BA in Philosophy and Politics

The study of philosophy at Durham does not follow one particular school. The Department is unique in the UK in its wide-ranging expertise in Anglo-American analytical philosophy and Continental philosophy. Each of these has its own distinctive set of issues and approaches to resolving them. We also have special expertise in the philosophy of science, and social science, and the history of science and medicine. So at Durham, you will follow one of the widest-ranging philosophy degrees in the country.

At Durham, you will have the opportunity to study Philosophy as a Single Honours degree, or with another subject including English, Music, Psychology, Politics or Theology. Philosophy can also be combined in a Joint Honours degree within the Natural Sciences program or as part of a Combined Honours degree.

Philosophy is a new subject for many students, so in your first year, you follow a range of introductory courses, introducing the fundamental philosophical subject areas.

Year 1

In their first year, all students take the Philosophy core modules of Ethics and Values, Knowledge and Reality, and Reading Philosophy. The first two of these concern the two broad divisions of Philosophy, into Metaphysics and Theory of Knowledge on the one hand, and Moral Philosophy on the other.

Reading Philosophy is a text-based course that examines in-depth classic works by writers such as Plato, Hume, and Sartre. Students take comparably core modules in Politics.

Years 2 and 3

In the second year, all students take Moral Theory and Political Philosophy.

In the second and third years, students also have a choice of a wide range of topics within Philosophy. In previous years these have included:

• Philosophy of Mind
• Modern Philosophy I and II
• Theory, Literature, and Society
• Gender, Film, and Society
• Issues in Contemporary Ethics
• Philosophy of Religion
• Metaphysics
• Language, Logic, and Reality
• Twentieth-Century European Philosophy
• Philosophy of Science
• The Philosophy of Economics and Politics: Theory, Methods, and Values
• Applied Ethics
• Philosophical Issues in Contemporary Science
• History and Philosophy of Psychiatry
• Biomedical Ethics Past and Present.

There is an equally broad choice of modules within Politics. You will also have the opportunity to study a subject in-depth, by writing a substantial Dissertation of your choice.

Study Abroad

Philosophy

We participate in exchange schemes through which you may spend a year of your studies abroad, either with universities in Europe – through the SOCRATES/ERASMUS program – or with the University of California.

School of Government and International Affairs

Students can apply for a one-year study placement in one of the following institutions: the University of California and Boston College in the USA, British Columbia in Canada, the University of Hong Kong, and the National University of Singapore. In some cases courses are offered in English, while in others teaching is in the local language. We have an ERASMUS/Year Abroad Co-ordinator who will help you prepare for your year abroad, and who will maintain contact with you while you are away