The Philosophical Gourmet Report, the most important ranking of Graduate Programs in Philosophy in the English speaking world, has just published their 2006 rankings. Applied Ethics at Oxford University appears in the highest group, Group 1, with median and mode scores of (4, 4).
The other Universities in Group 1 for Applied Ethics were:
Georgetown University (4.25 median, 4.5 mode)
Harvard University (4, 3.5 & 4.5)
Rice University (3.75, 3.5)
Rutgers University (4.25, 5)
Bowling Green State University was added by the Board
This is a tremendous achievement for Applied Ethics at Oxford. Our applied ethics program was only established in Oxford in 2003 on a modest budget. Philosophy overall at Oxford is ranked equal second in the world. There are 31 specialisations of Philosophy. Other specialisations in Oxford Philosophy to be ranked in Group 1 are: Ancient Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Philosophical Logic, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Law, Medieval Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy: 18 th Century. Other related disciplines in Philosophy at Oxford are Metaethics (Group 3) and Normative Ethics/Moral Psychology (Group 2).
The scoring system is as follows
5 – Distinguished
4 – Strong
3 – Good
2 – Adequate
1 – Marginal
0 – Inadequate for a PhD program
Group 1 had a mean of 4 for Applied Ethics.