Course description

Philosophy at Manchester offers an intellectually stimulating and supportive postgraduate environment. You'll be taught and supervised by members of staff who are all actively involved in research.

The MA Philosophy course combines:

in-depth study of specialised areas of analytical philosophy;
extensive research training to provide the skills necessary to complete a master's dissertation and;
a dissertation supervised by a member of staff with expertise in the area you wish to study in more depth.

The course is ideal if you want to do a PhD in Philosophy, or want to improve your employability through the development of rigorous critical, analytical and research skills.

It provides a deeper knowledge of a wide variety of areas of philosophy than is possible at undergraduate level, and equips you with the ability to plan, organise and work autonomously on a substantial individual project. This project will take the form of either a dissertation (9,000 to 12,000 words), or a longer dissertation of up to 20,000 words.

We also:

• host a wide variety of conferences at which you can hear cutting-edge philosophical arguments from leaders in the field, ranging from small workshops to large international conferences;
• offer bursaries for conference trips;
• deliver outstanding student support, The University of Manchester library is one of only five National Research Libraries, and one of the best-resourced in the UK.

Papers, monographs and edited collections by our academic staff are regularly published in international journals and by prominent academic publishers.

We also host two regular research seminars, one organised by staff and another by postgraduates (with both groups participating in both) with papers presented by visiting speakers, staff and postgraduate students.

Aims

• To develop a strong background in analytical philosophy with exemplary research.
• Gain analytical skills of a standard to pursue doctoral study.
• To help you pursue careers in areas that require skills in argumentation, analysis and research.
• Discover a deeper understanding in a variety of areas of philosophy.
• Learn through personalised teaching delivery, with small-group research seminar style classes.
• Individual development of research skills.

Career opportunities

Many of our MA Philosophy graduates go on to pursue a PhD in Philosophy.

Others embark on careers including:

• the Civil Service;
• journalism;
• teaching;
• law;
• a wide range of related positions in both the public and private sectors.