Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy

The first year course, Part IA of the Philosophy Tripos, provides a grounding in some core areas of the subject: Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics & Politics, and some history of philosophy.

The second year course, Part IB, involves some compulsory elements (Logic, Metaphysics and Epistemology) and a choice of two further papers from a range which includes Ethics, Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, some areas of the History of Philosophy, and indeed Experimental Psychology (offered from the Natural Sciences tripos).

Part II, typically taken at the end of the third year, allows a completely free choice from eleven papers covering all major areas of Philosophy in the Anglo--American tradition.

Most undergraduates who take Philosophy sit Parts IA, IB and II. However, it is possible to combine Philosophy with another subject, by changing into or out of the Tripos at a suitable stage. For example, some recent undergraduates have decided to take Psychology in third year, after their first two years of Philosophy. Equally, we have had undergraduates switch into Philosophy after taking Economics, HSPS, and Medicine.