MA Modules

This is the provisional list of MA modules due to run in the academic year 2024/25.

Click on the titles below to see more information, including a module description and a provisional syllabus. Module leader email addresses can be found via the staff pages. For times and locations, please use the UCL common timetable (which will be updated in early September).

Term 1

PHIL0025 Logic and its Limits

Module Leader: Peter Fritz
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem Set 1 (25%); Problem Set 2 (25%); Problem Set 3 (25%); Problem Set 4 (25%)

Description: The purpose of this module is to present the basic methods and results of contemporary logic. The emphasis is on the practical skill of formulating and proving results about logical systems. Students are introduced to basic set theory, enumerability and non-enumerability, isomorphisms and cardinality of models, the Compactness and Löwenheim-Skolem Theorems, inexpressibility results, soundness and completeness results.

PHIL0041 Early Wittgenstein

Module Leader: José Zalabardo
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: C
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: The purpose of this module is to present some of the central doctrines of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. The module focuses on the account offered in this book of the structure of reality and our ability to represent it in thought and language. We will also study ideas of Bertrand Russell and Gottlob Frege that are relevant for the development of Wittgenstein’s thought.
The module will enable you to understand these important ideas, overcoming the obscurity of Wittgenstein’s writing. This will contribute to your general understanding of the central philosophical issues that Wittgenstein addresses. It will also develop your ability to interpret difficult philosophical texts.
Topics covered by the module will include:
Russell’s dual-relation theory of judgment
Russell’s multiple-relation theory of judgment
Russell and Wittgenstein on forms
Wittgenstein’s picture theory
Frege on unity and unsaturatedness
Wittgenstein on the unity of the proposition
Wittgenstein on the unity of facts
Objects and expressions as common structural features
Substance and simplicity
 
Teaching Delivery
The module will be delivered by weekly two-hour lecture/seminars, combining presentation of material by the lecturer and general discussion of the ideas presented. You will be expected to do preparatory reading for each session.

By the end of the module:
You will have gained a deep understanding of some of the central ideas put forward by Wittgenstein in his early period.
You will be able to connect Wittgenstein’s proposals to contemporary debates in metaphysics, philosophy of language and philosophy of mind.
You will have enhanced your interpretative skills regarding difficult philosophical texts.
You will have developed your ability to grasp and discuss highly abstract philosophical issues.

Recommended Reading
In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts. These can be found in the UCL Library:
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1974. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Translated by D. F. Pears and B. McGuinness. 2nd ed. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Original edition, 1961.
Zalabardo, José L. 2015. Representation and Reality in Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

PHIL0045 Making Sense of the Senses

Module Leader: Mark Kalderon         
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: C.D. Broad offers a comparative phenomenology of vision, audition, and touch highlighting the important differences between them. We will assess Broad’s comparative phenomenology drawing upon analytic, continental, historical and psychological literature. The aim is to introduce the student to advance themes in philosophy of perception through this assessment of Broad’s comparative phenomenology. The class will be conducted as a seminar with student presentations

For relatively recent analytic discussion of these issues, the student might consult the optional reading Perception and Its Modalities edited by Dustin Stokes, Mohan Matthen, and Stephen Biggs. Oxford University Press, 2014.

PHIL0059 Philosophy, Politics and Health

Module Leader: James Wilson    
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description:  This module examines some central ethical, economic and political problems facing health policy in the UK and abroad, especially in relation to social justice. Topics covered include: how to allocate healthcare resources (e.g. should the NHS cover all new drug treatments, regardless of how expensive they are? Who should decide?); the appropriate role of the state in protecting and promoting health (e.g. should smoking be banned?); when inequalities in health and life expectancy are unfair; and special challenges posed by infectious diseases.
Reading list: http://readinglists.ucl.ac.uk/modules/phil0059.html

PHIL0073 Feminism and Philosophy

Module Leader: TBC
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This course will introduce students to some central topics in feminist philosophy. Topics will include oppression, misogyny, sex and gender, intersectionality, pornography, sexual consent, beauty norms, and work and the family. Through consideration of both classic and contemporary feminist writing, students will be asked to think carefully and critically about feminist approaches to these areas of significant moral, political, and social concern.

PHIL0077 Equality

Module Leader: Han van Wietmarschen       
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: In everyday moral and political arguments appeals to equality are ubiquitous. But what do these appeals amount to? In this course we will attempt to gain a deeper understanding of equality in moral and political thought. The first part of the course will focus on the idea of moral equality. What grounds all human beings’ equal moral status? What does it even mean to say that all human beings are morally equal? Is the moral equality of all people consistent with our favourable treatment of our children, family, and friends? Are non-human animals morally equal to humans? In the second part of the course, we will focus on the idea of political equality. Specifically, we will consider what the equal status of all citizens implies about how we should distribute power and make political decisions. Does a commitment to the equality of all citizens commit us to democratic rule? If the political decisions made in Community A significantly affect the members of Community B, should the members of Community B have a (democratic?) say in Community A’s decision? Might this commit us to some form of global democracy?

PHIL0103 Research Seminar: Philosophy of Mind

Module Leader: Lucy O’Brien
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This advanced module is a research seminar in the philosophy of mind. The module teacher will present some of their recent research. Subject matter can vary year by year, but might include: mental states and events, mental actions, the mind-body problem, consciousness, intentionality, mental causation etc.     

PHIL0142 Research Preparation in Philosophy 1

Module Leader: TBC
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: N/A
Shared: MA Only
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This module will introduce UCL Philosophy Masters students to graduate study in philosophy and to philosophical discussion. Most of the sessions will involve reading in advance one or two pieces of analytic philosophy. Then in the seminar itself, each paper will be presented by a student for a discussion which is moderated by the convenor.
The topics covered in this module will generally vary from year to year depending on developments in academic research and the interests of the class and module leader. However the main skills covered will remain the same:
• Reading and understanding works of analytic philosophy
• Understanding philosophical argument and common strategies of argument and reasoning
• Understanding how to connect ideas within and between philosophical topics
• Beginning to understand how to pursue philosophical research.

Teaching Delivery
This module is delivered via a two-hour seminar once a week. Students will be expected to read the set reading each week, and each week one or two students will be asked to present one of the set readings for discussion. The schedule and exact format of the presentations will be discussed and arranged during the course itself.
This is a compulsory module for the MA programme in philosophy.
Enrolment on this module is restricted to students on the MA programme in philosophy.
By the end of the module, you should be able to:
• Understand the works read in the seminar and evaluate the ideas and arguments they contain.
• Understand how to read works in philosophy and make sense of the ideas and arguments they contain.
• Understand the style of philosophical arguments and know some common strategies of argument and reasoning
• Recognise connections between argument styles and philosophical topics where appropriate
• Use literature and other resources to embark on philosophical research.

PHIL0177 Recent Work in Moral Philosophy

Module Leader: Joe Horton
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This module provides students with an opportunity for deep engagement with recent work in moral philosophy. We cover five topics across the ten classes, with two classes on each topic.
These topics are likely to include:
***
Moral Aggregation
Is there any number of people you should save from a moderately large burden, such as paralysis, rather than saving one person from a very large burden, such as death? Is there any number of people you should save from a very small burden, such as a headache, rather than saving one person from a very large burden, such as death? Many people answer these questions ‘yes’ and ‘no’, respectively. Can this position be defended?
Indicative Reading: Alex Voorhoeve, ‘How Should We Aggregate Competing Claims?’, Ethics 125 (2014): 64–87

Collective Harm
Many of our choices collectively inflict grave harms on humans, animals, and the environment. Think of buying clothes from sweatshops, eating meat, or driving gas-guzzling cars. However, when considered individually, these choices seem to make extremely little difference to anyone, and they might even make no difference at all. This makes it difficult to explain why we ought not to make these choices. Is there a plausible explanation?
Indicative Reading: Julia Nefsky, ‘Fairness, Participation, and the Real Problem of Collective Harm’, Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics 5 (2015): 245–271

Moral Uncertainty
You have a slight preference for the burger, but the salad also sounds nice. You stare hard into the distance, wondering whether the vegetarians are right. You cannot decide—it seems just as likely they are right as that they are wrong. What should you do?
You give up on assessing vegetarianism and reason as follows: If the vegetarians are wrong, it is slightly better for you to choose the burger, for that is what you prefer. If they are right, it is much better for you to choose the salad, for choosing the burger would be morally very bad. So, taking both prudential and moral considerations into account, the expected value of the salad is greater than that of the burger. So, you should choose the salad.
Your reasoning seems plausible. But it assumes that what you should do is sensitive to your normative uncertainty—to your levels of confidence in competing normative theories. Is this assumption correct? What are its consequences?
Indicative Reading: William MacAskill and Toby Ord, 'Why Maximize Expected Choice-Worthiness?', Noûs 54 (2020): 327–353

***

The module is assessed by a summative essay which will focus on one of the topics covered. You will be strongly encouraged to write a formative essay (maximum length 2000 words), which will be due around the end of week 8. The formative essay is intended to serve as a draft of the summative, so it may answer the same question.
By the end of the module, you should have developed a good understanding of some of the debates at the cutting edge of moral philosophy and be able to explain these debate to others; have developed the skills needed to critically evaluate these debates; have developed your writing and communication skills, particularly with respect to clarity and structure; and have produced an essay that demonstrates these skills with respect to one of these debates.

PHIL0189 Culture, Heritage and Critique

Module Leader: James Wilson    
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This module examines key philosophical questions about culture, public art, and cultural heritage. Topics may include: how to define culture and to adjudicate between competing conceptualisations of culture; how to theorise the relationships between cultures, and in particular how to reconcile tensions between local and particularising models of culture, and broader liberal egalitarian commitments to equality and universalism; how best to make sense of ideas of cultural property and cultural appropriation; the cultural, aesthetic and ethical implications of putting artefacts, and human bodies on public display; and when cultural artefacts such as statues should be removed from public display.

PHIL0196 Paradoxes

Module Leader: Andreas Ditter    
Level: 7
Term: 1
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem Set 1 (15%); Problem Set 2 (15%); Essay 3000 words (70%)

Description: This module will be focused on paradoxes. A paradox is a set of jointly inconsistent claims each of which is individually plausible. Paradoxes are not merely entertaining puzzles; they also raise serious philosophical problems. In many cases, they lead us to rethink basic assumptions about some of our most fundamental concepts, including space, time, motion, truth, knowledge, and belief. In this module, we will examine several paradoxes and the philosophical issues they raise. Along the way, students will be introduced to some central conceptual and formal tools that are relevant not only to the paradoxes but also to a wide range of other philosophical debates.

Paradoxes to be discussed may include: Zeno’s paradoxes about space, time and motion; paradoxes of infinity (the Ross-Littlewood paradox, Benardete’s paradox); the Sorites paradox; logical and semantic paradoxes (Russell’s paradox and the Liar paradox); paradoxes of rationality (Newcomb’s problem, Prisoner’s Dilemma); paradoxes of belief and knowledge (the surprise examination paradox, the preface paradox, the lottery paradox); and paradoxes of personal identity, coincidence, time travel, and modal variation.

Please note that the course combines philosophical and formal elements. A good knowledge of first-order (predicate) logic is presupposed.

Term 2

PHIL0052 Regulation of Intimacy

Module Leader: Véronique Munoz-Dardé
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This optional course will be taught in seminar format, with one weekly two-hour meeting. It is designed to introduce students to some central questions in political and moral philosophy. The topic of the course is the politics of sex. It focuses on general ethical concerns raised by state regulation of intimate relations e.g. in marriage or prostitution. Should some things not be for sale? Is consent the key to legitimate interaction? What is involved in one person ‘objectifying’ another? Are there circumstances in which paternalism is permissible or even required?
Readings include Anderson, Herman, Langton, Nussbaum, Pallikkathayil, Parfit, O’Neill, Satz, Saul, Scanlon, Scruton, Shiffrin, Thomson, Wedgwood.

This course is intended for students with a range of specializations, but some background knowledge in philosophy (normally a minimum of two philosophy courses passed before taking this module). **** The course is not suitable for conversion students.**** 

PHIL0067 Free Speech and Theories of Autonomy

Module Leader: Rob Simpson
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This module investigates two complementary topics: (1) theories of autonomy, as they have been developed by philosophers writing about ethics and the self, and (2) defences of free speech, as they have been developed (and criticised) by legal and political theorists. With respect to (1), we’re interested in what it means to be autonomous, how and why the process of desire-formation has a bearing on a person’s autonomy, and whether it is possible for someone to autonomous desire their own subordination. With respect to (2), we’re interested in what kind of conception of autonomy – and of the individual, as such – different theorists have invoked in seeking to defend free speech, and what kinds of theoretical justifications for free speech can be developed in light of different conceptions of autonomy. The insights into the nature of autonomy that we gain from thinking about the topics in part (1), will inform the critical inquiry that we carry out in part (2).
Assessment is via a major essay, and there will usually be some kind of minor, reading-related tasks that you’re required to complete during the term. Classes are a mixture of lectures, small-group discussion, and whole group discussion.
Representative examples of readings that we look at during the course are John Christman, “Autonomy and personal history” (Canadian Journal of Philosophy 21/1, 1991, pp. 1-24), and Susan Brison, “The autonomy defense of free speech” (Ethics 108/2, 1998, pp./ 312-39). 

PHIL0078 Formal Epistemology

Module Leader: Clara Bradley    
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem set 1 (15%) Problem set 2 (15%) Essay, 2500 Words (70%)

Description: This module will introduce students to the probabilistic representation of belief and its connection to rationality, evidence, and decision making. Some of the questions that will be covered include: What are degrees of belief? What are the constraints on degrees of belief, and why should we believe that these constraints are rationally required? How are degrees of belief related to action? Can probabilistic reasoning help to solve problems of induction and confirmation?
Provisional Syllabus:
Week 1: Full vs. partial belief
Week 2: Axioms and rules of probability
Week 3: Dutch Book arguments for probabilism
Week 4: Accuracy arguments for probabilism
Week 5: Conditionalization 
Week 6: Priors
Week 7: Interpretations of probability
Week 8: Confirmation and induction
Week 9: Decision Theory
Week 10: Risk
Primary Text:
Titelbaum, Mike (2022): Fundamentals of Bayesian Epistemology
Background Reading:
Hacking, Ian (2001): An Introduction to Probability and Inductive Logic
Skyrms, Brian (2000): Choice and Chance: An Introduction to Inductive Logic

PHIL0079 Advanced Topics on Moral Philosophy: Responsibility, Luck and Excuses

Module Leader: Ulrike Heuer
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: B
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: We will explore theories of responsibility, in particular their explanations of its grounds, its scope and its limits. We will also discuss some fundamental skeptical challenges to the practice of holding ourselves and others responsible. In light of these general considerations, we will then examine more specific topics, such as responsibility for attitudes, moral luck, blameworthiness, excuses and collective responsibility.
The aim of the module is to develop an understanding of the nature of responsibility, and the resources and problems of contemporary approaches.
Introductory readings:
• R. Jay Wallace, Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments, Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press 1996.
• Susan Wolf, Freedom Within Reason, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1990.
• Daniel Statman (ed), Moral Luck, SUNY Press 1993 

PHIL0129 Worlds, Sentences and Measures

Module Leader: Peter Fritz
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Problem set 

Description: This module gives an introduction to some of the formal tools most often used in contemporary philosophy, focusing in particular on modal logic.
A good knowledge of first-order (predicate) logic is presupposed and some familiarity with basic metalogical results (e.g. soundness and completeness) will also be helpful.
PHIL0025 Logic and its Limits covers all recommended background, but is not strictly necessary. A main component of the module is regular problem sets. 

PHIL0143 Research Preparation in Philosophy 2

Module Leader: Ulrike Heuer
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A/B/C
Shared: MA Only
Assessment: Essay 4,000 words

Description: This module is a continuation and extension of PHIL0142. This module has two aims: (1) to train you in reading difficult philosophical texts (2) to train you in the skills involved in philosophical discussion.
Indicative Topics
The specific topics covered in the module will vary with the choice of philosophical papers.
Teaching Delivery
Teaching will consist in a weekly two-hour seminar. Discussion of the text will be organized around student presentations.

PHIL0160 Philosophy of Space and Time

Module Leader: Clara Bradley 
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This module covers topics in the epistemology and metaphysics of space and time: How does one gain empirical access to spacetime? What is the relationship between motion and spacetime? Is spacetime substantival or relational? Is geometry conventional? We will look at these topics through a historical lens, starting with views about space and time in Ancient Greece and ending with Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
Provisional Syllabus:
Week 1: Zeno’s paradoxes and the Aristotelian conception of space and time
Week 2: The Copernican revolution
Week 3: Descartes’ physics
Week 4: Newtonian physics
Week 5: The Leibniz-Clarke debate
Week 7: Substantivalism vs. relationalism: modern approaches
Week 6: Kant’s views on space and time
Week 8: Poincare and the conventionality of geometry
Week 9: Lorentz’s ether theory and Einstein’s theory of special relativity
Week 10: General Relativity and the hole argument

Primary Text:
Huggett, Nick (1999): Space: From Zeno to Einstein
Background Reading:
Maudlin, Tim (2012): Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time
Cushing, James (2012): Philosophical Concepts in Physics
Geroch, Robert (1978): General Relativity from A to B

PHIL0167 Perception and its History

Module Leader: Mark Kalderon    
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: The advanced course will involve a close reading of a historical text on the nature of perception. A different text will be chosen each time the course is offered. Contemporary philosophy of perception is very different from earlier historical discussions, especially in the pre-modern era. This is not due solely to advances in psychology, but the kind of questions that are asked are often very different. Part of the point of engaging in these texts is to bracket our own presuppositions about the nature of perception so as to become critically conscious of them. Sometimes these may be reaffirmed. Sometimes, however, they may be called into doubt. The student will gain an in depth understanding of the text under study, learn about close readings and historical scholarship, and hopefully gain a new perspective on the nature of perception.
Indicative Topics
The topics covered in the module will vary with the historical text under discussion.
Teaching Delivery
Teaching will consist in a weekly two-hour seminar.
Assessment: This module will be assessed by essay. No paper topic will be assigned. Instead you must meet individually with the instructor after reading week to discuss your potential paper topic and receive guidance concerning it.

PHIL0184 Philosophy of Arithmetic & Incompleteness

Module Leader: Tim Button
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: BA and MPhil Stud
Assessment: Worksheet 1 (15%); Worksheet 2 (15%); Worksheet 3 (20%); Essay, 2500 Words (50%)

Description: Arithmetic is the branch of mathematics which studies the natural numbers — i.e. the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, and so on — and operations on the numbers — like addition and multiplication. This course explores the features that make arithmetic distinctive, and pose unique philosophical challenges. The path through the course is as follows.
1. Arithmetic is infinitary, abstract, a priori and apodictic, necessary, completely general, and scientifically indispensable. You will start by surveying these features, and encounter the general idea of a formal theory of arithmetic.
2. A common sentiment is that, in mathematics, consistency suffices for existence. You will explore this idea, understanding what it means to describe a theory as "consistent", and how one might establish consistency. This will lead into into a discussion of Hilbert's programme, which aimed to provide proofs that (various) mathematical theories are consistent. Famously, this programme floundered when Gödel discovered his incompleteness theorems.
3. You will learn about the technical details behind the incompleteness theorems, including such concepts as: (computable) enumerability, representability, the arithmetization of syntax, Tarski's Diagonal Lemma, Gödel sentences, and consistency sentences.
4. Armed with this technical knowledge, you will assess the philosophical significance of these results, both for Hilbert's programme and for other philosophical positions.
5. To finish the course, you will consider other approaches to the philosophy of arithmetic, and how they deal with the phenomenon of incompleteness.
The course will be based entirely weekly lectures, backed up with classes. Each lecture/class will have compulsory readings.
Please note that the course combines philosophical and formal elements! Although it is not a formal prerequisite, the course will presuppose introductory logic (at the level of first year Introduction to Logic 1 & 2); at the very least, you will need to be comfortable with how first-order logic works. The course will not presuppose any particular prior knowledge of mathematics; only that you know how to count, and can make sense of expressions like ‘x2 + 3x + 2 = 0’ (even if you cannot quite remember how to solve it). Still, if the very idea of looking at an expression like that fills you with horror, this course is not for you. Half of your final grade will be based on your performance in problem sets, which will help to reinforce your understanding of the technical details behind the incompleteness theorems.

PHIL0191 Advanced Topics in 17th and 18th Century European Philosophy 

Module Leader: Colin Chamberlain
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: C
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: This module focuses on problems and figures in 17th and 18th century European philosophy. This period was both fertile and influential. The rejection of old Aristotelian ways of thinking, along with dramatic developments in science, resulted in conceptual ferment and creativity. Moreover, the philosophical debates occurring in the period set the stage for many subsequent developments in the Kantian and post-Kantian tradition, as well as in much contemporary analytic philosophy. This module will take a deep dive into a single figure or topic in this period, which will vary from year to year.  Sample figures include traditional figures like René Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, and Thomas Reid, as well as lesser known figures such as Margaret Cavendish, Ann Conway, Henry More, Pierre Bayle, and Mary Shepherd. Sample problems include sensory perception, colour, representation, embodiment, and the passions. 

PHIL0TBC Topics in Epistemology

Module Leader: Sam Carter
Level: 7
Term: 2
Area: A
Shared: MPhil Stud
Assessment: One essay (4,000 words)

Description: We are epistemically imperfect beings. Our access to the world is beset by noise, error, and inexactness. We navigate our lives using unreliable perceptual systems, deteriorating memories and incomplete information. As a result, there are many things we fail to know.
Fallibilists about knowledge advocate (qualified) hope: despite our flaws, there are nevertheless some (and perhaps many) things we can know. This course will explore the implications of our imperfections for our knowledge, within a broadly fallibilist setting. We’ll look at work on a variety of topics, unified by the idea that our epistemic flaws have important lessons for us about what we know (and what we fail to know). A recurring theme will be how our ignorance about the world can give rise to ignorance about what we know.
The authors we will read take a mixture of formal and informal approaches: the aim of the course is, in part, to provide an introduction to some useful technical machinery, while placing an emphasis on its philosophical interpretation.