DPT: Philosophy (MA Hons) (UTPHILY)

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

Year 1 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: September

You will be automatically enrolled on your three compulsory courses.

You are expected to pass all three of your compulsory Year 1 Philosophy courses. Students who fail any of these three courses may be permitted to progress; however, the failed course(s) will need to be retaken (and passed) in Year 2.

Compulsory courses

Morality and Value

Logic 1

Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

Course options

You have the option to take Philosophy of Science 1 in Year 1 or Year 2, but it is not required.

Philosophy of Science 1

AND

You are permitted a maximum of 40 credits at Level 7 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 Society with Big Data: Computational Social Science

Health in a Changing Climate

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Navigating Energy Transitions

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 2 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: August

You will be automatically enrolled on your two compulsory courses. In order to progress into Year 3 of the Philosophy programme, you must:

- Pass both Mind, Matter and Language (MML) and Knowledge and Reality (K&R) with a mark of 40% or above and
- Achieve an average of 50% across both MML and K&R.

Compulsory courses

Mind, Matter and Language

Must be passed

Knowledge and Reality

Must be passed

Course options

If you have not taken Introduction to the History of Philosophy A or Philosophy of Science 1, you have the option to take these courses in Year 2.

Philosophy of Science 1

Introduction to the History of Philosophy A

AND

You are permitted a maximum of 40 credits at Level 7 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 Society with Big Data: Computational Social Science

Health in a Changing Climate

Understanding Gender in the Contemporary World

Navigating Energy Transitions

Healthy Eating for People and Planet

Year 3 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: August

You will need to take 120 credits, including five or six Philosophy Year 3 courses. You must take:

- 40-80 credits (2-4 courses) of 'Theoretical Philosophy' courses,
- 20-60 credits (1-3 courses) of 'Practical Philosophy' courses, and
- 20-60 credits (1-3 courses) of 'History of Philosophy' courses.

You have the option to replace your sixth Philosophy Year 3 course with 20 credits from an 'outside' (non-Philosophy) subject area.

Some courses appear in more than one category, but you cannot use one course to meet two different category requirements.

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

Course options

Philosophy of Religion

Metaphysics

Logic 2: Modal Logics

Topics in Mind and Cognition

Late Modern Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy

Early Modern Philosophy

Philosophy of Time

Philosophy of Technology

AND

Applied Ethics

Normative theory

Political Philosophy

Aesthetics

Social Philosophy

Moral Philosophy

Feminist Philosophy

Philosophy of Technology

AND

Political Philosophy

Late Modern Philosophy

Ancient Philosophy

Early Modern Philosophy

Japanese Philosophy

AND

You may select 20 credits worth of 'outside' (non-Philosophy) courses from another subject area with approval from the Course Organiser. These must be Level 10 credits.

Year 4 Academic year: 2026/27, Starting in: August

You will need to take:

- Dissertation in Philosophy OR two coursework dissertations (two 20-credit courses - one in each semester) (Group A) and
- Four Philosophy Year 4 courses (Group B).

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

Course options

There are two options in Philosophy - either an independent dissertation or two coursework dissertations:

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

- The coursework dissertation option involves enrolling in two additional Philosophy Year 4 courses and submitting a 4,000-word essay in place of the standard assessment for each of these two courses. To complete the coursework dissertation option, you must select two courses from the Coursework Dissertation Options listed below. You must complete one coursework dissertation in Semester 1 and one in Semester 2. These courses are attended as normal. With this option, you will be enrolling in a total of six Philosophy Year 4 courses.

Dissertation in Philosophy