Philosophy and Psychological Studies
Philosophy and psychological studies is a combination that explores the deepest questions about mind, knowledge, and human nature from two complementary perspectives. Philosophy asks what the mind is and how we can know anything about it, engaging with questions of consciousness, personal identity, free will, and the nature of mental states through argument and conceptual analysis. Psychological studies investigates human thought, behaviour, emotion, and development through empirical research, asking how people actually function rather than only how they must logically function.
Together the two disciplines provide a uniquely rigorous framework for understanding what it means to be a thinking, feeling person.
This part-time programme is offered by the Open University through distance learning, making it accessible to students who cannot commit to full-time campus-based study. The Open University has extensive experience in delivering rigorous academic education flexibly, and the distance learning format is well suited to people who are working, caring for others, or studying from locations where campus attendance is not practical. You will progress through the material at a pace that suits your circumstances while engaging with the same intellectual content as any comparable on-campus degree.
You will study the major traditions of Western philosophy alongside empirical psychology, developing the ability to reason carefully, construct and evaluate arguments, understand experimental evidence, and think critically about claims from both disciplines. The combination asks you to hold different kinds of knowing in tension, which is itself a form of intellectual training that prepares you well for complex professional and intellectual challenges.
Graduates from philosophy and psychological studies programmes work in education, counselling and mental health (with further training), human resources, research, policy, social care, and a wide range of roles where the ability to think carefully about people and evidence is valued. Some continue to postgraduate study in philosophy, psychology, or related disciplines, and others move into professional training in areas such as psychotherapy or education.