Bachelor of Philosophy
The B.Phil.'s earliest form is as a University of Oxford graduate degree, first awarded in 1682. Originally, Oxford named its pre-doctoral graduate degrees the Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) (a two-year degree, partly taught and partly by research) and the Bachelor of Letters (B.Litt.) (a two-year research degree). After complaints, especially from overseas students, that this naming convention often meant that graduate degrees were not being recognised as such, the University renamed them Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Master of Letters (M.Litt.). However, the Philosophy Faculty (then a Sub-Faculty) argued that its B.Phil. degree had become so well known and respected in the philosophical world that it would be confusing to change the name. In philosophy, therefore, the degree continues to be called the B.Phil. Those who pass the degree are given the choice of taking a B.Phil. or an M.Phil.; few if any choose the latter. (Note that Oxford also offers a number of other graduate degrees labeled as baccalaureate degrees: the law faculty's BCL; and the music faculty's B.Mus)
Doctor of Philosophy
Before 1984 three research doctorates existed in France: the State doctorate ("doctorat d'État", the old doctorate introduced in 1808), the third cycle doctorate ("doctorat de troisième cycle", created in 1954 and shorter than the State doctorate) and the diploma of doctor-engineer ("diplôme de docteur-ingénieur "created in 1923), for technical research. After 1984, only one type of doctoral degree remained, called "doctorate" ("Doctorat"). The latter is equivalent to the Ph.D.