Talk:Master of Philosophy

A lesser degree?
I don't think the description of an MPhil as 'a lesser degree' at the beginning of the article is particularly positive, especially given its prominent position and the use made of Wikipedia articles on many other sites. Personally, I think the article would read better with that sentence removed. Clearly, a PhD requires more, but having looked at Wiki articles describing other academic qualifications, there don't seem to be any similar connotations, such as describing a Postgraduate Diploma as a lesser qualification than a taught Master's degree, which, proportionately at least, is a fair comparison. Although varying between institutions (as do many other qualifications) the mainstream MPhil (in the UK that is) requires a thesis of about 50,000 to 60,000 words defended by a viva, and so its description later in the article as a mini PhD seems more appropriate. I would imagine that anyone who had succesfully completed one would feel justifiably proud of their achievement. Andrewiki (talk) 15:07, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

Do any UK universities apart from Cambridge offer a one year taught MPhil? I've only seen two year courses since Glasgow wound-up its one-year MPhils.

No, just Cambridge. BodvarBjarki (talk) 15:55, 4 January 2010 (UTC)

MPhil in the United States
The article states the MPhil degree (which one typically associates with the UK) is also awarded now in th US. However, I´m not aware of any university in the United States that actually offers the MPhil degree. Regular academic master´s degrees in the US are usually designated M.A. or M.S. Alternatively, there are also various terminal, professional master's degrees such as the M.Eng., the M.B.A., the M.F.A., etc..., but no MPhil. Could anyone provide a reference to back the article's claim ? 200.177.2.80 23:53, 24 December 2008 (NTC)


 * Columbia University offers the M.Phil. (If you Google "M.Phil" this Columbia page is currently second from the top). 98.116.188.7 (talk) 16:00, 2 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Interesting - thanks for this. The Columbia MPhil seems to be awarded for successful completion of the taught component of the PhD programme, and would probably correspond more closely to a British taught MA or MSc, rather than the research MPhil. -- Nicholas Jackson (talk) 16:36, 2 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Having received one in 1976 in Psychology it is awarded upon completion of course work and comprehensive examination. It is correctly an ABD.Arodb (talk) 00:00, 27 May 2012 (UTC)


 * It was availible at Rutgers, "offered by the faculties of certain Ph.D. programs to students who achieve records of distinction during the predissertation phase of those programs". Students who left the Physics department without a Ph.D. generally got a M.S., but (though it was availible) I never heard of anyone getting a M.Phil. Bennetto (talk) 17:46, 1 February 2010 (UTC)

Why Richard Swinburne?

 * some professors, most notably the world-renowned philosopher Richard Swinburne, have held major professorships without ever finishing a doctorate.

Why is Swinburne the most notable example of this phenomenon? There are loads of top academics who don't have doctorates, including many who are at least as "world-renowned" as Swinburne.--Oxonian2006 (talk) 21:23, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Teaching qualification?

 * Traditionally, the M.Phil. qualified a person to teach at Oxford

Really? I thought that traditionally the MA qualified a person to teach at Oxford. True, increasingly graduates took the old research degrees of BPhil, BLitt, and BSc (later renamed MPhil, MLitt, and MSc, in order to fit in with the modern universities and foreign degree systems), but I've never heard that the MPhil specifically was considered the basic teaching qualification.--Oxonian2006 (talk) 21:25, 5 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Sounds unlikely to me - especially since the MPhil is of relatively recent origin (mid-late 20th century). It's certainly true that the MA originally licensed (and in mediaeval times, obliged) one to teach in the University, so possibly this is what the original editor had in mind.  In the continuing absence of any justification or sources for either this statement or the Swinburne remark, I've deleted both of them.  -- Nicholas Jackson (talk) 16:43, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

The MA from Oxford and Cambridge is not actually a degree. You graduate BA and then 21 terms after matriculation, send them £10 and they send you an MA in the post! It allows you to walk across the grass in the quad (instead of round the periphery), sit at a table with the other "Masters" when eating dinner and allows you to vote in the college convocation. However it 'appears' like its a degree and causes much confusion, and some would say (though I could not possibly comment), fraudulent, since it mis-represents one achievements. Every so often it comes up in parliament, where some MP's try to get it banned, but since a lot of MP's have studied PPE (politics, philosophy and economics) at Oxford, the bill usually gets sabotaged and the (some would say) fraud continues. Its part of the lies (some would say) that are at the heart of the British Establishment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.170.131.21 (talk) 13:31, 20 December 2012 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified (January 2018)
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Language variety
This article currently uses a mixture of British and American spellings, the most obvious being 'enrol[l]ment' and 'program[me]'. While it doesn't rise to the level of 'strong ties' that would require a particular English variety per MOS:TIES, the degree does seem to be mostly awarded in the UK and other Commonwealth countries, with only a few US universities granting it. I would therefore lean towards adopting British English spelling across the article per MOS:CONSISTENT.

The original stub article used just British English but by the time it was a post-stub article both British and American spellings were established, so the guidance at MOS:ENGVAR to "use the variety found in the first post-stub revision that introduced an identifiable variety" isn't particularly helpful. This is also supposed to be a back-stop for when "discussion does not resolve the issue", so hopefully we can avoid it by coming to a consensus.

What do other editors think of adopting British English as the national variety for this article? Robminchin (talk) 16:47, 8 May 2024 (UTC)