History of Philosophy

This programme is based on King's unrivalled expertise in the history of philosophy: we are probably the only department in the world that can teach Western philosophy from the pre-Socratics to the present with no gaps. It is designed for students with an undergraduate degree in which philosophy was at least a major component, who now wish to focus more narrowly on the history of philosophy, to provide a firm basis for subsequent research.

Students must earn a total of 180 credits.

• 60 of these will come from a dissertation on an approved topic in the history of philosophy, around 10,000 words, to be completed over the Summer at the end of the course. (A student who satisfactorily completes the course up to the point of the dissertation may exit the programme without completing one, and will be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in History of Philosophy on the basis of their 120 credits).
• The remaining 120 credits will be earned through optional modules, and all but at most 40 credits must be taken through modules on topics in the history of philosophy (see the Structure tab for a complete list of modules we expect to offer in 2013-14). Most of these modules are confined to either the first or the second semester, and are worth 20 credits; one or two span both semesters, and are worth 40. With permission, a student may get up to 40 credits from modules taken outside the Department of Philosophy, and these will normally include 20 or 40 credits from a course in a language relevant to the student's own philosophical interests (such as French or German, Latin or Greek), although the language requirement may be waived under certain circumstances. These modules are mostly taught through two weekly hours of lectures and seminars.

  

Full-time students will complete the course in one year, September to September. Part-time students take two years, and are required to get 40 to 80 credits (but normally 60 or 80) in the first of these, and then 100 to 140 (but normally 100 to 120, including 60 from the dissertation) in the second. If a language module is taken, it should be taken in the first year. Since it is anticipated that students in this particular programme will already have a background in philosophy, the General Philosophy module will not normally be available: but, if it does get taken, it too must be taken in the first part-time year.
 
All students, including part-time students, should ensure that they are available to attend seminars at least two days a week. 
 
A full list of modules we expect to offer in 2013-14 can be found under the 'Structure' tab.