BA (Hons) Philosophy

Year 1

In your first year, you'll gain a firm grounding in philosophy, learning how to study, think and write philosophically, and developing your skills in reasoning and argument.

We'll introduce you to some of the central areas of philosophy and challenge you to form your own opinions about the bigger questions. You'll explore ethics, be introduced to the language of logic, and question the fundamental nature of reality. You'll consider questions about the nature of knowledge, how we get it, and whether we can be sure that we have it! You'll have the opportunity to cover philosophy from ancient Greece, to the 17th and 18th centuries, to the contemporary. 

In your First Year Project you'll research the ideas of a major philosopher who has shaped historical or current debates. You'll develop critical and presentation skills, and pursue your own independent research. 

Core modules

You will take core modules which may include:

• Beginning Philosophy 

• Reason and Argument 

• Ethics 

• Knowledge and Perception 

• Early Modern Philosophy 

• Ancient Philosophy 

• Metaphysics 

• The First Year Project 

Year 2

In the second year, your core studies will probably include working together to produce a podcast on a philosophical issue. You'll also choose from a range of option modules, which explore key ideas across theoretical philosophy, the history of philosophy, and philosophical approaches to value.

Core module example

• Engaging Philosophy

Option modules

You will take a selection of option modules, examples of which may include:

Theoretical Philosophy

• Philosophy of Science

• Philosophy of Mind

• Philosophy of Language

• Metaphysics

• Intermediate Logic

Value in Philosophy

• Feminist Philosophy

• Aesthetics

• Religious Ethics

• Ethical Theory

• Applied Ethics

• Politics and Freedom: Anarchism and Conservatism

History of Philosophy

• Lived Experiences: Introduction to Phenomenology

• Nietzsche and Existentialism

• Kant’s Theoretical and Practical Philosophy

• Aristotle

• Hume’s Empiricism

• Rationalism: Spinoza and Leibniz

Other choices for modules 

You may take an elective module offered by another department, or a Languages For All module.

You may take History of Political Thought or Contemporary Political Philosophy.

Modules may change from year to year, but all will help you to develop the knowledge, understanding, and skills that you'll use in more specialised investigations in your third year.

Year 3

In the third year you'll specialise further, choosing from a wide range of modules based on our latest research, enabling you to tailor your degree to your particular interests. The modules available vary from year to year.

Option modules

You will take a selection of option modules, examples of which may include:

• Buddhism as Philosophy

• Philosophy of Christianity

• Idolatry and Tradition: The Philosophy of Maimonides and Crescas 

• Happiness, Utility and Wellbeing

• Mind and Morality

• Cognitive Anomalies, Decision-Making and Democracy

• Philosophy of Grief

• Property and Self-ownership

• Philosophy of Literature

• Philosophy of Recognition

• Consciousness

• From Marx to Critical Theory 

• Philosophy of Law 

• Philosophy of Psychology 

• German Idealism: Moral, Legal and Political Philosophy 

• Contemporary Issues in Bioethics 

• Foundations of Maths 

• Philosophy of Physics 

• Long Dissertation 

• Short Dissertation