Study philosophy and graduate with a university degree

How are our minds related to our bodies? Could it be true that all our actions have causes and yet we’re also free agents, responsible for our lives and actions? What is knowledge (as distinct from merely true belief) and what can we really know – about the world around us, about other people, or about ourselves? How can we be confident we know what is right and wrong, just and unjust? And what would it take to live a morally good life?

These typical philosophical problems will appeal to those who believe that by sensitive, imaginative and informed rational argument we can develop our understanding of morality, politics, human nature, religion, art, science and language.

Year 1

Highers BBBB.
A-levels BBC.
IB Diploma with a total of 32 points.
HNC or HND with Bs in graded units.

Access courses and other UK/EU and international qualifications are also welcomed.

General entrance requirements apply.

International students can study our Undergraduate Certificate if they do not possess the necessary entrance requirements to be admitted directly to the first year of an undergraduate degree course.

Other information

If examinations are taken over two sittings, or there are repeats or upgrades, the entrance requirements may be higher.

Required subjects

English Standard Grade (2), Intermediate 2 (C), GCSE (C) or equivalent.

Applicants with English Standard Grade (3) will also be considered, although alternative entry conditions may be made in this case.

information on possible sources of funding

Full-time (three modules per semester).
Part-time (one or two modules per semester).
February entry is available.

Students take Philosophy plus two other subjects in Year 1.

Semesters 1 - 3

• Philosophy: What is it all about? An introduction to central philosophical problems concerning, for instance, knowledge, mind and body, freedom and determinism, morality and justice
• Mind, Value and Reality. An introduction to key metaphysical and ethical issues. What is it to be a person? Are we responsible for what we do? Can we be motivated by anything other than our own self interest? These and other topics will be considered and some ethical implications explored
• From Plato to Existentialism. A philosophical examination of the relationship between the individual and society, looking at works by Plato, Hobbes, Mill and Sartre

Semesters 4 and 5

You are required to take:

• Either Logic or Moral Theory (or both)
• Either Rationalism and Empiricism or Philosophy of Mind (or both)

Semesters 5 - 8

You then take optional modules, which currently include:

• Action and Freedom
• A Priori Knowledge
• Crime and Punishment
• Democratic Theory
  
• The Distribution of Property
• Environmental Ethics
• Heidegger
• John Stuart Mill
  
• Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason
• Knowledge and Reality
  
• Marx and Marxism
• Materialism and Idealism
  
• Metaethics
• Metaphysics
• Philosophy of Biology
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Science
• Politics, Law and Society
• Practical Reasoning
• Scepticism and the Structure of Knowledge
• Wittgenstein’s Later Philosophy

In Year 4 there are opportunities for directed independent study, including dissertation projects and supervised independent study of a particular topic, theme or book.

Teaching in Philosophy modules is mainly by seminars, which are held each week to discuss a set topic, and lectures, which are usually given twice a week. Assessment in most modules is divided between essays written during the semester and an examination at the end of the semester. There are many opportunities for one-to-one discussions with tutors.

(For a Combined Honours degree the higher entrance requirements of the subjects usually apply.)

Politics, Philosophy and Economics: PPE.

You are eligible to participate in the University’s US Exchange Programme and in an exchange with the University of Copenhagen.

Philosophy was ranked 2nd in Scotland and in the top ten in the UK in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and is ranked in the top three in Scotland by The Guardian University Guide and The Times University Guide, 2010. Teaching provision in Philosophy has been assessed, and rated highly, by the Scottish Funding Council.

Philosophy also ranked exceptionally highly in the 2010 National Student Survey, with 100 percent satisfaction (well above the UK average of 86 percent among philosophy students).

If you enrol for Philosophy courses at Stirling you will be taught by academics in a department which is highly rated in research terms and strongly committed to making philosophical ideas accessible. We are especially noted for its strengths in social, legal and moral philosophy, theory of knowledge, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of language.

Philosophy is a highly regarded subject developing useful transferable skills and opening up a wide range of career paths. Equipped with an Honours degree in Philosophy a graduate can bring to subsequent employment a sharp and analytical mind that can be applied directly to the job itself, or to any further specialist training required. Stirling Philosophy students in recent years have gone on to careers in the civil service, business, law, the social services, environmental management and the media.