Bachelor of Philosophy

Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; Baccalaureus Philosophiae or Philosophiae Baccalaureus) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's degrees, the BPhil is typically a postgraduate degree awarded to individuals who have already completed a traditional undergraduate degree. In China, the Bachelor of Philosophy is one of the twelve statutory types of bachelor's degrees. It is awarded to students who have completed an undergraduate program with a major in Philosophy, Critical Thinking, or Religious Studies. The BPhil's earliest form was as a University of Oxford graduate degree, first awarded in 1682. Originally, Oxford named its pre-doctoral graduate degrees two: the Bachelor as either the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) or the Bachelor of Letters (BLitt). The BPhil was a two-year degree plan partly taught and completed through research requirements. The BLitt was a two-year research degree. After complaints, especially from overseas students, that this naming convention often meant that graduate degrees were not being recognised as such, the university renamed them Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Master of Letters (MLitt). However, the Philosophy Faculty (then a sub-faculty) argued that its BPhil degree had become so well-known and respected in the philosophical world that it would be confusing to change the name. In philosophy, therefore, the degree continues to be called the BPhil. Those who pass the degree are given the choice of taking a BPhil or an MPhil; few if any choose the latter. (Note that Oxford also offers a number of other graduate degrees labeled as baccalaureate degrees: the law faculty's BCL; and the music faculty's BMus.) Today's Oxford BPhil course is a two-year programme of seminars, six essays (of up to 5,000 words each) and a research thesis (max. 30,000 words). The BPhil is regarded as a very demanding degree, and an academic background in philosophy is a prerequisite for admission.