Venues

Gilmorehill Campus

Content

Year 1
You will study two courses, which will introduce you to a range of philosophical tools and ideas by thinking through a series of philosophical questions.

How should I think? This course introduces you to the practice of thinking philosophically, by encouraging the development of critical reasoning skills and exploring issues pertaining to the nature and acquisition of knowledge. You will apply your critical skills to practical issues of current interest and importance.

How should I live? This course further develops critical thinking skills by considering topics in ethics such as the question of what makes actions right and wrong, questions in political philosophy concerning how we should live together, and fundamental questions concerning the meaning of life and death.

Year 2
You will study two more courses, continuing to build your knowledge of the basic philosophical toolkit by exploring further philosophical questions.

What am I? This course introduces you to core philosophical issues concerning the nature of the self. You will explore the relationship between mind and body, what constitutes sameness of self over time, whether and in what sense the self is free, and how the self is related to the world in which it is located.
What is there? This course introduces you to core philosophical issues concerning the nature of reality. You will explore core questions in formal logic, metaphysics, philosophy of religion and philosophy of science, focusing on the questions of what kinds of things can be said to exist.

By the end of your second year you will have experience of most core areas of philosophy, as well as having practical know-how about how to draw on those areas to develop your own answers to the questions we explore in years 1 and 2.


Years 3 and 4
If you progress to Honours (years 3 and 4) you will choose courses giving you an in-depth knowledge of core areas like epistemology, metaphysics, formal logic, moral philosophy, philosophy of mind and political philosophy. If you are studying for a Single Honours degree you will also take a compulsory course, Doing philosophy, in Year 3.

You will also take high-level specialist courses linked to the active research of lecturers and researchers in the subject.

In year 4 you will have the opportunity to write a dissertation, working one-to-one with a member of staff on a topic of your choice.

Entry Requirements

2027 entry requirements
Standard entry: 5 Highers at AAAAA (by end S6 with min BBBB after S5) including Maths and a science subject at AA.

Widening access entry: 4 Highers at AABB/BBBB (by end S6) including Maths and a science subject. Completion of pre-entry programme is necessary.