Philosophy

Entry requirements

Students will normally be expected to have a 2:1 honours degree in English or a related discipline. Applicants with alternative qualifications and/or relevant experience may also be considered. Students should provide, along with their postgraduate application, copies of their degree transcript and, if applicable, a copy of their degree award certificate, two reference letters and written work in a subject relevant to literary study.

Months of entry

September

Course content

This course seeks to overcome the idea that philosophy is split between two cultures (one belonging to the world of science, the other, the world of the arts and humanities) by exploring both of these strands.

The first strand provides an opportunity to study philosophical approaches to understanding new materialisms and realisms and their significance within the context of recent scientific developments. It focuses on Continental philosophy, and studies figures such as:

• Alain Badiou
• Ray Brassier
• Jane Bennett
• Maurizio Ferraris
• Elizabeth Grosz
• Graham Harman
• Donna Haraway
• Bruno Latour
• Catherine Malabou
• Quentin Meillassoux
• Isabelle Stengers
• Slavoy Žižek

The second strand provides an opportunity to study philosophical approaches to understanding the role of the imagination in philosophy and its significance within recent social, literary and cultural contexts. It focuses on Continental philosophy, and studies figures such as:

• Marc Augé
• Lorainne Code
• Jean-Pierre Dupuy
• Sigmund Freud
• Martin Heidegger
• Luce Irigaray
• Julia Kristeva
• Michèle Le Dœuff
• Karl Marx

The course also looks at writers such as:

• Rainer Maria Rilke
• Ted Hughes
• J.M. Coetzee

Topics of study in this strand in the past have included:

• the faculties of imagination
• the image
• the importance of ‘place’ for imagination
• the zoological imagination,the temporal-political imagination
• the unconscious

As well as engaging with a variety of key sources in Continental philosophy, students will also explore related areas, such as psychoanalysis, sociology, political theory, literary criticism and biology.

We offer a regular postgraduate forum, visiting speakers and an annual postgraduate conference. Students benefit from a range of Generic Skills classes throughout the year.