Online Master PhilTeR

 «The assumption that we live in a secularized world is false. The world today, with some exceptions, is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than ever.» (Peter Berger)

Interest in religion has arisen sharply in recent decades: according to the data of the Pew Research Center, the percentage of non-believers is set to fall from 16 % to 12.5% by 2060. Nevertheless, academic programs in philosophy are often designed in an agnostic way—as if the question of God’s existence did not matter, to say nothing of the place of the monotheistic religions predicated on his existence. Such programs neglect the growing interest in religion at a global level and particularly among students of philosophy.

Furthermore, in many such programs, philosophy is studied exclusively in a topical way, examining particular questions and problems while neglecting the history of these problems and of philosophy more broadly. Finally, the study of the millennia-long history of dialogue between philosophy and religions—which took place within, e.g., among the ancient Greeks, and within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—is not emphasized by any postsecondary program in philosophy, despite such study’s foundational nature for ongoing dialogue between cultures and faiths in an increasingly globalized world.

The Online MA in Philosophy, Theology and Religions (PhilTeR) fills all these gaps. The course of study it offers is centred on the mutual relationship between religions and philosophy from both a historical and a theoretical point of view. Moreover, it was conceived and designed as an online program and is thus ideally suited for a student body drawn from over the world. This online format also allows for a similarly international faculty: our course instructors are all leading experts in their given area of philosophy and/or religious thought, and include some of the world’s most well-respected scholars working in these fields.