Reply to Why are some professional degrees masters and some "doctorates"?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What makes a JD or PharmD, say, an MLS, MBA, MSW, MFA, M.Arch. etc. so fundamentally different that they get "doctoral" degrees?  There is no original research component for any of these degrees.  Degree inflation?[/quote]

You do a thesis for doctoral degree; you don't for master degrees:
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-a-phd.htm

It really all depends on what you want to be when you grow up.  [/quote]

So why do they give out the Juris Doctor, Doctor of Pharmacy, etc.? [/quote]

Doctor of Law and Doctor of Medicine both predate the Ph.D and were created so that universities could sell professional degrees, as opposed to academic degrees. They are both modeled after the ancient practice of putting the term Doctor before a professional's name as an honorific. There is some element of marketing to them, but neither were an attempt to capitalize on the Ph.D, which wasn't as popular as it now is until later. The Ph.D was created because English Universities thought they needed to create a research degree to compete for American and German Students. Although we often put "Doctor" as an honorific before the name of someone who earned a Ph.D, the "doctor" in Ph.D does not stem from the honorific practice; it stems from the fact that the Ph.D is modelled after the ancient licentia docendi of a philosophy (Hence the "Ph.")

None of these names have a lot of literal significance. For example, the connection of most Ph.Ds to philosophy has long ago been lost, but if you get a doctorate in, say, sociology, there's a good chance your diploma still says Doctor of Philosophy on it. In fact, some college diplomas say this on it. Meanwhile, many professional degrees that have long been called doctorates were formally awarded as bachelors or masters degrees. For example, we have been putting the honorific "Doctor" before a medical doctor's name since before medical doctors degrees actually said "Doctor of" on them.[/quote]

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