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Forgive me for being pedantic...but the "German" degree system (Bachelors, Masters, Ph.D.) inherits its tradition from the guild system. In this sense, a doctor

Forgive me for being pedantic...but the "German" degree system (Bachelors, Masters, Ph.D.) inherits its tradition from the guild system. In this sense, a doctoral dissertation is the modern-day equivalent of a "masterpiece", the item you produce to prove to your peers that your are deserving of the title "Master". So you are wrong in that doctoral studies should be regarded as journeyman training, not an apprenticeship, but you are right in that a dissertation is only the start of ones career as a master. That said, I think it's an unfortunate course of modern research that the prestige of a doctorate has eroded over time...

timtadh 13y ago
While you are right from a certain very point of view, a doctorate is really not the pinnacle in any sense of your life or your career. Nor is it meant to be. It is as the parent said the beginning of your career. The gateway into research. Really, there is only so much you can accomplish in a few years. However, hopefully it will provide you a solid foundation for many years of fruitful investigation. All to often however the research conducted can turn out to be a dead end after the PhD is completed. It is a start not the goal.
- spikels 13y ago
  Perhaps more correctly a doctorate can be considered the pinnacle of your educational achievement.
bradleyjg 13y ago
The meaning of the word masterpiece has shifted over time. As you say it used to mean the work that proved to your peers that you were ready to enter the profession as an equal. So certainly competent, maybe even considerably above average since so it marked an important event in the artisan's life, but still an early work. Now it is more synonymous with magnum opus, among the very best works of an entire career. Perhaps ironically, with respect specifically to the dissertation it is a common mistake to try to create a masterpiece in the modern sense rather than the classic sense. Probably because every field has legendary careers that were launched with the publication of a game changing dissertation. This is one thing that can cause ABD to drag on forever.

timtadh 13y ago

While you are right from a certain very point of view, a doctorate is really not the pinnacle in any sense of your life or your career. Nor is it meant to be. It is as the parent said the beginning of your career. The gateway into research. Really, there is only so much you can accomplish in a few years. However, hopefully it will provide you a solid foundation for many years of fruitful investigation. All to often however the research conducted can turn out to be a dead end after the PhD is completed. It is a start not the goal.

spikels 13y ago
Perhaps more correctly a doctorate can be considered the pinnacle of your educational achievement.

bradleyjg 13y ago

The meaning of the word masterpiece has shifted over time. As you say it used to mean the work that proved to your peers that you were ready to enter the profession as an equal. So certainly competent, maybe even considerably above average since so it marked an important event in the artisan's life, but still an early work. Now it is more synonymous with magnum opus, among the very best works of an entire career. Perhaps ironically, with respect specifically to the dissertation it is a common mistake to try to create a masterpiece in the modern sense rather than the classic sense. Probably because every field has legendary careers that were launched with the publication of a game changing dissertation. This is one thing that can cause ABD to drag on forever.