Course summary

Philosophy explores our existence using critical thinking and argument. If you find yourself thinking about life's big questions, philosophy could be for you. We specialise in continental (European) philosophy and teach key texts from the European tradition. For this course, as well as your French modules, we also encourage you to study European-based modules from other subjects such as history, international relations, politics, or geography. We help you look at how philosophy is important to real-world concerns and contemporary issues by: exploring films and artwork discussing important scientific and technological developments debating controversial ethical issues looking at how texts written three hundred years ago can be relevant to political situations today At Levels 1 and 2 you will receive a grounding in ancient and modern philosophy and be introduced to fundamental ideas concerning ethics, epistemology (the nature of knowledge), and metaphysics (the nature of reality). You then specialise at Levels 3 and 4 by drawing on a range of philosophy modules taught by lecturers engaging in interdisciplinary research. You will study existentialism in relation to contemporary culture, technology, and film, and topics in aesthetics and the philosophy of art. You'll also study one French module per semester in each year, either as a beginner or at intensive level if you have previously studied the language at Higher/A-Level.