Yeah, I think so. Another one I don't get. LL.M. Okay, so it's Master of Laws. But, where does the extra "L" come in?
It seems redundant, but I don't think it is, as there can be Doctor of Philosphy in _____ (many other discplines).
I guess that historically, in medieval times, 'philosophy' was a generic term that basically meant 'scholarship', in general. If it was distinguished from anything, it was from theology, which treated what derived from divine revelation as opposed to human reason, and perhaps from medicine and law. In the Renaissance there was an academic vogue for literary and textual studies, particularly of ancient authors. This was partly a reaction against what what seemed to intellectuals to be the aridity and sterility of scholastic philosophy, I guess. For a long time the natural sciences were a branch of philosophy, termed 'natural philosophy'. It was only gradually, as the sciences developed tremendous bodies of specialized knowledge and technique, that they budded off and became separate academic subjects. The social sciences were basically Enlightenment products that sought to extend the impressive successes of Newtonian physics to the goal of reforming society. I think that it's only comparatively recently that many of the creative arts were embraced as academic subjects. Engineering and many of the practical subjects that are so tremendously popular today were trades and vocational subjects until the 19'th and early 20'th centuries. But through it all, philosophy has remained, treating the big questions and the foundational issues. So the 'Doctor of Philosophy' term kind of reflects the original roots of the scholarly tradition, while the specific major ('Ph.D.in Sociology') reflects the modern growth, elaboration, fragmentation and subdivision of the disciplines.
I love the diverse group on this board, that was very interseting (and something I did not have a clue about)... thanks!
All major universities, and many minor ones, have Philosophy departments. Many of these departments support doctoral degree programs. You didn't know this? Jack
LL.M. It's because it is a Latin abbreviation and in the plural form in a Latin abbreviation the letters are doubled. There has to be someone on this Board who can give you a better explanation. Any language specialists ? I'm going back to my high school Latin on this one.
