The Department of Philosophy offers work leading to the doctor of philosophy with a major in philosophy. The MA is granted to PhD program students when they pass their preliminary examinations and become a dissertator. When a student must leave the program early and is unable to complete a PhD, a terminal MA is granted upon satisfying the department's criteria for a master's degree. The PhD degree is awarded in recognition of a successfully completed program of advanced studies in philosophy, culminating in a dissertation which represents a contribution to philosophy or to philosophical scholarship.<br><br>The PhD program falls into two major stages. The first consists of work that prepares the student for admission to candidacy for the PhD degree. Studies during the first stage of the program are devoted to acquiring the philosophical skills and learning needed to do philosophy in the second stage when writing a successful dissertation.