BA Philosophy degrees

Course Overview

In your first year you begin with several introductory lecture courses, to provide a foundation for later studies. You will be introduced to political philosophy, examining questions about the state, liberty and laws; moral philosophy, questioning distinctions of right and wrong, and our motivation for choosing between the two; epistemology which looks at the nature of knowledge and belief; metaphysics which attempts to explain the nature of the world; and logic, which teaches you principles of good reasoning.

If you are taking the Philosophy BA, your second and third years will be spent studying a range of subjects from the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of language, to aesthetics and phenomenology. The programme is structured to ensure that the central areas of the subject are covered but also allows you to choose from an array of options, some of which may be taken from another department at UCL.

If you choose to combine Philosophy with either Economics, French, Greek or History of Art you will study the two subjects on an equal basis.

All programmes last three years, except for French and Philosophy BA, in which you spend your third year in a French-speaking country, and return for your fourth year to UCL.

Our degrees are designed to help you acquire an understanding of a wide range of traditional and contemporary philosophical theories. Furthermore, they assist you in constructing and assessing philosophical positions and arguments for yourself. Such skills are transferable to non-philosophical contexts, and help you analyse and present complex ideas.

Course Structure

The guiding idea behind the distinction between levels I, II and III is that level I should introduce an area (e.g. political philosophy), level II should give a non-introductory account of some part of that area (e.g. distributive justice), and level III should treat advanced or special topics in that area (e.g. special or advanced topics in political philosophy).

Within certain limits described below, second year students can take level III courses, and third year students can take some level II courses.

Click here for a list of undergraduate courses offered this year in the department.

1st year (level I)

Single Honours Philosophy

Over the whole first year, students will take eight courses (half course units), each of which is compulsory:

Knowledge and Reality I
Knowledge and Reality II
Introduction to Moral Philosophy
Introduction to Political Philosophy
Introduction to the History of Philosophy I
Introduction to the History of Philosophy II
Introduction to logic I
Introduction to logic II
Philosophy tutorial course

Joint Honours

Over the whole first year, students will take four courses (half course units), from the list above.

2nd year (level II courses)

In the second year, students will take eight courses (half course units). There are no compulsory courses, but breadth of coverage will be ensured by the requirement for students to choose between level II courses in three groups: 

GROUP A: Courses in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, logic, philosophy of science etc. 

GROUP B: Courses in ethics, political philosophy, aesthetics etc. 

GROUP C: Courses in the history of philosophy (Greek philosophy, modern philosophy, 19th century philosophy, 20th century philosophy etc.) 

The constraints on students' choices are as follows: 

Single Honours Philosophy 

At least 1 course from groups A, B and C. 
No more than one Level III courses (see below); 
No more than two approved courses from other University of London Philosophy Departments; 
No more than two approved course from another UCL departments. 

Total courses: eight.

Joint Honours 

At least two courses from groups A, B and C, with courses from more than one group; 
No more than one Level III courses (see below); 
Over the second and final year, you can take a total of two (half unit) approved modules in other UCL departments. 
No more than one approved course from other University of London Philosophy Departments.

Total courses: Four

3rd year (level III courses)

Final-year single-honours students must take eight courses across the year, four in each term. No courses are compulsory. The constraints on students' choices are as follows: 

Single Honours Philosophy 

In order to graduate, you must pass at least one course from lists A, B and C. If you didn't achieve this in the second year, you must do it in the third year.

In order to graduate, you must pass at least six level III courses. If you have passed any in your second year, they will be counted towards this requirement.

You can take at most two (half unit) approved courses from other UCL departments (ESPS philosophy courses do not count as courses in another UCL department).

You can take at most two (half unit) approved courses from the KCL philosophy department, subject to availability.

Joint Honours 

In order to graduate, you must pass two courses from distinct lists (A, B or C). If you didn't achieve this in the second year, you must do it in the third year.

In order to graduate, you must pass at least six level III courses (from any department). If you have passed any in your second year, they will be counted towards this requirement.

Over the second and final year, you can take a total of two (half unit) approved modules in other UCL departments. This may be your other department. ESPS philosophy courses do not count as courses in another UCL department.

You can take at most one (half unit) approved module from the KCL philosophy department, subject to availability.

Total courses: four

Teaching

Assessment

Assessment will be by a mixture of examination and coursework. This will vary from course to course. Students' degree class will be based on their work over the three years, with a weighting towards the third year. Your final degree classification will be calculated as the mean of your marks in the following modules:

Your best 6 half course units from your first year.
Your best 7 half course units from your second year.
All your half course units from your final year.
 
These are weighted in the following way: 

First year: 1
Second year: 3
Final year: 5