DPT: Philosophy (MA Hons) (UTPHILY)

Jump to: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4

Year 1 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: September

You will be automatically enroled on your two compulsory courses: Morality and Value, and Logic 1.

In addition, you are required to take either Introduction to the History of Philosophy A or Introduction to the History of Philosophy B as a compulsory option. You will have the opportunity to indicate your preference, but please note that placement in your preferred course is subject to availability and cannot be guaranteed.

Compulsory courses

Morality and Value

Logic 1

Course options

Students will automatically be enroled on one of these two courses.

Please note that Introduction to the History of Philosophy B will not run in 2026/27 so you will not be able to take this course in future years.

Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

Introduction to the History of Philosophy B

AND

You may optionally take Philosophy of Science 1 in Year 1 or Year 2.

Philosophy of Science 1

AND

You need to take 20-60 credits (1-3 courses) of 'outside' courses, which can be from subject areas across the University. You need to select these courses to be enroled on them. Some courses have prerequisites that you will need to meet to take the course.

You can only select Level 7 and 8 courses from Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y. Only 40 credits of level 7 courses are permitted across Years 1 and 2.

AND

Challenge Courses are designed to bring together students from different degree programmes to explore the complex issues facing the world today through interdisciplinary collaboration and creative thinking.

Working with each other and expert academics, students will gain new perspectives and develop important life skills highly valued by employers, such as teamwork, problem-solving and adaptability.

Our Changing World

Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)

Wicked problems: Reason and Rhetoric

Understanding decolonisation in a globalised world

Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030

Living in the Anthropocene

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 2 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

You will be automatically enroled on your two compulsory courses: Mind, Matter and Language (MML), and Knowledge and Reality (K&R).

Progression to Honours (Year 3) requires:
- An average of 50% across both MML and K&R, achieved at first attempt
- A passing course mark of 40% or above in both MML and K&R, achieved at first attempt.

Compulsory courses

Mind, Matter and Language

Must be passed 1st time

Knowledge and Reality

Must be passed 1st time

Course options

If you took Introduction to the History of Philosophy A in Year 1, you may optionally take Introduction to the History of Philosophy B in Year 2.

If you took Introduction to the History of Philosophy B in Year 1, you may optionally take Introduction to the History of Philosophy A in Year 2.

You cannot take the same Introduction to the History of Philosophy as you took in Year 1.

Please note that Introduction to the History of Philosophy B will not run in 2026/27.

Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

Introduction to the History of Philosophy B

AND

You may optionally take Philosophy of Science 1 if you did not take it in Year 1.

Philosophy of Science 1

AND

You need to take 20-80 credits (1-4 courses) of 'outside' courses, which can be from subject areas across the University. You need to select these courses to be enroled on them. Some courses have prerequisites that you will need to meet to take the course.

You can only select Level 7 and 8 courses from Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y. Only 40 credits of level 7 courses are permitted across Years 1 and 2.

AND

Our Changing World

Sustainability and Social Responsibility (UG)

Wicked problems: Reason and Rhetoric

Understanding decolonisation in a globalised world

Sustainable Development Goals: History, Progress and Beyond 2030

Living in the Anthropocene

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 3 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

You will need to take:

- Philosophy Dissertation Information Course (0 credits). You will automatically be enroled on this.
- 40-80 credits (2-4 courses) of 'Theoretical Philosophy' courses
- 20-60 credits (1-3 courses) of 'Practical Philosophy' courses
- 20-60 credits (1-3 courses) of 'History of Philosophy' courses
- 0-20 credits - 1 optional 'outside' Honours course from another subject area

You may divide your course credits as you wish as long as you meet the minimum credits required in each category. Be aware that some courses appear in more than one category, but you cannot take the same course twice.

Compulsory courses

Philosophy Dissertation Information Course

Course options

Philosophy of Language

Philosophy of Religion

Metaphysics

Logic 2: Modal Logics

Science, Nature, and Social Values

Topics in Mind and Cognition

Philosophy of Time

AND

Normative theory

Political Philosophy

Aesthetics

Social Philosophy

Philosophy of Economics

Moral Philosophy

Philosophy of Technology

Venturing into Black Philosophy: From the American Negro Academy to the Edinburgh School

Philosophy and the Emotions

AND

Normative theory

Late Modern Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy

Early Modern Philosophy

AND

You may select an 'outside' (non-Philosophy) course from another subject area with approval from the Course Organiser. This must be a Level 10 course.

You may wish to speak to your Student Adviser or Cohort Lead for advice about this option.

Year 4 Academic year: 2025/26, Starting in: August

You will need to take:

- 80 credits (4 courses) of Year 4 Philosophy courses
- a 40-credit independent Philosophy dissertation; OR two coursework dissertations (2x 20 credit courses)

There are no compulsory courses in this year of this programme.

Course options

An independent dissertation is a a single 8,000-word dissertation. You should select Philosophy Dissertation (PHIL10026) for this option.

The coursework dissertation option involves submitting 2x 5,000-word essays in place of the standard assessment for two additional Year 4 Philosophy Honours courses. To take the coursework dissertation, you must select two courses from the
Year 4 course options listed below (within Group A). These courses are attended as normal but will not count towards your optional credit total.

Dissertation in Philosophy

If you are taking the Philosophy coursework dissertation, you must select two courses from this group (see advice above). These must be in addition to the courses selected in Group B.

Meta-Ethics

Ancient Theories of Mind

Philosophy of Time Travel

Aristotle

Logic, Computability and Incompleteness

The Computational Mind

Philosophy: Fun and Games

Environmental Ethics

The Philosophy of Fiction

Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

Biomedical ethics

Philosophy of Death and Dying