#

0

Philosophy BA (V500)

0a

Learn more about our Philosophy degree at Warwick

0-revisions

---

---

Page updates

We have revised the information on this page since publication. See the edits we have made and content history.

2a

V500

2b

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

2c

3 years full-time

2d

26 September 2022

2e

Department of Philosophy

2f

University of Warwick

3a

Philosophy enables you to explore big questions: What is the nature of the mind? Is it possible for us to know about the external world? Do we have the power to act freely?

By choosing our Philosophy degree, you learn to critically analyse arguments and clearly articulate ideas. These skills are transferable to many careers and job roles.

3b

Our single honours Philosophy course offers a broad range of modules as well as the freedom to choose your own path through the subject. You will learn how to think carefully and critically about a variety of philosophical questions.

Topics you may study include:

• What does it mean to know something, and what can we know?
• What does leading a good life consist in?
• Is the mind identical to the brain?
• Should we impose limits on human enhancement?

Your first year is designed to help you develop the skills and confidence to succeed on your selected path. You will learn through a variety of teaching and assessment methods in order to foster your development as an independent learner and to help you develop the skills needed to pursue a range of careers.

In your second and your final year, there is a broad array of optional modules to choose from, which allow you to sample a number of different areas of philosophy, or specialise in a particular area of philosophy, such as continental philosophy, or philosophy of mind.

You may also choose to apply for an intercalated year, spent either studying abroad or on a work placement. This extends the duration of your degree to four years and will be reflected in your degree qualification (for example, BA Philosophy with Intercalated Year, or BA Philosophy with Work Placement).

3c

At least 90 CATS philosophy modules in each year, including all core modules. Up to 30 CATS options each year may be taken from outside philosophy.

A quarter of your first year’s credits are your choice, and this increases to 75% of modules being selected by you in your second year. Your final year is down to you: all your modules are chosen by you according to your individual interests and goals.

3d

Our main teaching methods are lectures, lecture-discussions, and seminars, alongside private study and study skills sessions. Our students benefit from expert guidance from staff in developing strong analytical and critical skills, and our students highly rate the feedback they receive. In addition to compulsory teaching, we also offer many extra academic activities, including optional lectures, colloquia, discussion groups and workshops.

3e

Seminar sizes are typically 12-18 students. Lectures vary by module from 20-220.

3f

Students take four modules per term, and typically have three hours of contact time per week per module. The three hours of contact time per module is usually divided into two hours of lectures and a one hour seminar.

3g

We track your progress and provide you with a variety of opportunities for getting feedback on your work for your course. Your final degree classification is based on assessed essays, other assessed work (which may include, for example, group work or video presentations), examinations and an optional dissertation or individual project. Your second and third year work carries equal weight in determining your final degree classification, with each counting for 50% of your degree.

3h

Study abroad

We run successful undergraduate exchanges with Queen’s University, Ontario, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, enabling second-year Philosophy students (single or joint honours) to compete for the chance to spend a full year studying in North America. Modules and examinations taken at Queen’s and Madison count towards your degree.

All students have the opportunity to apply for an intercalated year abroad at one of our partner universities, which currently include: Bourgogne, Dijon; Erasmus, Rotterdam; Copenhagen; Friedrich Schiller, Jena or Cologne; Vienna; Autonoma or Complutense, Madrid or Seville; Rome or Turin; and Koc, Istanbul. The Study Abroad Team offers support for these activities, and the Department’s dedicated Study Abroad Co-ordinator can provide more specific information and assistance.

3i

Placements and work experience

Study skills will be built into your core modules in the first year. In those modules, you will develop skills in close reading, essay writing, exam technique, critical thinking and presentation. As well as the opportunity of individual careers appointments, there are a wide range of events and workshops – including small workshops for people with no career ideas, speaker events for people interested in a certain sector, and large career fairs for organisations wanting to recruit a large number of graduates each year. We also offer specific sessions for second and third years, directed as honours level assessed work. Warwick also offers the Undergraduate Skills Programme and Academic Writing Programme to help you further develop academic and career-related skills.

---

4a

A level typical offer

AAA.

A level contextual offer

We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is ABB. See if you're eligible.

General GCSE requirements

Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.

4b

IB typical offer

38.

IB contextual offer

We welcome applications from candidates who meet the contextual eligibility criteria and whose predicted grades are close to, or slightly below, the contextual offer level. The typical contextual offer is 34. See if you're eligible.

General GCSE requirements

Unless specified differently above, you will also need a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or an equivalent qualification) in English Language and either Mathematics or a Science subject. Find out more about our entry requirements and the qualifications we accept. We advise that you also check the English Language requirements for your course which may specify a higher GCSE English requirement. Please find the information about this below.

4c

BTECs will be considered for this course.

5a

Year One

Reason, Argument and Analysis

In this module, you will learn to identify common patterns of good and bad reasoning, helping you to expose errors in everyday life, to think better and develop the art of persuasion. The skills you gain will help you take a robust philosophical approach to your studies and work independently during your degree; giving you valuable reading, analysis and academic writing skills.

Key Debates in Moral and Political Philosophy

We often try to do the right thing. But what is the right thing? This module will explore key debates in ethics and political philosophy on how we should live and how we should live together. It will use texts from Thomas Hobbes and John Stuart Mill to address contemporary ethical issues. For example, can living morally sometimes be too demanding, or risk undermining our integrity? And what moral standards, if any, apply in political life? What obligations to politicians have towards the citizens?

Mind and Reality

Look around. What if all your experiences were the products of dreams, or neuroscientific experiments? Can you prove they aren’t? If not, how can you know anything about the world around you? How can you even think about such a world? Perhaps you can at least learn about your own experience, what it’s like to be you. But doesn’t your experience depend on your brain, an element of the external world? This course will deepen your understanding of the relationship between your mind and the rest of the world.

Plato and Descartes

What would you do if you had a magic ring that made you invisible? Be an invisible superhero or use your power for ill? Why exactly should we be just and good? In the first half of this module you will study Plato's Republic, a classic work examining questions like these. You will learn about the answers Plato proposed and, by evaluating Plato’s answers, deepen your understanding of the questions and the problems they raise.

Suppose an evil demon causes your experiences now to be radically misleading about the real world. There is no computer, no cup of coffee on the desk, even though it appears there are. In his Meditations on First Philosophy, which you will study in the second half of the module, Descartes uses such exercises to argue that we can find truths about the world independently of the senses, simply through reasoning and reflection.

Logic 1: Introduction to Symbolic Logic

This module teaches you formal logic, covering both propositional and first-order logic. You will learn about a system of natural deduction and understand how to demonstrate that it is both sound and complete. You will learn how to express and understand claims using formal techniques, including multiple quantifiers. Key concepts you will consider are logical validity, truth functionality and formal proof quantification.

Introduction to Ancient Philosophy

You will learn about Ancient Greek thinkers such as Parmenides, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, focusing on metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. You will see contrast and continuity between treatments of these topics in the ancient literature and you will gain a foundation for further study of Greek philosophy, and of contemporary philosophical literature. You will develop skills in critical analysis, presenting rigorous arguments, oral and written, and learn how to discuss a topic with clarity, patience and sensitivity to the views of others.

Year Two

History of Modern Philosophy

You will discover the metaphysical and epistemological ideas of great Empiricist philosophers Locke, Berkeley and Hume on substance, qualities, ideas, causation and perception. You will then explore Kant's ideas, including metaphysics, space, self-awareness, causation, scepticism and freedom. You will develop skills in critical engagement, articulating your own views of the relative strengths and weaknesses of these arguments and interpreting key philosophical ideas.

Year Three

No core modules.

5b

• Philosophy for the Real World
• Introduction to Chinese Philosophy
• Making Decisions
• Philosophy through Film
• Feminism
• Applied Ethics
• The Philosophy of Terrorism and Counterterrorism
• Moral Psychology: The Science of Good and Evil
• Sartre and Existentialism
• Philosophy of Emotions
• Democracy and Authority
• Philosophy of Religion
• Aristotle

For a list of current philosophy optional modules, click here.

6

Find out more about fees and funding

6b

There may be costs associated with other items or services such as academic texts, course notes, and trips associated with your course. Students who choose to complete a work placement or study abroad will pay reduced tuition fees for their third year.

7

Graduates from our Philosophy single and joint honours degrees have gone on to pursue careers as: • Authors, writers and translators • Legal professionals • Marketing professionals • Management consultants and business analysts • Chartered and certified accountants • Teaching and educational professionals

7a

Our department has a dedicated professionally qualified Senior Careers Consultant to support you. They offer impartial advice and guidance, together with workshops and events throughout the year. Previous examples of workshops and events include: • Philosophy Orienteering/Scavenger Hunt • Identifying Your Skills, Strengths and Motivators for Philosophy Students • Thinking about Work Experience for Philosophy Students • Careers in the Public Sector • Warwick careers fairs throughout the year [Find out more about careers support at Warwick. https://warwick.ac.uk/services/careers/careers_skills]