Philosophy

Who are we? What can we know? What should we do to lead worthwhile lives?

These are some of the oldest and most enduring questions in intellectual life, and philosophy is the discipline devoted to examining them with rigour, clarity, and a willingness to challenge assumptions. As Anglia Ruskin's own description puts it, students also discover how great minds through the ages have tried to answer them. Philosophy trains you to analyse arguments, identify assumptions, evaluate evidence, and construct positions of your own, skills that are transferable to almost any intellectual or professional challenge.

Anglia Ruskin University's three-year full-time BA Philosophy degree has a typical entry tariff of 88 points, making it accessible to students from a range of academic backgrounds. You will study logic, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and the history of philosophy, from ancient Greece to contemporary debates. The programme develops your capacity for precise and careful reasoning, your ability to engage with complex texts, and your skill in writing clear, well-structured arguments.

These are disciplines that can feel abstract in theory but have very practical applications in law, policy, medicine, technology, and everyday ethical life.

Philosophy graduates pursue careers in an exceptionally wide range of fields. Law, the civil service, journalism, management consultancy, public policy, education, healthcare ethics, and the technology sector all recruit philosophy graduates. The rise of artificial intelligence has made philosophical questions about the ethics of technology, the nature of consciousness, and the foundations of knowledge more practically important than ever, and graduates with philosophical training are increasingly sought after in this area.

Many students continue to postgraduate study in philosophy, law, or applied ethics, or pursue professional qualifications that benefit from the analytical skills the degree develops.