Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

Religion, philosophy, and ethics together address some of the most fundamental questions that human beings have ever asked: Does God exist? How should we live? What are our obligations to each other and to the natural world?

What gives life meaning? These are questions that have generated extraordinary philosophical, theological, and ethical inquiry across cultures and centuries, and engaging with them seriously requires both the historical knowledge to understand the traditions in which they have been asked and the analytical precision to evaluate the answers.

At Nottingham, this programme allows you to explore these questions across the major world religions and philosophical traditions, examining religious thought and practice in their diversity and developing the critical tools to assess ethical arguments and their application to contemporary moral challenges. The programme includes a foundation year for students who benefit from additional academic preparation, and a year abroad for those who want to study these disciplines in a different cultural and intellectual environment. The main programme runs over three years full-time, with the foundation year adding a further year, and a typical entry tariff of 120 points for direct entry.

Graduates of religion, philosophy, and ethics programmes pursue careers in education, the civil service, journalism, law, the voluntary sector, interfaith dialogue, social work, and research. The capacity for clear ethical reasoning and the broad humanistic knowledge that the degree develops are valued across a wide range of professional and public contexts. Many graduates also go on to postgraduate study in philosophy, theology, ethics, or religious studies, where the breadth and rigour of their undergraduate preparation open a range of specialised research directions.