interesting to you, but you’ll also have to make sure it’s academically, socially or practically relevant to your field.

  • Academic relevance means that the research can fill a gap in knowledge or contribute to a scholarly debate in your field.
  • Social relevance means that the research can advance our understanding of society and inform social change.
  • Practical relevance means that the research can be applied to solve concrete problems or improve real-life processes.

The easiest way to make sure your research is relevant is to choose a topic that is clearly connected to current issues or debates, either in society at large or in your academic discipline. The relevance must be clearly stated when you define your research problem .

Before you make a final decision on your topic, consider again the length of your dissertation, the timeframe in which you have to complete it, and the practicalities of conducting the research.

Will you have enough time to read all the most important academic literature on this topic? If there’s too much information to tackle, consider narrowing your focus even more.

Will you be able to find enough sources or gather enough data to fulfil the requirements of the dissertation? If you think you might struggle to find information, consider broadening or shifting your focus.

Do you have to go to a specific location to gather data on the topic? Make sure that you have enough funding and practical access.

Last but not least, will the topic hold your interest for the length of the research process? To stay motivated, it’s important to choose something you’re enthusiastic about!

Most programmes will require you to submit a brief description of your topic, called a research prospectus or proposal .

Remember, if you discover that your topic is not as strong as you thought it was, it’s usually acceptable to change your mind and switch focus early in the dissertation process. Just make sure you have enough time to start on a new topic, and always check with your supervisor or department.

If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Methodology

  • Sampling methods
  • Simple random sampling
  • Stratified sampling
  • Cluster sampling
  • Likert scales
  • Reproducibility

 Statistics

  • Null hypothesis
  • Statistical power
  • Probability distribution
  • Effect size
  • Poisson distribution

Research bias

  • Optimism bias
  • Cognitive bias
  • Implicit bias
  • Hawthorne effect
  • Anchoring bias
  • Explicit bias

Formulating a main research question can be a difficult task. Overall, your question should contribute to solving the problem that you have defined in your problem statement .

However, it should also fulfill criteria in three main areas:

  • Researchability
  • Feasibility and specificity
  • Relevance and originality

All research questions should be:

  • Focused on a single problem or issue
  • Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources
  • Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints
  • Specific enough to answer thoroughly
  • Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis
  • Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly

Writing Strong Research Questions

You can assess information and arguments critically by asking certain questions about the source. You can use the CRAAP test , focusing on the currency , relevance , authority , accuracy , and purpose of a source of information.

Ask questions such as:

  • Who is the author? Are they an expert?
  • Why did the author publish it? What is their motivation?
  • How do they make their argument? Is it backed up by evidence?

A dissertation prospectus or proposal describes what or who you plan to research for your dissertation. It delves into why, when, where, and how you will do your research, as well as helps you choose a type of research to pursue. You should also determine whether you plan to pursue qualitative or quantitative methods and what your research design will look like.

It should outline all of the decisions you have taken about your project, from your dissertation topic to your hypotheses and research objectives , ready to be approved by your supervisor or committee.

Note that some departments require a defense component, where you present your prospectus to your committee orally.

The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.

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dissertation topics for philosophy

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A panexperientialist ontology , the beast with two backs: romantic bodily overlap in peripersonal space , inter-species halys: ethical considerations of well-being measurement across multiple species , [c-theory] , extesionalism and veridicalism , civilian noncombatant’s duty to aid a dying enemy combatant , beyond the completeness of physics: a preliminary groundwork for a dispositional emergentism , is the experience of agency necessarily retrospective a predictive approach , critique of just war theory: revision of traditional dichotomy & its implications for justified violence , understanding nietzsche’s perspectivism and reconciling it with perspectival realism , ecumenical cognitivism, ecumenical expressivism and moral disagreement , mechanistic philosophy and the use of deep neural networks in neuroscience , common notion and essence of things: the intense relationship between knowledge of the last two kinds , generics revisited: a simple theory of types , violence and civil disobedience , poetry and nature in kant’s aesthetics: on why poetry is the highest of all the arts , is euthanasia of the infant born at 22⁺⁰-23⁺⁶ weeks’ gestation (without congenital anomalies) morally permissible within the united kingdom , against epistemic blame scepticism , paradox of temporal consciousness , aesthetic disinterestedness .

dissertation topics for philosophy

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Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry

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Thank you for your interest in the graduate program at the University of Iowa Department of Chemistry. The Department has had a chemistry PhD program for over 75 years and currently consists of over 25 research faculty, over 130 graduate students, and over 20 postdoctoral associates, research scientists and visiting scholars. Our graduates and postdocs have accepted positions at leading academic and industrial institutions and national laboratories.

State-of-the-art research labs, support facilities, and classrooms are located in the Chemistry Building and the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratory. Extensive resources are readily accessible such as NMR, mass spectrometry, and X-ray analysis facilities, advanced computational resources, and complete machine, electronics, and glass shops. In addition to strong programs in the core areas of analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, we offer unique research opportunities in emerging interdisciplinary areas such as biocatalysis, natural products, materials, surface science, bioinorganic, chemical sensors, chemical education research, and environmental and atmospheric chemistry.

The Department of Chemistry funds the tuition for all of our graduate students in good standing. In addition, we offer teaching and research assistantships that pay an annual stipend and provide employee benefits such as health insurance. Additional funding from a variety of sources is also available. 

For more information, contact the graduate program by e-mail at [email protected]

Student resources

  • First year student guide
  • Annual review resources
  • Teaching assistant resources
  • Postdoctoral scholar resources
  • Thesis and dissertation
  • General catalog
  • Current courses

Degree requirements

Competency requirement.

Students must demonstrate basic competency in three chosen sub-disciplines of chemistry (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, physical). Competency is established in one of the following ways: Scoring at the 50th percentile level (national norm) on the proficiency exam, completing a one-semester review course with a grade of C or better (courses specified below), or completing a one-semester graduate-level/advanced course in that sub-discipline of chemistry with a grade of B or better. The competency requirement must be fulfilled before the beginning of the student's third semester in the graduate program.

Review courses

Courses currently designated as review courses are:

  • CHEM:4171 (formerly 4:171): Advanced Analytical Chemistry
  • BIOC:3120 (formerly 99:120): Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I
  • CHEM:4270 (formerly 4:170): Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
  • CHEM:4372 (formerly 4:172): Advanced Organic Chemistry
  • CHEM:4431 (formerly 4:131): Physical Chemistry I

Advanced course requirement

Beyond the competency requirements, a minimum of four additional courses that total at least 11 semester hours of graduate credit must be completed by the end of the fourth semester in residence. Grades of "B" or higher must be attained in all of these advanced courses. A grade of "B-" does not meet this requirement. Research, seminar, and pedagogy credits, courses that are doubly listed with sub-100 level numbers, courses taken with the S/U grade option, and courses with grades of "B-" or lower cannot be used to fulfill this requirement. The student is strongly encouraged to develop a detailed course plan that is reviewed and approved by the research advisor.

Comprehensive examination

The oral comprehensive examination is designed to assess the student's overall progress, knowledge of fundamental chemical principles and chosen area of specialization, and general competency for PhD research.

Before the beginning of the second semester after a permanent advisor has been appointed, a Graduate Academic Committee (GAC) of five faculty, at least four from Chemistry, will be formed for each student with a PhD degree objective. The committee will consist of the research advisor and four additional members invited by the student subject to the advisor’s approval.

The five member committee for the comprehensive examination is the same as the student's Graduate Academic Committee (GAC). Additional faculty members may be invited to attend the oral comprehensive examination and may be consulted in judging the presentation when it bears upon their areas of expertise.

To be eligible to take the Comprehensive Examination, the student must have a cumulative average of 3.00 or greater on appropriate graduate coursework at The University of Iowa. Appropriate graduate coursework includes review courses (Section II.B.), graded seminar presentations (Section III.F.), courses that satisfy the advanced course requirement (Section III.A.), and additional courses in chemistry or related disciplines that are judged appropriate by the student’s GAC. Graduate Chemistry Orientation (CHEM:5091, formerly 4:191), Ethics in Chemical Sciences (CHEM:5092, formerly 4;192), Research in Chemistry (CHEM:7999, formerly 4:290) and Research Seminar (CHEM:6990, formerly 4:291) shall be graded on an S/U basis and therefore are not included in the computation of the cumulative average.

The general comprehensive examination requirements set by the Graduate College must be completed by the end of the fourth semester in residence, unless written consent is received from the GAC and is approved by the Departmental Graduate Review Committee (DGRC). A student who fails to meet this requirement may be dropped from the PhD program. A student on academic probation is not eligible to take the comprehensive exam. Students entering with a Master's degree and those exempted from review courses are strongly encouraged to take the comprehensive examination during the second or third semester in residence.

The comprehensive examination is a two-part oral examination. The first part consists of an oral defense of the student's research problem and progress, and will be based upon a written Research Report submitted by the student. The second part consists of an oral defense of an original Research Proposal submitted by the student. The Research Report and the Research Proposal must be submitted (together) prior to five weeks before the last day of classes in the semester during which the examination is to be taken (or, for a spring semester examination, by the last Friday prior to Spring Break, whichever is earlier). It is strongly recommended that the examination be held at the earliest possible date in the semester to facilitate scheduling.

If the GAC approves both the Research Report and the Research Proposal, the oral examination may be scheduled. The student should then complete a Formal Plan of Study and a Request to the Graduate College for the PhD Comprehensive Examination. At the examination, the student will be asked to present a short (20 minute) summary of their research project. During or following this presentation, the committee will ask questions designed to probe the student's understanding of the research topic and important background material, the experimental methods and techniques which are important in the particular area, and the goals and significance of the research. The committee next will examine the candidate's understanding of areas related to the Research Proposal. The student will be asked to give a short (30 minute) presentation of the Research Proposal. The committee will ask questions designed to probe the quality and the student's understanding of the proposal. Typically, however, this discussion will evolve into a wide-ranging examination of the student's general competency in the chemical sciences.

Seminar requirements

Each student is expected to give a minimum of two acceptable seminars. One seminar must cover the student's research. The other may also deal with the student's research, or can be an extensive literature report. The student may register for the appropriate divisional seminar course and receive letter grade credit during those semesters in which the seminars are presented. The final PhD defense cannot be used to meet this requirement.

The research conference/three-month seminar

At least three months before the anticipated final defense, the PhD candidate must meet with their graduate academic committee. If scheduling permits, the research work can be reported as a research seminar during a regularly scheduled divisional seminar, with a subsequent committee meeting for questions and advice.

Final defense of the PhD dissertation

The Dean of the Graduate College will make a public announcement of a candidate’s final defense three weeks prior to the exam date. This final oral examination is open to the public. Dissertation copies must be made available to all members of the examining committee not later than two weeks before the examination date.

Milestones toward the PhD

The milestones on the path toward earning your PhD in chemistry at the University of Iowa are described below. These are illustrative of a typical student; most students follow this path, but some variations are possible.

Typical timelines for PhD completion

Create your academic path.

You'll find degree overviews, requirements, course lists, academic plans, and more to help you plan your education and explore your possibilities.

Current course list

The MyUI Schedule displays registered courses for a particular session and is available to enrolled students. The list view includes course instructors, time and location, and features to drop courses or change sections.

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