Doctor Philosophiae (Danish and Norwegian degree)
Doctor Philosophiae, abbreviated as Dr. Phil. in Denmark and as Dr. Philos. in Norway, is one of the four traditional doctoral degrees awarded by universities in Denmark and Norway. It was introduced in both countries in 1824 (the higher education systems of both countries being more or less identical at the time) and was originally awarded by the faculties of philosophy, that included all other fields than theology, law and medicine. The degree can theoretically be awarded in any field, but is mostly awarded in the humanities, natural sciences (less frequently in recent years) and social sciences.
The degree is one of the highest academic degrees and recognitions that can be obtained in both countries. In Denmark, it's considered to be a higher doctorate, as opposed to the newly introduced PhD degree, that is based upon the American PhD and is considered a lower degree at the same level as the former Licentiate, i.e. a "smaller doctorate". As such, the Dr. Phil. degree is generally considered more prestigious and as the "proper doctorate".[1] It's considered equivalent to the Habilitation in Central Europe[2][3][4]. In the humanities and partly in the social sciences, the Magister degree, that was obtained before the Dr. Phil. degree, used to be the entry level research degree required before finding permanent employment at a university. In some cases, those obtaining the Dr. Phil. degree are already full professors, and their Dr. Phil. thesis is often seen as their magnum opus.
The degree can also be written as Doctor Philosophiæ (Æ instead of AE). In Danish and Norwegian, the degree is, similar to other Latin degrees, generally not capitalized (i.e. it's written as doctor philosophiae or doctor philosophiæ, and abbreviated dr. phil. or dr. philos.).
The three other traditional doctorates in Denmark and Norway are the doctorates of Theology, Law and Medicine (Doctor Theologiae (Dr. Theol.), Doctor Juris (Dr. Jur.) and Doctor Medicinae (Dr. Med.)), that have existed since the University of Copenhagen (for centuries the only university of Denmark-Norway) was founded in 1479. In the 20th century, a number of other, more specialized doctoral degrees were created in the fields of social sciences, natural sciences, humanities, economics, psychology, veterinary medicine etc., but the Doctor Philosophiae degree has been awarded continually. Some opted for the Dr. Phil. degree because of its longer tradition and prestige. Unlike newer doctorates like the PhD, Doctor Philosophiae is not a supervised degree, does not include any coursework (only research), and there are no doctoral programmes leading to the degree. It hence requires a much larger degree of independent research.
In Norway, all the traditional doctorates except Dr. Philos. (and well as all other newer doctorates) were abolished in 2008 and replaced by the PhD degree that was created in 2003; hence Norwegian universities are currently awarding two doctoral degrees, Dr. Philos. (created in 1824), based solely upon highly independent research and mostly awarded to mid-career or senior academics, and PhD (created in 2003), awarded to those who take part in an organized doctoral programme with coursework.
The Dr. Phil. was originally inspired by the German educational tradition in the early 19th century, but as Denmark and Norway didn't have a separate Habilitation, the degree became comparable to the Habilitation rather than the doctorate in Germany, while the Magister and Licenciate degrees became comparable to German (and American) doctorates.