MA Philosophy

About this course

Philosophy is the systematic practice of using reason and argument to address the most fundamental questions human beings can ask. What is knowledge, and how do we acquire it? What makes an action right or wrong? What is the nature of mind, and how does consciousness arise from physical processes? What is the structure of reality? These questions resist easy answers, and philosophy's distinctive contribution is to clarify them carefully, to test arguments rigorously and to follow reasoning wherever it leads, even when the destination is uncomfortable or surprising. At the University of Glasgow, this part-time programme gives you the opportunity to engage seriously with the central sub-fields of the discipline: epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, logic and the philosophy of science, as well as the history of philosophical thought from ancient Greece to the present. You will read primary texts by philosophers whose ideas have shaped Western intellectual life and develop the skills to assess their arguments with clarity and care. The course includes a year abroad, offering you the chance to study philosophy in an international context and encounter different intellectual traditions and approaches. Philosophy graduates are valued across a remarkable range of careers, precisely because the discipline develops transferable skills of the highest order: the ability to construct and deconstruct arguments, to think clearly under uncertainty, to communicate complex ideas precisely and to recognise when an apparently strong case rests on shaky foundations. These skills support careers in law, public policy, journalism, management consultancy, the civil service, the charitable sector and education, among many others. Postgraduate study in philosophy, law, public ethics or related fields is also a natural progression for those who want to develop their thinking further.

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