Philosophy

By Zoe Flood

Published: 15 August 2004

What do you come out with? BA, an MA in Scotland.

Why do it? To find out What It Is All About, and because you want to do something different, quirky, or because a teacher at school knew it would be just your bag.

What's it about? Philosophy asks the big questions of why we are here (if we are here) and what underlies human thought. Thinking about knowledge, value, interpretation, explanation, morality, beauty, and whether they are true or false, exist in our minds or really there. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? 'I think, therefore I am', so is the mind separate from the body? It is abstract, a study of ideas that has been going on for thousands of years. No right and wrong answers but a chance to make your argument. Much philosophy is linked to another subject, so you may study, for instance, the history of philosophy -- the Greeks and Germans, for example; moral philosophy or ethics -- examines goodness, rights, duty; political philosophy -- liberty, justice, and the nature of the state, and which rule is best ... democracy, monarchy or tyranny. Aesthetics addresses beauty, expression and form; and ethics looks at what is relevant to society. Philosophy of the mind debates the arguments for and against the existence of god, the relationship of mind to body, and the immortality of the soul. Applied ethics at Hull looks at real current moral problems in medical ethics, and business ethics -- GM crops, for instance. Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Russell, Descartes, Locke, Spinoza, Wittgenstein, Nietzsche are names which will soon trip off your tongue.

You will be expected to develop sharp analytical skills when dealing with abstract problems, and be imaginative in the way you approach problems. There will also be a lot of reading and thinking to be done.

How long is a degree? Three years; four in Scotland. Joint degrees with classics, maths, physics or modern languages at Oxford can also take four years.

What are the students like? Philosophy students ask unusual questions and have a strong intellectual curiosity. They are passionate about debating, arguing and thinking, and are prepared to question their own fundamental beliefs . Once students have dipped their toe in the water and found they like it, they will generally be very committed to the discipline.

How is it packaged? In many universities it can be studied as a single degree, whilst at others, such as Oxford and York, it is offered as part of PPE (philosophy, politics and economics). It can be combined with any number of subjects in a joint honours degree, with popular combinations including maths, English, modern languages, ethics or history. Many universities still opt for the written exam, with assessment at Bristol depending on it entirely apart from one extended essay. Glasgow on the other hand chooses to divide assessment equally between coursework and final examination. There will usually be an option to do a dissertation.

How cool is it? Dead cool. But don't expect everyone to be beret-wearing, chain-smoking enthusiasts.

What A-levels do you need? No specifics, except for some joint degrees.

What grades? Cambridge and Bristol ask for AAB (although Bristol may give a lower offer depending on the course, Glasgow and Reading ask for BBB.

Will it keep you off the dole? Yes, despite being firmly non-vocational. Employers value transferable skills, clear and creative thinking, analysis, and the ability to marshal and express an argument. Jobs include law, journalism, management consultancy, charities management, publishing, business.

Will you be interviewed? Yes at Birkbeck, Oxford, and Cambridge. No at other universities, although you may have an opportunity to go to open days and meet with the tutors.

What do students say? Ezra MacDonald, 21, graduated 2004 with a BA in Philosophy from King's College, Cambridge. "It is a pretty fascinating course, which starts off really broad in the first year and specialises later on. It makes a real difference having one to one supervisions. Being in a place where you run into philosophers on a day to day basis also helps. The workload is reasonable, but is it quite unstructured. You can do well on about 20 hours a week, but some people do a lot more than that. It was fantastic, the most interesting thing I've ever done. I couldn't recommend it more."

Martin Soares, 24, graduated 2003 with an MA in Philosophy from Glasgow. "There are a diverse range of options that cover most people's interests. Fortunately there are also enough people in the department to cover a whole range of philosophy and the lecturers take an active interest in students and their work. It's the sort of subject where anyone could find a topic that they're interested in."

Where's best for teaching? Birkbeck, KCL, Open University, Bradford, Brighton, Cambridge, Durham, East Anglia, Essex, Hertfordshire, Keele, Kent at Canterbury, Lancashire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Sussex, Warwick and York came tops with 24 out of 24. Scoring 23 were APU, Bolton Institute, Middlesex, Staffordshire, Manchester Metropolitan, UCL, Bristol and Ulster, whilst LSE, Hull, North London and Nottingham received 22. Aberdeen was judged commendable, as was Edinburgh, in all areas bar quality of student progress in which it was judged approved. Cardiff was rated excellent.

Where's best for research? The top five are Oxford, Cambridge, King's, LSE and Edinburgh, scoring 5*. Bristol, Durham, East Anglia, Essex, Leeds, Middlesex, Nottingham, Reading, Sheffield, Sussex, UCL, Warwick, York, St Andrews and Stirling were all awarded 5, with Birmingham, Bradford, Hertfordshire, Hull, Kent at Canterbury, Liverpool, Manchester, Open University, Southampton and Glasgow receiving 4.

Where's the cutting edge? The philosophy of logic and language, of the mind and metaphysics. The nature of consciousness and the role of artificial intelligence. The philosophy of science is a burgeoning field.

Who are the stars? Professor John Cottingham at Reading translated Descartes' Complete Works into English and is a world expert on the man and his philosophies. His colleague Professor Dancy is an expert on moral philosophy and is writing a book on particularism in ethics, whilst Professor Galen Strawson researches the philosophy of the mind and the nature of the self. Professor Brad Hooker at Reading is a leading defender of utilitarianism. At Glasgow, Dudley Knowles is a leading commentator on Hegel and has written a seminal political philosophy text. Professor Bob Hale researches the philosophy of languages and metaphysics. Bristol's James Ladyman is a structural realist whilst Alexander Bird specialises in the philosophy of science. Elsewhere, Crispin Wright at St Andrews is an expert on philosophy and theory of language; Simon Blackburn at Cambridge writes on the philosophy of language and ethics; and Budd Malcolm specialises in the philosophy of art at UCL.

Added value: The Philosophy Society at Glasgow gives students a chance to discuss philosophical topics on a fortnightly basis.