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Department of Philosophy
Faculty of Arts & Humanities

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About us

Consistently ranked among the top philosophy departments in the country for research and teaching, the Department of Philosophy is one of the largest and most distinguished of its kind in the UK.

We are ranked in the top ten departments in Europe in the QS Rankings 2025 and 1st for research environment in the UK in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF2021). 

We combine comprehensive coverage of the discipline with unique areas of specialisation in the history of philosophy; in metaphysics, the philosophy of action, mind and psychology and particularly at the intersection of these disciplines; in the philosophy of medicine; in formal philosophy; and in legal and political philosophy.

Our research excellence is demonstrated and supported by success in securing research grants and donations from both public and private bodies. These include a £1.4 million donation from the Sowerby Foundation to fund the Chair in Philosophy and Medicine and recent grants of more than £3 million to support projects on topics from metacognition to EU solidarity, from the status of animals in Islamic Philosophy to the role of bots in online networks.

Contact us

Contact us

Get in touch with the Faculty and Departments within Arts and Humanities.

Our Department

As well as the single honours Philosophy BA, we offer a wide range of combined honours degrees with French, German, Hispanic Studies, Mathematics, and Physics. We are also significant contributors to the BAs in Liberal Arts, Philosophy, Politics, and Law, and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, and offer core modules for the BSc in Psychology and the MBBS for medical students.

We have an extremely popular MA and offer two Postgraduate Research degrees: the structured MPhilStud, combining individually taught areas of study with a supervised dissertation, and the standard PhD. Many students move from the former to the latter.

Alumni

Alumni

Alumni relations and other information for past Department of Philosophy graduates

Connections & Outreach

Connections & Outreach

The Department has ongoing partnerships with a variety of cultural and educational organisations.