Philosophy (MLitt)

Institution University of Stirling
Method At the institution
Location Stirling - Stirling
Type Masters
Course fee By request

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Philosophy (MLitt)

Objectives The St Andrews/Stirling Graduate Programme offers a taught MLitt providing a sound background for research in the core areas of Philosophy. It aims to teach programmes at a level that matches the best graduate programmes elsewhere in the world and to offer research supervision in a broad area of Philosophy and the history of Philosophy.
Entry requirements Entrance Requirements The normal minimum admission requirement is an upper second class Honours degree, with Philosophy a significant component, from a UK university, or an equivalent qualification from another university. Applicants with other qualifications may be admitted on the recommendation of the Programme Director.
Academic title Philosophy (MLitt)
Course description Structure and Content

The programme involves a one-year taught MLitt, delivered largely in St Andrews by staff from both universities, after which you may progress to a PhD at whichever university suits you best. The MLitt programme lasts for one year and involves six modules over two semesters and a dissertation written over the summer. In addition to a Research Methods module and two core modules (one in each semester) on current issues in philosophy, the programme offers a range of options in the history of philosophy and in special areas of philosophy.

The core modules are:
    Current Issues in Philosophy I (first semester) and Current Issues in Philosophy II (second semester): Over the two semesters the following four components are covered by these modules (two in each semester, not necessarily in the order given): Philosophy of Mind; Philosophy of Language; Epistemology; Ethics. Detailed topics may vary from year to year but the aim is to cover key areas of current interest.
    Research Methods: You take this module in Semester One. It provides an introduction to the methods and practice of research in philosophy. It will be run as a book seminar, where you present and discuss chapters or sections of a major work chosen to be accessible and challenging for MLitt students, whatever your individual interests in philosophy. The module will provide the experience of philosophising together: vital for philosophical development but liable to take second place in standard taught modules; it will also leave you better prepared to undertake larger and more autonomous research projects, beginning with the 15,000 word MLitt dissertation.

You are required to take a history module from a list of those available. Those recently available have included the following:
    Classical Philosophy
    Philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment
    Kant
    Moral and Political Philosophy in the 19th Century
    Origins and History of Analytic Philosophy
    Medieval Philosophy

Option modules recently available include the following:
    Advanced Logic 1A Lattices and Logic
    Advanced Logic 1B Classical Metatheory
    Philosophy of Mathematics
    Philosophy of Perception
    Aesthetics
    Legal Philosophy
    Political Philosophy
    Topics in Recent Moral Theory
    Wittgenstein
    Philosophy of Physical Science

Delivery and Assessment

The programme is taught by seminars (normally one two-hour seminar each week for each module) and individual supervision. Normally, each full module is assessed by an essay and an examination. The Research Methods module is assessed by 100 percent coursework. To gain the Diploma, you must satisfactorily complete all the taught modules. To gain the MLitt, you must satisfactorily complete the taught modules and write a dissertation of no more than 15,000 words.

Career Opportunities

Students on the MLitt have proceeded to the further study of Philosophy at PhD level. Some have remained within the SASP Graduate Programme, either at Stirling or at St Andrews, and others have gone to leading institutions in the UK and abroad. A large number of former MLitt students have secured permanent university teaching positions. The general training in research and analytical thinking it offers also prepares you for a wide range of careers in various areas of public policy, public administration and governance.