Major in Philosophy (BA)

The Philosophy Major introduces students to the fundamental methods of philosophical enquiry, gives a historical overview of western philosophy from the Ancients to contemporary philosophical thought, and then allows students to develop their individual philosophical interest within a broad range of topic-oriented courses across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

Students complete a core of four mandatory courses, covering the history of philosophy, philosophical logic, and a ‘stocktaking course’ to be taken in the final year, PL3050, which is designed to test and reinforce a student’s ability to articulate philosophy’s different disciplines.

Students select three courses, each of which establishes the questions, methods and historical context of a sub-discipline: ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, philosophy of mind, epistemology and metaphysics. Students then specialize in one or two of these disciplines by choosing three upper-level courses. The upper-level courses typically stage an encounter between philosophy and its outside: another discipline or practice, such as political economy or cinema.

Finally, at the end of the degree, students are required to publically present their research in philosophy before a jury.