BA (Hons) Philosophy

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Key information

Typical offer:
Entry requirements
Fees: See below
Full details
UCAS code: V550
Institute code: H36
Study abroad option
Work placement option
Find out more

Entry requirements

UCAS points A Level BTEC
112 - 120 BBC - BBB DMM - DDM

Additional requirements

GCSE: Grade 4/C in English Language and 4/D Mathematics
Access Course Tariff: An overall merit profile in 45 credits at Level 3.
All students from non-majority English speaking countries require proof of English language proficiency, equivalent to an overall IELTS score of 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in each band.
If you do not have the required IELTS or equivalent for direct entry on to your degree programme, our Pre-sessional English and International Foundation courses can help you to achieve this level.
For more details on the University of Hertfordshire's entry requirements, please visit our Undergraduate Entry Requirements page.
Find out more about International Entry Requirements.
The University of Hertfordshire is committed to welcoming students with a wide range of qualifications and levels of experience. The entry requirements listed on the course pages provide a guide to the minimum level of qualifications needed to study each course. However, we have a flexible approach to admissions and each application will be considered on an individual basis.
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UCAS points	A Level	BTEC
112 - 120	BBC - BBB	DMM - DDM

Why choose this course?

Your Philosophy lecturers are all active researchers
Host of the annual Sir Francis Bacon lectures
Home of the British Wittgenstein Society

We give you:

An exceptional academic team, conducting internationally renowned research
A flexible programme of study, allowing you to concentrate on areas you find especially interesting
The opportunity to write a dissertation on a topic about which you are passionate
CV-building potential through extra-curricular activities

In the 2022 National Student Survey (NSS), our Philosopy programme recieved an overall satisfaction rating of 86%, above the sector average. A resounding 100% of students agreed they found the course intellectually stimulating; that the course had provided them with opportunities to explore ideas or concepts in depth; and that it had provided them with opportunities to bring information and ideas together from different topics.

What's the course about?

Philosophy explores and challenges the assumptions that frame the way we think, act and see the world around us.

Here at Hertfordshire, you won’t just be learning about philosophers and understanding their theories, you’ll be doing rigorous and creative thinking of your own. Our internationally regarded academics will help you learn to address the arguments of others, to understand and engage with them so that you can arrive at your own conclusions and create your own original work.

All our lecturers are active researchers, so you’ll share the excitement of doing original work in a supportive and highly-rated academic community.

On this course no prior knowledge of philosophy is assumed, although students with Religious Studies A-level may be familiar with topics such as ethics, mind, knowledge and reality. In your first year you’ll explore new dimensions to these topics and consider questions about the meaning of life. You’ll also study social and political philosophy, the central concern of which is the best way of organising society. A first-year module on the philosophy of film and literature takes you beyond the mainstream. Studying fiction and films such as Back to the Future allows you to address the assumption that anything is possible in fiction and consider to what extent that is true.

In your second year you’ll be able to delve deeper into areas such as philosophy of art and philosophy of mind. A module on virtues, vices and ethics focuses on specific virtues, such as forgiveness, hope or love, from both a secular and religious point of view and examines what it means to live a good life.

Work placement/study abroad option: Between your second and final year, you’ll have the option to study abroad or do a work placement for up to a year. Not only will this give you an amazing experience to talk about but will also give your CV a boost. If you’d rather go straight to your final year, that’s absolutely fine too.

In your final year you can pursue your own research interests through a dissertation. Recent topics have included the ethical issues of playing video games, the nature of the imagination, environmental philosophy and the obligations of the state, and a proposed solution to the paradox of the liar. You’ll also build on previous specialisms to explore in more depth philosophers such as Nietzsche or Wittgenstein, feminist or political philosophy, contemporary moral philosophy, or the philosophy of psychology.

Your main campus is de Havilland 

You’ll share this campus with students from business, law, sport, education, and humanities subjects. The student housing is close to our Sports Village which includes a gym, swimming pool and climbing wall. You can get breakfast, lunch, or dinner in our on-campus restaurant or bar (in the newly built Enterprise Hub) on days you don’t feel like cooking. You can also use the common room to play pool, video games or just to hang out with friends.  Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.  

What will I study?

Our philosophy students benefit from being part of a lively and active academic community. You’ll learn from formal courses and extra-curricular seminars, while our small group teaching helps you to find your feet in the academic environment. There are plenty of opportunities to discuss critical issues with staff and fellow students, including an optional residential weekend each year.

You’ll have the opportunity to get involved in activities that will complement your studies and enhance your CV. These include our Philosophy Society, run by students, which hosts fortnightly research seminars led by distinguished external philosophers. All students are welcome to participate and become part of a professional philosophy community.

We host the Francis Bacon annual lecture series, funded by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, which focuses on showing the relevance of philosophy beyond the academic world. We are also the home of the British Wittgenstein Society, reflecting our academics’ research interests.

Level 4

Module	Credits	Compulsory/optional
Reason and Persuasion	15 Credits	Compulsory
We live in a world of persuasion. Advertisers would persuade us to buy their products while politicians press their policies on us. In personal life too, others want us to see things their way. We, of course, want others (colleagues, friends and family) to agree with us, to be persuaded by our arguments. Rhetoric is the art of persuasive speech and writing. It has been studied both for academic interest and for its practical, business and legal usefulness since ancient times. This module will explore the reasons why some persuasive efforts work while others do not. It will develop your ability to judge when you ought to be persuaded by the arguments of others and to present your own views in a way that increases their persuasive force.
Religion and the Contemporary World	15 Credits	Compulsory
In this module, we look at the place of religion in the contemporary world, chiefly the intersection of religion the political. We consider the way in which religious traditions engage with important contemporary controversies about such issues as gender, sexuality, the media, war and peace and the environment. In exploring these controversies, we examine questions such as: How do Christianity and Islam interact with politics in different parts of the world? How accurate are media representations of religious groups and their beliefs? Does religion promote war or prohibit it? Is religious environmentalism possible? Students gain religious literacy and a critically and methodologically informed way of thinking about religion in the contemporary world.
Social and Political Philosophy	15 Credits	Compulsory
How should our society function and what implications does this have for the individual? How should goods (e.g. property, services, rights, liberties, power) be distributed in society? On what basis can some people claim ownership of property? What is exploitation and how might it be addressed? What is equality? On what basis can someone 'in authority' tell me what (or what not) to do? And if I don't do as they say, on what basis can I be punished for it? What is a legitimate way to protest against a state? What are rights? Do all humans have rights or are some to be excluded? What are our obligations to future generations, to non-human animals, and to the environment in general?
Mind, Knowledge and Reality	15 Credits	Compulsory
Sometimes we misperceive the world. Sometimes, whilst asleep, we take ourselves to be doing things which we are not in fact doing. And, furthermore, there is no evidence we could bring to bear which would eliminate the possibility that an evil demon is continually deceiving us about how the world is. To what extent does all of this undermine our claims to know anything? What is the link between reality and the way we perceive it? Can we at least know that we have a mind, if not a body? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? What is the relationship between mind and body and being a person? What does it take the remain the same person over a lifetime? Indeed, how can anything undergo change and yet remain the same thing?
The Meaning of Life	15 Credits	Compulsory
Does anything give meaning to life? Does the fact that we will die render our striving to achieve anything of significance ultimately futile, even ridiculous? Would God's existence or non-existence have any bearing on an answer to this question? Does it even make sense to ask about the meaningfulness of our lives? Might we better approach the meaning of life through thinking about what it would take for activities within a lifetime to have meaning?
Ethics	15 Credits	Compulsory
Can you be harmed by something without ever experiencing it as a harm? Is what we experience all that should matter to us? What should we value? What is an ethical dilemma and is there a good way to resolve them? Can you be held morally responsible for something which is to some extent not within your control? To what extent should you be held morally responsible for anything? What are we even doing when we make ethical claims?
Philosophy of Fiction	15 Credits	Compulsory
Fiction is philosophically interesting in many ways. How do we establish what is true in a fiction? Can the impossible happen in fiction? How, if at all, do we manage to engage with fictions that we take to be metaphysically or morally problematic (such as H.G.Wells' The Time Machine or Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita)? How do we make sense of interactive fiction, where it appears that we take on the role of a fictional character? In what sense can fiction explore not only how things actually are but how things could have been? Is there a difference between what can be represented in film and what can be represented in literature? We tackle these questions by engaging with various vehicles for fiction (film, literature, videogames, etc.) to see how they fit within a philosophical framework for thinking about them.
Sci-fi, Philosophy, and Religion	15 Credits	Compulsory

Level 5

Module	Credits	Compulsory/optional
Graduate Skills	0 Credits	Compulsory
You will be offered a variety of employment enhancing workshops and online activities such as interview skills workshops, personality profiling and career planning in order to improve your employment prospects after graduation and make you aware of current areas of strength and weakness in relation to employability. You will also have the opportunity to learn about self-employment options, graduate schemes and will attend speaker sessions with successful professionals in areas of employment appropriate for Humanities graduates so you can learn about the skills and attributes required for these areas and how to enhance your prospects of entering such areas. You will be required to undertake a certain number of activities chosen by you from a career "menu" and to reflect on what they have learnt in order to complete the module successfully.
Themes in Plato's Republic	15 Credits	Optional
If you could get away with morally unjust behaviour, why should you act morally? What would an 'ideal society' be like? What is the relationship between justice in the individual, and justice in society? This course investigates several major themes in Plato's philosophy. After an introduction to the importance of Socrates and the nature of Socratic enquiry, we shall focus predominantly upon the Republic - one of the most important texts in the history of western thought - in which the above questions are central. The course will aim to show connections between Plato's metaphysics and theory of knowledge, and his ethics, political thought and philosophy of art and literature. Students will develop their skills in reading, assessing and advancing arguments.
The Right and The Good	15 Credits	Optional
Is happiness the only thing of value? According to Utilitarianism, my moral duty is to promote happiness. What do we mean by "happiness"? If our moral duty is to promote happiness does this mean that we are justified in adopting any means, including killing, that might promote happiness? Kant is one philosopher who considers that we should value human beings in their own right and this introduces constraints on what we are morally justified in doing. We have duties to assist and also not to harm other human beings. We study these two theories by looking at Mill's 'Utilitarianism' and Kant's 'Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'. Application of these theories to moral dilemmas chosen by students will form the topic of the presentation. For example, is it ever morally right to use violence or terrorism in the pursuit of peace? Should we ever assist anyone to commit suicide?
Philosophy of Mind	15 Credits	Optional
What are mental states? How do they relate to human actions? What is consciousness? Is there a real difference between the mental and the physical? This course explores philosophical approaches to understanding the nature of mind which range from dualism to strong forms of materialism. Students will be trained in the use of relevant terminology and will develop their skills in reading, assessing and advancing arguments. Students will be assessed on their knowledge and understanding of at least two approaches/issues in the philosophy of mind, their use of relevant terminology and their ability to produce structured arguments, which anticipate possible replies, in the form of essays.
Knowledge and Discovery	15 Credits	Optional
What kind of justification is required to be able to say not just that we believe something but that we know it? Must we be able to cite reasons for believing something before we can be said to know it, or is it enough for those beliefs to have been generated in a reliable way? Must knowledge rest on a foundation that is immune from error, or are beliefs justified by being part of a network of mutually supporting beliefs? We shall discuss the extent to which the particular observations we make give us reason to believe (or disbelieve) general claims about the world and, further, what counts as a good explanation for why that thing has happened. We shall consider not just beliefs about those things we can see with our own eyes but whether there is any reason to believe in those things which we cannot observe directly (e.g., the very small and the very distant).
Philosophy of Art	15 Credits	Optional
We go to museums, read novels, listen to music, talk about art. But what is art? In this module, we survey the main theories of art throughout history, observing as we go along, that while each theory has added to our understanding of art, it has not defined it once and for all. At the end of the survey, we shall ask whether a comprehensive definition is possible, or even necessary to our understanding of art. The survey will take us through passages from authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Tolstoy, Hume, Kant, Collingwood, Wittgenstein, Danto, Dickie and Wollheim. We will ask ourselves: Is art is a matter of personal taste or are there intersubjective criteria in the determination of art? Where is the boundary between art and craft? How is art related to morality? Is Tracy Emin's My Bed art; if so, is it good art? What makes anything art?
Metaphysics	15 Credits	Optional
Metaphysics asks the most general questions about the most fundamental features of the world. How should we understand space, time and causation? Does time flow? Does the future already exist? Is space a substance? Is it possible for me to do something now so as to affect what happened in the past? What are things and what does it take for them to persist over time? What is it for things to have properties, such as being red? What are properties? Do they exist in the same way that the things that have them do? What else exists? Does reality extend beyond what is actual?
Philosophies of Religion	15 Credits	Optional
This module focuses on the philosophies of religion that arise from the analytic (Anglo-American), European, and Asian (especially Buddhist) traditions. Its primary focus is a body of philosophical texts on religion by classic thinkers from these diverse traditions. Through these writings, you will be invited to consider how such different philosophical perspectives approach a series of questions they have in common, questions such as: What role do happiness and suffering play in religious thinking and practice? What is the relevance of the body and of embodiment to religion? What role is played by experience in religious faith and practice? How do reason and faith relate to each other? What goal is served by religious language? Is there such a thing as a distinctively philosophical approach to religion, given the differences between these diverse traditions?
Virtues, Vices and Ethics	15 Credits	Optional
The primary focus of this module is a body of writing, primarily by contemporary thinkers, on specific personal virtues and corresponding vices. We shall reflect upon such 'everyday' issues as pride, humility, gratitude, love, hope, patience and forgiveness. You will be invited to consider the contribution that both philosophy and religion have made to our understanding of the virtues. An important part of the module will be to ask, in the light of contemporary writings, what difference religious perspectives might make to secular understandings of the nature of virtue and vice, and the implications of this for what the 'good life' for human beings might be. The module will typically draw on writings from more than one religious tradition.
Logic and Philosophy	15 Credits	Optional
Logic and philosophy have been intimately connected since ancient times. Logic provides some conceptual tools which can be very helpful in clarifying ideas and developing convincing arguments. But, as you will see in the module, the ideas and arguments which can be expressed depend on which system of logic is adopted. In learning elements of various systems of logic, we will consider the philosophical issues raised by them. Which ideas can be expressed in logic? Might we lose something in translation when expressing ideas in a logical language rather than in English? Are there any sentences which are neither true nor false? To what extent can logic help in deciding what we should believe in? Many of these issues are at the cutting edge of contemporary philosophy.
Employability Skills	15 Credits	Optional
Producing graduates who are highly employable is a key aim of the University of Hertfordshire. This module aims to help you bridge gaps between your specialist academic studies and the world of graduate employment. As well as allowing you to reflect on and further develop your employability skills we will explore the changing nature of employers' needs. Using case studies, we will consider a range of issues (legal, gender, equality) that can arise in recruitment and the workplace. The module will also focus on career planning and job searching, as well as recruitment and selection processes including the work of assessment centres and pyschometric testing. Overall the intention is that you will be able to develop your job-market awareness and identify and explore potential career pathways. The module is worth 15 credits and may be chosen in place of a 15-credit subject module at Level 5, or as an additional module at Level 6, alongside 120 credits of modules in your subject(s).
Philosophy of Love and Sex	15 Credits	Optional
Philosophers have considered the nature of love and sex for centuries, challenging us to question our assumptions about some of the most fundamental human experiences. What does it mean to love? What is the relationship between love and philosophy? Can getting dumped make us better philosophers? What is the role of sex and desire in love? What is sexual desire and how does it relate to sexual arousal? What is a sexual perversion? How should we understand pornography? This course will explore love and sex through a variety of kinds of philosophical and fictional works and will introduce students to different philosophical methodologies.
Self, Action, and Ethics	15 Credits	Optional
This module explores the notions of self, identity, character, causation, intention, action, consequence, and responsibility. The module will consider various accounts of the relation between these concepts from across different philosophical traditions and periods. We shall assess various psychological and moral theories of what we can be held responsible for and why.

Level 6

Module	Credits	Compulsory/optional
The Humanities Placement Year	0 Credits	Compulsory
The Placement Year provides you with the opportunity to set your academic studies in a broader context and to utilise the intellectual skills you have gained through your degree in the work place. You will also strengthen your time management, organisational and communication skills as well as develop employability skills. You will gain experience of applying for jobs and of working within a commercial, business or professional environment prior to graduating thus increasing employability skills such as teamwork, communication skills and commercial awareness. You will gain experience in a field that is often a destination for Humanities students such as PR, marketing, management and research. You will have developed valuable industry skills and experience as well as being able to apply many of the intellectual skills you have learnt through your degree to a real world situation.
Philosophy Project	30 Credits	Optional
You will have the opportunity to develop your research skills through the largely independent study of a particular topic in philosophy of your choice, which must be approved by your supervisor. You will receive guidance from your supervisors in the form of suggestions about reading and about the structure and development of the project. Supervisors also provide critical feedback on material that is submitted. No conditions are placed on the choice of topic, so long as it falls within the general discipline of philosophy, and a member of the philosophy staff has the relevant expertise to provide the appropriate supervision. If you are intending to pursue a project you must identify your area of interest and are required to complete and submit a form by the end of the academic year prior to that in which you intend to begin your project.
Contemporary Moral Philosophy P	15 Credits	Optional
What should be the primary focus of ethics? Should we focus on actions or on the character of agents? Students will study different approaches to these questions embodied in contemporary discussions of Kantian Ethics, Consequentialism and Virtue Ethics. This discussion will raise issues such as, do we arrive at moral evaluations by applying principles to particular cases or are moral evaluations more a matter of, for example, a virtuous person's perception of a particular case? What is the relationship between the moral evaluations that we make and the reasons that we give for those evaluations? What are our moral theories based on: shared beliefs about rightness, our moral intuitions, our common sense intuitions about the virtues?
Aristotle P	15 Credits	Optional
Is there a method to philosophy? Are we rational animals? Do all living things have a purpose? What is the good life or is there more than one? Is ethics primarily concerned with virtue? These questions, which are still of relevance today, will be explored by an examination of Aristotle's central works.
Philosophy of Language	15 Credits	Optional
Marks, sounds and gestures can all have meaning. But what is it for them to have meaning and how do they manage to have it? Is the meaning of my words to be analysed in terms of my intentions to communicate with another or the conventions I subscribe to when using words? In what way is meaning related to truth and my being warranted in asserting what I say? What other things can we do with words than state truths? How should we understand metaphorical uses of language? How do names and descriptions in particular manage to pick out objects in the world? Are some things I say true solely in virtue of the meanings of the words I use? Is there anything that fixes what it is that I do mean when I use words, or is meaning, to some extent, indeterminate? Can a study of language tell us anything about reality?
Philosophy of Psychology	15 Credits	Optional
'Blindsighters' can judge with around 90% accuracy whether experimenters are showing them either a cross or a circle, and are able to discriminate colours, despite being completely blind due to a form of brain damage. The job of philosophers of psychology is to settle what this phenomenon, and related ones, means for the nature of the mind. Does it show that blindsighters 'see' colours etc., unconsciously? That would suggest mere perception is insufficient for consciousness, and we must then investigate what must be added to make a percept conscious. Or does blindsight simply demonstrate that there is a completely blind 'visual information system' in humans, operating alongside normal conscious vision? And would that mean conscious vision plays only a secondary role in daily life (is our behaviour somewhat more 'automatic' than we believe)? This module investigates key psychological phenomena and examines philosophical theories as to their significance for the human mind.
Political Philosophy	15 Credits	Optional
'Politics' and 'policy' both come from polis, the Greek word for 'city', but which more broadly means something like 'the community to which one belongs, in which one has rights and to which one has obligations'. What makes a community? Can any group of people be one? What does it mean to belong to one? Can membership of a community be part of your identity in any deep sense? How can obligations and rights arise from membership of a community? Is such membership always voluntary? These questions arise with special force in connection with citizenship and the state, but they are implicit in any kind of community membership that entails rights, obligations and impinges on your sense of self.
Feminist Philosophy	15 Credits	Optional
In the last half-century, feminist criticism has raised questions about the central topics of philosophy that go far beyond its original concern with gender equality and power relations. For example, feminist philosophers brought an emphasis on embodiment and social role that challenged the relevance of the ideal types (ideal reasoner, ideal observer, etc.) of traditional epistemology. These ideas are now debated in mainstream epistemology and philosophy of mind. At the same time, feminism has undergone internal differentiation into (for example) liberal and radical feminisms. Students on this module examine the contribution of feminism to philosophy and critically consider the challenges that feminism poses to the theory and practice of philosophy.
Wittgenstein: Meaning and Forms of Life	15 Credits	Optional
Ludwig Wittgenstein is one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century. Much of today's philosophical thinking has been inspired by or has developed in response to his work. His first published work - the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus - provides, for some, an inspiration for powerful anti-metaphysical programmes. For others, it offers refined tools for doing metaphysics in a new, more fertile way. He himself came to reject aspects of his early work. How his approach evolved can only be fully understood by considering his early programme in the light of his second great masterpiece, Philosophical Investigations. This module does just that by introducing important aspects of Wittgenstein's philosophy in their historical and ideological contexts. The module will explore a range of topics such as: the nature of language and thought and their relations to reality; meaning and use; understanding and intentionality; following a rule; the possibility of a private language; the nature of philosophy.
Nietzsche Then and Now	15 Credits	Optional
Nietzsche famously claimed that 'God is dead'. But what does he mean by this? What ramifications would the 'death of God' have for morality and human flourishing? What would a 'Nietzschean' view of self and world look like? And what religious responses to Nietzsche's challenge are possible? With these questions in mind, this module investigates key aspects of Nietzsche's thought and his legacy. Typically, after an introduction to his styles of philosophizing, the 'hermeneutics of suspicion', and his 'moral perfectionism', we shall focus upon his influential critique of morality. We shall investigate his account of ressentiment, guilt and 'bad conscience', alongside central Nietzschean ideas such as the will to power, eternal recurrence and 'self-overcoming'. We'll also consider some ways in which his legacy has been carried through in later thinkers, and we will examine possible critical responses to his worldview.
Philosophy Short Project	15 Credits	Optional
You will have the opportunity to develop your research skills through the largely independent study of a particular topic in philosophy of your choice, which must be approved by your supervisor. You will receive guidance from your supervisor in the form of suggestions about reading and about the structure and development of the project. Supervisors also provide critical feedback on material that is submitted. No conditions are placed on the choice of topic, so long as it falls within the general discipline of philosophy, and a member of the philosophy staff has the relevant expertise to provide the appropriate supervision. If you intend to pursue a project you must identify your area of interest and discuss it with the module leader before the start of semester B.

Study abroad

An opportunity for an amazing experience, which will help make you stand out from the crowd. With more and more companies working internationally, experience of living in another country can make a great impression on future employers.

This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a sandwich year abroad. The University has partnerships with over 150 universities around the world, including the USA, Canada, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and closer to home in Europe.

If you study abroad between your second and third year of study, you’ll pay no tuition fee to the partner university and no tuition fee to us either. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.

Find out more about Study abroad opportunities

Please note Erasmus+ funding is only available until May 2023. For students starting their course in September 2022 and wishing to study abroad in 2023-24 or 2024-25, please refer to the Turing Scheme.
Work placement

Graduate with invaluable work experience alongside your degree and stand out from the crowd.

This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a work placement sandwich year. It’s a chance to explore career possibilities, make valuable contacts and gain sought after professional skills.

Our dedicated Careers and Employment team are here to help guide you through the process.

If you take up a work placement between your second and third year of study, at the University of Hertfordshire you’ll pay no tuition fee for this year. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.

Find out more about work placements

'Studying Philosophy has equipped me with the ability to excel not only in academic spaces but has distinguished me in the professional world.'

Cage Boons

BA (Hons) Philosophy

Current job role	Teaching Assistant
Year of graduation	2018
Course of study	BA(Hons) History and Philosophy with Study Abroad Year

What's next for my career?

Studying philosophy teaches you to ask penetrating questions and identify flawed arguments – skills highly valued in a number of professions, including law. It enables you to develop many other transferable skills sought by employers, such as creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to communicate ideas in a structured, productive way.

Our graduates have an excellent record of securing roles in a range of industries including teaching, the media, publishing and information management.

For those interested in teaching, all Humanities graduates are guaranteed an interview with our School of Education. Many graduates go on to higher levels of study, engaging in research in their chosen fields.

All Humanities students have the option to gain valuable career experience through a work placement or a year studying abroad.

Studying philosophy teaches you to ask penetrating questions and identify flawed arguments – skills highly valued in a number of professions, including law. It enables you to develop many other transferable skills sought by employers, such as creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and the ability to communicate ideas in a structured, productive way.
Our graduates have an excellent record of securing roles in a range of industries including teaching, the media, publishing and information management.
For those interested in teaching, all Humanities graduates are guaranteed an interview with our School of Education. Many graduates go on to higher levels of study, engaging in research in their chosen fields.
All Humanities students have the option to gain valuable career experience through a work placement or a year studying abroad.
View our Alumni profiles

Jenny Vu

Course fact sheets
BA (Hons) Philosophy	Download

Programme specifications
BA (Hons) Philosophy	Download

Additional information
Sandwich placement or study abroad year	Optional
Applications open to international and EU students	Yes
Course length	Full Time, 3 Years Part Time, 6 Years Sandwich, 4 Years
Location	University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK

Apply through our international/EU application portal

Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK

Apply using the links below:

2023

Start Date	End Date	Link
23/09/2023	31/05/2024	Apply online (Full Time)
23/09/2023	31/05/2024	Apply online (Part Time)
23/09/2023	31/05/2024	Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich)
23/09/2023	31/05/2024	Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich)

2024

Start Date	End Date	Link
23/09/2024	31/05/2025	Apply online (Full Time)
23/09/2024	31/05/2025	Apply online (Part Time)
23/09/2024	31/05/2025	Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich)
23/09/2024	31/05/2025	Apply online (Full Time/Sandwich)

Fees and funding
Fees 2022
UK Students

Part time
- £1155 per 15 credits for the 2022/2023 academic year
EU Students

Part time
- £1750 per 15 credits for the 2022/2023 academic year
International Students

Part time
- £1750 per 15 credits for the 2022/2023 academic year
Fees 2023
UK Students

Full time
- £9250 for the 2023/2024 academic year
Part time
- £1155 per 15 credits for the 2023/2024 academic year
EU Students

Full time
- £14750 for the 2023/2024 academic year
Part time
- £1845 per 15 credits for the 2023/2024 academic year
International Students

Full time
- £14750 for the 2023/2024 academic year
Part time
- £1845 per 15 credits for the 2023/2024 academic year
*Tuition fees are charged annually. The fees quoted above are for the specified year(s) only. Fees may be higher in future years, for both new and continuing students. Please see the University’s Fees and Finance Policy (and in particular the section headed “When tuition fees change”), for further information about when and by how much the University may increase its fees for future years.

View detailed information about tuition fees

Read more about additional fees in the course fact sheet

Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

View detailed information about our accommodation

BA (Hons) Philosophy

Key information

Typical offer:

Fees: See below

UCAS code: V550

Institute code: H36

Study abroad option

Work placement option

Additional requirements

Why choose this course?

What's the course about?

Your main campus is de Havilland

What will I study?

'Studying Philosophy has equipped me with the ability to excel not only in academic spaces but has distinguished me in the professional world.'

Check out our student blogs

Student Blogs

Alumni Stories

Meet Jenny Vu who gained valuable transferable skills for her future career. She is currently a Teaching Assistant at a secondary school.

University life and experience

Future aspirations

International/EU applicants without pre-settled status in the UK

Home and EU applicants with pre-settled/settled status in the UK

2023

2024

Fees 2022

UK Students

Part time

EU Students

Part time

International Students

Part time

Fees 2023

UK Students

Full time

Part time

EU Students

Full time

Part time

International Students

Full time

Part time

Other financial support

Living costs / accommodation

Your main campus is de Havilland 