No. 1 Ranking for UA Philosophy Program

The University of Arizona political philosophy program is ranked No. 1 in the 2018 Philosophical Gourmet Report. The UA also was ranked in eight other areas of study in the report, which covers hundreds of doctorate-granting philosophy programs in the English-speaking world. Six areas covered in the UA Department of Philosophy placed in the top 10 in this year’s rankings, and the department’s overall ranking of No. 16 continues its decade-long streak of top-20 placements. 

“To be ranked among, and in some cases above, many of the most prestigious universities in the world is a testament to the strength of our Department of Philosophy,” says UA President Robert C. Robbins. “The fact that our philosophy faculty have been recognized by their peers not just this year, but for several years, is an outstanding example of the University of Arizona’s excellence across campus and the many avenues for students to learn from the world’s best.”  

“It is thrilling to see the University of Arizona persisting since 2011 as the No. 1-ranking program in the world for political philosophy,” says David Schmidtz, professor of philosophy, director of the UA Center for the Philosophy of Freedom and head of the newly formed Department of Political Economy and Moral Science. “It’s also gratifying to see the trajectory in fields that Arizona treats as especially closely related, such as applied ethics and philosophy of social science.”

Established in 2001, the Philosophical Gourmet Report ranks graduate programs primarily on the basis of faculty quality. It reflects the sentiments of faculty peers about the quality and reputation of doctoral programs as a whole and in specialty areas.