Course summary

On our single honours degree you'll explore a diverse range of philosophical topics, from areas like politics and ethics to logic and language, and encompassing issues from the nature of the mind to the value of art. You'll also be able to study thinkers from a broad variety of philosophical traditions - including analytic, continental, pragmatist, and Chinese philosophy - and examine culturally important philosophical texts. Thinking philosophically requires a distinctive combination of imagination and exact reasoning. You'll develop this along with analytical skills and a high degree of intellectual flexibility. An exciting feature of the subject is the way that its different themes interact with one another. For example, philosophical research on gender may deploy metaphysical views about precisely what sorts of differences between humans are important ones, while philosophical thinking about morals may use resources from logic or from the philosophical study of knowledge. You’ll learn about a wide variety of philosophical areas, which will help you identify these links between different parts of the subject and forge your own ideas. Core modules in your first year cover the wider subject of philosophy and lay the groundwork for further study. You'll develop your ability to explore and express philosophical ideas in writing. You're then free to construct your own pathway, based on your interests, through a wide variety of modules in your second and third year. Over the three years, you'll develop your understanding of key areas including ethics, philosophy of mind, theory of knowledge, political philosophy, metaphysics and logic, as well as feminism, philosophy of education, and major figures in the history of philosophy. There are also individual project and work placement modules that allow you to pursue highly personal supervised study in areas of your choosing. Your study of philosophy will help you develop your own views and build intellectual skills that you can draw on throughout your life and career.