Philosophy BA Honours

Course overview

Newcastle Philosophy is rare among UK universities as much of our curriculum is dedicated to modern European philosophy. The curriculum includes thinkers such as Descartes, Kant, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, de Beauvoir, Sartre, Kristeva, Derrida and Foucault.

You'll also have the opportunity to explore key debates in the history of European philosophy, including those in Ancient Philosophy, the Enlightenment and beyond.

Each year you’ll complete an individual project, where you apply the philosophy you learn to a topic of your choice. You'll open your mind to new ways of thinking and create your own learning path.

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Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions  
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2023-24.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Quality and ranking

Professional accreditation and recognition

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Featured module

PHI1004: Stage 1 Project

Critically engage with philosophical ideas in relation to contemporary culture.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

Flexibility and choice are built into the degree. You'll study compulsory philosophy modules and choose optional modules from both philosophy and other subjects.

You'll cover topics in Ancient Philosophy, ethics, epistemology, the philosophy of religion and existentialism. You'll explore issues such as the nature of freedom and the self, the existence of God, and the origin of our ethical values. You'll engage with the ideas of philosophers like Plato, Descartes, Hume, Nietzsche, Sartre and de Beauvoir. You'll begin your individual project in Semester 2.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Stage 1 Project	20
Rationalism and Empiricism	10
Introduction to Moral Philosophy	10
Philosophical Approaches: Thinking and Interpreting	10
Critical Reasoning	10

Optional Modules	Credits
Existentialism and the Self	20
Ancient Philosophy I: From the Pre-Socratics to Plato	10
Ancient Philosophy II: Aristotle and Beyond	10
Introduction to Political Philosophy	10
Philosophy and Religion	10
Introduction to Aesthetics	10

In Stage 2 the degree moves onto the next crucial stage in the history of philosophy – Immanuel Kant and the materialist and idealist thought that followed in his wake.

Optional modules cover a range of topics from ethics in the modern world and in relation to political problems, to Italian philosophy and the philosophy of contemporary art and technology. You’ll also have the opportunity to choose options in feminist philosophy and the philosophy of science. You’ll undertake your individual project throughout the year - your chance to explore a topic of your choosing and apply the philosophy you have studied.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Kant	10
Post-Kantian Philosophy: Materialism	10
Ethics and the Modern World	20
Stage 2 Project	40

Optional Modules	Credits
Career Development for second year students	20
Consciousness, Art and Technology	20
Post-Kantian Philosophy: Idealism	10
Italian Thought	10
Texts in Contemporary Philosophy: Henri Bergson's Matter and Memory	10
Texts in the History of Philosophy: William James' Pragmatism	10
Philosophy and Science	10
Feminist Philosophy	10

The emphasis this year is on twentieth and twenty-first century philosophy, building on the historical progression from the previous two Stages. You'll study phenomenology, including theorists like Heidegger, Levinas and Merleau-Ponty, together with modern theories in social and political philosophy, as well as political thought from the continental tradition. You'll have the chance to explore the relationship between psychoanalysis and philosophy, alongside non-Western philosophies.

Your individual research project runs throughout the year, providing you with an opportunity to apply these diverse ideas to your field of interest.

Modules

Compulsory Modules	Credits
Social and Political Philosophy	10
Continental Political Thought	10
Phenomenology	20
Projects (Stage 3)	40

Study Abroad

If you're taking a semester abroad, you take the following compulsory modules:

 

HaSS Study Abroad Module (Semester 1) (60 credits)

Continental Political Thought (10 credits)

Projects (Stage 3) (40 credits)

Phenomenology (Study Abroad) (10 credits)

 

Optional Modules	Credits
HaSS Study Abroad Module (Semester 1 60 credits)	60
Career Development for final year students	20
The Networked Society: Human Identity and Practices	20
Practice of Philosophy	20
Philosophy and Psychoanalysis	10
World Philosophies	10
Philosophy and Psychoanalysis	10
Phenomenology (Study Abroad)	10
Texts in Contemporary Philosophy: Henri Bergson's Matter and Memory	10
Texts in the History of Philosophy: William James' Pragmatism	10

Information about these graphs

We base these figures and graphs on the most up-to-date information available to us. They are based on the modules chosen by our students in 2022-23.

Teaching time is made up of:

• scheduled learning and teaching activities. These are timetabled activities with a member of staff present.
• structured guided learning. These are activities developed by staff to support engagement with module learning. Students or groups of students undertake these activities without direct staff participation or supervision

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

Learning in Philosophy is an active process, centring on your own reading and inspired by lectures and discussion in seminars and tutorials.

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

• 

  Assessments

• 

  Coursework

• 

  Essays

Skills and experience

The project module runs in each year of the degree and provides the opportunity to develop your research and real business skills.

Each year you can work on a research project of interest to you, applying what you learn to the world around you. As you near your final year we'll encourage you to link your philosophical studies to a particular employment niche, such as publishing, advertising, law or education.

The topic of your project will determine what kind of research is required. It might involve site visits, interviews, archive work, or close textual analysis. Whatever you choose, we'll help you develop these research skills.

This project work encourages you to build up a range of skills that will be useful for your future, such as:

• the ability to research, analyse and present complex information
• the ability to time-manage large work projects
• the ability to develop robust arguments and articulate your point of view
• strong oral and written communication
• creativity and independence

Opportunities

Study abroad

Experience life in another country by choosing to study abroad as part of your degree. You’ll be encouraged to embrace fun and challenging experiences, make connections with new communities and graduate as a globally aware professional, ready for your future.

You could choose to spend a semester abroad in Stage 3. You also have the opportunity to transfer to 1429U BA Hons Philosophy (with Year Abroad) which involves a year of study in another country. You can choose to spend your year studying at a partner institution in an EU country as part of a study abroad exchange or further afield. This will extend your degree by a year. 

Find out more about study abroad

Work placement

Get career ready with a work placement and leave as a confident professional in your field. You can apply to spend 9 to 12 months working in any organisation in the world, and receive University support from our dedicated team to secure your dream placement. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice and developing your professional expertise.

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year. Your degree title will show you have achieved the placement year.  Placements are subject to availability.

Find out more about work placements.

Facilities and environment

Facilities

You'll be part of Philosophical Studies, and as a Newcastle University student, you'll have access to a whole range of facilities.

Newcastle University has achieved five QS Stars for facilities from QS Quacquarelli Symonds. You'll benefit from top facilities that not only support you and help you get the best out of your studies but give you an outstanding experience, such as:

• an award-winning library service
• excellent IT facilities
• a range of study support and wellbeing services to help you reach your full potential
• a wide range of sporting facilities

Find out more about our campus and facilities

Support

You'll have the support of an academic member of staff as a personal tutor throughout your degree to help with academic and personal issues.

Peer mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer any questions you have when starting university.

Your future

Develop valuable employability skills

Although Philosophy is generally considered to be a non-vocational degree, employers will value the specific skills that the study of philosophy develops.

The study of philosophy helps you to develop the ability to analyse and construct sound arguments, think logically and critically about ideas and issues, communicate clearly and persuasively, and generate solutions to problems.

You also gain crucial employability skills sought by graduate employers, including independent study and self-motivation, the ability to prioritise work and meet deadlines, flexibility, creativity, the ability to identify, absorb and sift complex information, teamwork, and applications of information technology.

Philosophy graduates are found working for almost every type of employer in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Some graduates will continue to master's-level studies.

How our Philosophy students develop skills essential to any career

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Careers support

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for 2024 entry (per year)

Qualification: BA Honours
Home students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (per year) 9250
International students full time 3 years	Tuition fees (per year) 21000

Home Fee Students

The maximum fee that we are permitted to charge for home fee-paying students is set by the UK government.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

International Fee Students

Depending on your residency history, if you’re a student from the EU, other EEA or a Swiss national, with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you’ll normally pay the ‘Home’ tuition fee rate and may be eligible for Student Finance England support.

EU students without settled or pre-settled status will normally be charged fees at the ‘International’ rate and will not be eligible for Student Finance England support.

If you are unsure of your fee status, check out the latest guidance here.

As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee to increase in each subsequent academic year of your course, subject to government regulations on fee increases and in line with inflation.

Read more about fees and funding

Scholarships

We support our EU and international students by providing a generous range of Vice-Chancellor's automatic and merit-based scholarships. See our undergraduate scholarship page for more information.

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Scholarships

Find out more about:

• scholarships for UK, EU and international students
• Student Loans and Government financial support for UK and EU students

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

• the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
• the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
• the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages