The very name “PhD in Humanities: History, Philosophy and Aesthetics of the Francisco de Vitoria University” proposes the study of Humanities as a key to understanding Western Civilization, in three areas: history and society, philosophy (especially in the fields of Anthropology and Education) and aesthetics.

The field of history is studied as a field of achievements and conflict of values in society, philosophy as a rational inquiry into the fundamental questions concerning the world and the human being, and anthropology as an inquiry into the image of the person, its place in existence and its implications for education. Finally, the aesthetic  as an expression of the creative capacity of the human being in the world through the arts: a synthesis of Imagination, Truth and Reason and as an expression and upheaval of Art, Literature, Ideas and Religion.

The program is developed within the framework of an academic community, the Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, in which the Humanities have been the center of its training. Proof of this are the many subjects in this area that are taught transversally in all degrees, or the Master’s Degree in Humanities (formerly Master’s in Philosophy) that has been taught uninterruptedly since the first academic year of the University (1993-1994) to date. And a university that understands the research and  training in the humanities not as a rationalist speculation nor as a titanic exercise of the will, much less as an aesthetic amusement, but as a rational path in which the understanding, the freedom and the will are harmonized and mutually implied. In this way, the research carried out in the fields of history, philosophy and the arts is based on a love for truth in all its complexity and articulation, on an intellectual and vital restlessness that wonders about the being of things, their meaning, and that seeks to discover the link between diverse realities and human existence, that is capable of creatively connecting theory with praxis, that is open to dialogue and to  encounters with others.

The PhD in Humanities: History, Philosophy and Aesthetics, of the Francisco de Vitoria University, obtained the favorable report from the Foundation for Knowledge Madri+D on October 13, 2016 and the favorable resolution by the Curriculum Verification Commission on December 15, 2016, appointed by the Plenary of the Council of Universities ORDER 3691/2017, of October 9, of the Regional Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, by which the implementation of official master’s and PhD degree courses in the Universities of the Community of Madrid is agreed (BOCM, October 24, 2017). The Autonomous Community of Madrid authorized the implementation of the PhD for the 2017-2018 academic year, the academic year in which the program was implemented. Currently, after the approval of the International PhD School (ORDER 1530/2018, of March 26, of the Regional Ministry of Education and Research, authorizing the creation of the International PhD School of the University “Francisco de Vitoria”) the program is now incorporated into this center and this is reflected in the Registry of Universities, Center and Degrees. The Program has been accredited in 2022 by means of a favorable report from the Fundación para el Conocimiento madri+d