The School of Law and Department of Philosophy at The University of Texas at Austin established in 1998–99 the "Law and Philosophy Program" (LPP), a combined degree program which leads to the J.D. and the Ph.D. in philosophy. Students must apply separately and secure admission to each unit. By counting up to two law courses towards the PhD requirements and four philosophy courses towards the JD requirements, students can save roughly a year's worth of work towards the two degrees. The two degrees can be earned in seven years.
With the largest law-and-philosophy faculty in the United States, the LPP offers unmatched coverage of topics at the intersection of the two fields. The faculty is particularly noted for seminal work in several areas: the defense, elaboration, and interpretation of legal positivism and legal realism; the philosophy of criminal law; the philosophical foundations of constitutional law and constitutional interpretation; political obligation and the duty to obey the law; theories of causation and proof in the law; and the intersection of legal theory with metaethics, moral psychology, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language, and Continental philosophy. Over the next few years, the LPP is authorized to appoint two new faculty, including at least one political philosopher, to supplement and complement existing strengths.
Jointly appointed faculty and close cooperation between the two units insure a supervised and coherent program of study. The Philosophy Department offers competitive financial aid for the PhD program, and the Law School offers a limited number of fellowships each year to students at the dissertation stage, as well as in-state tuition waivers qualifying non-residents for in-state tuition during the first year of law school. Tuition at the Law School continues to be the lowest of any of the nation's leading law schools. After the first year, out-of-state students qualify for in-state law school tuition if they also hold a TA appointment in philosophy. LPP students are also eligible for substantial merit-based aid from the Law School which, given their credentials, they often get.
For application materials and more information, visit the following homepages:
Questions? Contact Professor Brian Leiter at bleiter@law.utexas.edu.