Philosophy MLitt/Diploma

www.philosophy.stir.ac.uk

The St Andrews/Stirling Graduate Programme (SASP) combines the resources of two of the top-rated Philosophy departments in the United Kingdom. It maintains a large staff of first-class researchers who teach a comprehensive and flexible range of programmes as a foundation for philosophical research. The programme includes training in research methods.

Programme Objectives

The St Andrews/Stirling Graduate Programme (SASP) offers a taught MLitt providing a sound background for research in the core areas of Analytic Philosophy. It teaches programmes at a level that matches the best graduate programmes elsewhere in the world and to offer research supervision in a broad area of Philosophy and the history of Philosophy.

Entrance Requirements

The normal minimum admission requirement is an upper second class Honours degree, with Philosophy a significant component, from a UK university, or an equivalent qualification from another university. Applicants with other qualifications may be admitted on the recommendation of the Programme Director.

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your proficiency such as a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (minimum 6 in each skill) or TOEFL 577/233/90 (Paper/Computer/Internet).

Funding

Appropriately qualified applicants may be sponsored by the University of St Andrews in an application for external funding e.g. from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) although, with changes to the AHRC funding arrangements, these are likely to be very few in number. Visit: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~sasp/funding.html

Modes of Study

Full-time:

MLitt: 1 year

Diploma: 9 months

Programme Start Date

September

Programme Director

(and St Andrews contact) Professor Tim Mulgan

Stirling Coordinator

Professor Peter Milne

Department of Philosophy, University of Stirling

Department of Philosophy, University of St Andrews

Structure and Content

The programme involves a one-year taught MLitt, delivered largely in St Andrews by staff from both universities, after which you may progress to a PhD within the SASP programme. The MLitt programme lasts for one year and involves six modules over two semesters and a dissertation written over the Summer. In addition to a Research Methods module and two core modules (one in each semester) on current issues in Philosophy, the programme offers a range of options in the history of Philosophy and in special areas of philosophy. The core modules are:

• Current Issues in Philosophy I (first semester) and Current Issues in Philosophy II (second semester): Over the two semesters the following four components are covered by these modules (two in each semester, not necessarily in the order given): Philosophy of Mind; Philosophy of Language; Epistemology; Ethics.
• Research Methods: You take this module in semester one. It provides an introduction to the methods and practice of research in philosophy. It will be run as a book seminar, where you present and discuss chapters or sections of a major work chosen to be accessible and challenging for MLitt students. The module will provide the experience of philosophising together: vital for philosophical development but liable to take second place in standard taught modules; it will also leave you better prepared to undertake larger and more autonomous research projects, beginning with the 15,000-word MLitt dissertation.

You are required to take a History module from a list of those available. Those recently available have included the following:

• Classical Philosophy
• Philosophers of the Scottish Enlightenment
• Kant
• Origins and History of Analytic Philosophy

Option modules recently available include the following:

• Advanced Logic
• Philosophy of Mathematics
• Philosophy of Perception
• Aesthetics
• Political Philosophy
• Topics in Recent Moral Theory
• Wittgenstein
• Philosophy of Physical Science

Delivery and Assessment

The programme is taught by seminars (normally one two-hour seminar each week for each module) and individual supervision. Assessment is normally by coursework: each full module is assessed by two essays.

To gain the Diploma, you must satisfactorily complete all the taught modules. To gain the MLitt, you must satisfactorily complete the taught modules and write a dissertation of no more than 15,000 words.

Timetable

Contact the Department for information on your timetable and reading lists.

Career Opportunities

Students on the MLitt have proceeded to the further study of Philosophy at PhD level. Some have remained within the SASP Graduate Programme, either at Stirling or at St Andrews, and others have gone to leading institutions in the UK and abroad. A large number of former MLitt students have secured permanent university teaching positions. The general training in research and analytical thinking it offers also prepares you for a wide range of careers in various areas of public policy, public administration and governance.

Research Opportunities

The primary aim of the Department’s research degree programmes is to enable its research students to undertake a significant and original piece of research. To this end, you will benefit from a highly supportive research environment, and have a chance to gain teaching experience and training after your first year.

The key research strengths in the Department are focused in the following subject areas and we particularly welcome applications through SASP for research, for either an MPhil by research or a PhD, that fall within one or more of these areas:

• Legal, Social and Political Philosophy
• Philosophy of Mind and Action
• Epistemology
• Philosophy of Logic and Language
• History of Early Analytical Philosophy
• Philosophy of Biology and Cognitive Science

Research projects currently or recently hosted by the Department which are supported by external funding include:

• Criminalization (2008-2012)
• The Value of Knowledge (2005-2008)
• The Trial on Trial (2002-2005, held jointly with colleagues from the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow
• Wittgenstein’s Tractatus: Philosophy by Means of Logic (2003-2006)
• The Interactive Mind (2005)

For further information on our research activity, visit: www.philosophy.stir.ac.uk

For details of the research interests of Philosophy staff at the University of St Andrews, visit: www.st-andrews.ac.uk/philosophy

RAE Rating

The UK-wide Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) confirmed the quality of the work being done by our researchers. 85% of the University of Stirling’s research has been judged to be internationally excellent and internationally recognised, with the top 10% of that judged to be world class.

View the full outcomes of Stirling’s RAE performance

The administrating institution for the SASP programme is currently the University of St Andrews whose application procedures should be followed:
www.st-andrews.ac.uk/admissions/pg/Applicationprocess