Philosophy of Mental Disorder

The MSc in Philosophy of Mental Disorder is the result of a collaboration between the Department Philosophy and the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. The programme is taught jointly by these two institutions and, for this reason, it is genuinely and helpfully interdisciplinary. The main focus is obviously the theory of mental disorder. The programme provides a unique opportunity to examine issues arising at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, psychiatry and social science. More generally it provides the opportunity to examine the philosophical and conceptual problems raised by the study of the human mind.

The degree requires one year of full-time study or two years of part-time study. It includes a coursework component as well as a dissertation. The coursework component is divided into taught modules. Full-time students have to select three modules among those offered in the year they are taking the course. Part-time students choose two modules for their first year and one module for their second year (in the second year they also write their dissertation). For administrative purposes, the dissertation is also considered a module and is, in fact, the only compulsory module for this degree.
 
In addition to the seminars for each of the taught modules, there is also a Core Seminar for the students taking this degree. This provides a forum for acquiring essential background in philosophy and psychopathology, and for discussing fundamental problems at the intersection of those domains.
 
Applications from part-time study are welcome. As far as possible the timetable is structured to assist students with professional commitments.