MSc Philosophy

Edinburgh has a proud and distinguished place in the history of philosophy and has long been associated with some of the field’s most important thinkers.

Our flagship MSc Philosophy degree programme offers you an excellent opportunity to enhance your learning and join a large, vibrant and supportive postgraduate community.

We provide a broad, advanced education in philosophy, covering all the core areas of analytic philosophy:

• Epistemology
• Metaphysics
• Logic and philosophy of language
• Moral and political philosophy

The department also has a particular focus in the following areas:

• Applied ethics
• History of philosophy, including Ancient philosophy, Islamic philosophy, and Early modern and Enlightenment philosophy
• Meta-ethics
• Philosophy of mind, philosophy of cognitive science and neuroscience
• Philosophy of race and gender
• Philosophy of science

This programme provides an intensive grounding in philosophy, its methodology and techniques of research. It is the ideal programme to lead on to further research and study in philosophy as part of a PhD programme.

About us

The School comprises Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences (Linguistics and English Language). The school aims to maintain its internationally-renowned reputation for research and to use this as a solid foundation for teaching.

There are over 100 academic staff within the School, and the breadth of expertise ranges from analytic philosophy and the study of English language, through theoretical and applied linguistics and experimental psychology, to cognitive neurosciences and genetic influences on human behaviour.

The School is unique in offering outstanding opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and in pioneering novel forms of research that reach across traditional boundaries.

Each year, the School welcomes a diverse mix of over 1,400 undergraduate and postgraduate students from around the world. The School has well-established links with other areas of the University such as Clinical Neuroscience, Medicine, Informatics and Edinburgh College of Art.

All subject areas have active links with research organizations outwith the University and a broad network of collaboration with a range of universities around the globe. The School offers extensive support for academics, including dedicated undergraduate and postgraduate teaching offices, research and knowledge exchange support team and IT resources team.

The School is part of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.