Sofia University’s Philosophy МА Program is a multi-profile program offering a rich diversity of disciplines within both classical and contemporary philosophy. It is constructed in accordance with the thematic and methodological pluralism characteristic of current philosophical studies, but it is also directed towards creating possibilities for communication between different fields of study.

The program aims to:

• provide students with the opportunity to freely shape the structure of their philosophical education based on their personal interests and professional ambitions.
• make students familiar with key philosophical schools, methods, positions and forms of argumentation.
• establish interdisciplinary connections between different branches of philosophy, as well as between philosophy and other academic fields.
• develop skills applicable in various academic, pedagogical, cultural, and socio-political spheres

The program encompasses five specialized modules, each of which offers disciplines from a specific philosophical field of study.

• When applying for the program, a student selects one of the specialized modules. Each module includes two mandatory subjects, in addition to which the student must choose three more subjects from within their selected module, as well as four more subjects among any of the ones offered by the program (regardless of module).
• The specialized modules include “Philosophy of Science”, “Philosophy of Mind and Language”, “Ontology”, “Social and Political Philosophy”, and “Metaphysics”.
• In addition to the subjects offered within the specialized modules, the program includes additional subjects intended for students who have not been educated in philosophy and would like to acquire a more general understanding of it.

The qualifications that can be acquired within the MA Program are different depending on the subjects a student has chosen and the modules those subjects belong to.

• The “Philosophy of Science” module introduces students to the basic methodological and theoretical characteristics of modern science. It also provides a detailed understanding of the history and philosophy of particular scientific fields such as physics, biology and psychology. The subjects within the module also encompass topics important for humanity in its contemporary globalized situation, such as the role of technology in human life and the difficulties in communication between experts and the wider public.
• The “Philosophy of Mind and Language” module combines topics from two very widely studied branches of contemporary philosophy: Philosophy of Mind and Philosophy of Language. Among the key problems discussed are the criteria for meaningfulness of utterances, the relation between mind and body (and the problems presented by it for neuroscience and psychology), as well as a wide spectrum of other philosophical questions related to thinking, perception, and logic.
• The “Metaphysics” module provides detailed knowledge of the most influential metaphysical ideas within Western philosophy: from the foundational work of Aristotle bearing that name, through various Christian attempts to create a synthesis of philosophy and theology, to the critical rethinking of older philosophical traditions by authors such as Nietzsche and Heidegger. Students can become familiar with the different ways in which European culture has developed frameworks for understanding the whole of existence, as well as the culturally and politically influential continuations of these traditions in contemporary thought.
• The “Ontology” module develops skills for philosophical analysis of different objects, as well as different aspects of the living and knowing subject. These skills are intended to overcome the limitations of more narrowly oriented scientific and scholarly disciplines. Another topic of study is the way personal or socially influenced attitudes affect a given scholar’s viewpoint when studying a particular problem or phenomenon.
• The “Social and Political Philosophy” module teaches students to develop nuanced and comprehensive perspectives on various moral, aesthetic, cultural, social, economic, and political problems. The subjects within the module offer an interdisciplinary approach directed towards developing skills not only for critical assessment, but also for communication, dialogue and cooperation in making decisions, including between representatives of conflicting cultural attitudes and political positions.
• The disciplines available for selection which do not belong to any specialized module offer students more general theoretical and methodological frameworks for orientation within their preferred fields of study.
• Successful graduation in the program requires composing a magisterial thesis under specialized guidance, which additionally strengthens the skills acquired during the time of study.

The MA Program offers wide opportunities for a further academic career in various doctoral programs, as well as for applying the qualifications acquired within the program to other professional spheres.

• Each module within the MA Program corresponds thematically and methodologically to existing doctoral programs. The successful graduation in any of these modules can be of great benefit for the later scholarly activities of students who intend to continue their academic career.
• Due to the program’s interdisciplinary character, successful graduation in it can benefit students in continuing their academic work outside the field of philosophy as well.
• The qualifications acquired through the study of philosophy, including communicative skills, the ability to understand abstract concepts, critical thinking, creative problem solving, as well as skills for analysing, categorising, argumentation and text composition, can be utilized in various professional spheres including public administration, copyrighting, advertising, journalism, editorial work, pedagogy, as well as other professional spheres which require analytic and interpretative capabilities.
• The Philosophy MA Program also offers some more practically oriented disciplines such as academic writing and critical thinking, which can have a direct role in transferring the skills acquired within the program to other spheres.