The MA (Hons) in Philosophy is a four-year course run by the Department of Philosophy. During the degree, students will be trained in precise and effective reading, as well as clear thinking and writing required for philosophical study.
In the first two years, as a sub-honours student, they will study some of the great texts in philosophy and be introduced to the fundamental questions discussed by philosophers from ancient Greece to the present day, exploring both theoretical and practical questions. This will lay the foundations required for an Honours degree.
Alongside Philosophy, in the first year of their studies, they will be required to study at least one additional subject, sometimes two. In the second year, they will usually carry on at least one of these subjects. Find out more about how academic years are organised.
During their final two years, as an Honours student, they will focus their studies on their particular philosophical interests and will be able to choose from a wide variety of advanced options, including:
- aesthetics
- artificial intelligence and philosophy
- critical theory and critical race theory
- epistemology (the study of knowledge)
- ethical and political theory
- formal logic
- metaphysics
- philosophies of logic, mind and language
- philosophies of film, creativity, law, economics and religion
- philosophy of the climate crisis
- feminist philosophy
- texts in the history of philosophy.
Final-year students may also choose to write a dissertation on a philosophical topic chosen in consultation with teaching staff. Students can work on the dissertation for either one semester or the whole year.
The University of St Andrews operates on a flexible modular degree system by which degrees are obtained through the accumulation of credits.
