At times, the study of philosophy can feel somewhat abstract and remote from the real-world, but in reality, much of the work of philosophy experts involves applying philosophical methods, ideas, concepts and arguments to real-world problems. We look for practical solutions. Philosophy can be usefully applied to a surprisingly wide range of areas such as professional ethics (as in business, communications, medicine, the media, the sciences and the armed forces), law, policy-making, economics, education and the social sciences.

In this module you will learn about topics in applied philosophy and practice the transferable skills that Philosophy graduates can bring to professional roles. These include critical problem solving, political and ethical reasoning, the clear identification of problems and communicating potential solutions to diverse audiences.

Create a portfolio of investigative and critical writing which explores a particular philosophical topic in depth. In this module you will be guided with expert support from a contemporary philosopher to develop your philosophical and independent study skills. Through deep engagement with a narrow topic you will develop your ability to assess philosophical arguments and make independent judgements, informed by reasoning and evidence.

In this module you will engage with a text, problem, figure or body of work chosen by an academic within the philosophy team at Lancaster who is a specialist on the topic. You will work with their expert support, in groups and independently.

Project topics offered each year will be drawn from one or more of Lancaster’s many areas of expertise, such as:

• Ethics
• Metaphysics
• Political philosophy
• Applied philosophy
• Social ontology and epistemology
• Philosophy of science
• Philosophy of mind
• The history of philosophy
• Feminist philosophy
• Continental philosophy
• Global philosophy
• Comparative philosophy

The module will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need for further independent writing in your final year of study.

The nineteenth-century was a period of transformative changes in thinking and society. There was a new attention to history and the idea of historical progress, and to philosophical engagement with industrial capitalism and the rise of socialism. The period was marked by the struggle for the abolition of slavery and growing interest in its philosophical dimensions, as well as criticisms and defences of Christianity, atheism, secularism.

You will explore these issues through a diverse range of thinkers. They will vary from year to year but typical examples include:

• G. W. F. Hegel
• Ludwig Feuerbach
• Harriet Martineau
• Karl Marx
• Friedrich Nietzsche
• Frederick Douglass
• Sojourner Truth
• Arthur Schopenhauer
• Frances Power Cobbe
• Annie Besant
• Søren Kierkegaard

You will read and analyse the original texts as well as recent interpretations, and you will learn to articulate and evaluate the central arguments made by historical figures. By the end of the module, you will be able to discuss the philosophical questions raised by a range of nineteenth-century authors, present their ideas in a balanced and well-informed way, and formulate your own conclusions on the issues.

Buddhist philosophy is one of the most enduring, voluminous and influential philosophical traditions in the world. In this module you will encounter some of the most central and well-known Buddhist concepts, texts and thinkers.

In addition to analysing core ideas, such as not-self, dependent origination, emptiness and Buddha nature, you will examine themes that pervade the study of Buddhist philosophy in its various contexts, such as the relationships between teaching and practice, philosophy and literature, and religion and politics. Through reading original Buddhist texts in translation, you will cultivate skills in critical thinking and interpreting primary sources.

In addition to developing the ability to engage in informed argument about key topics in the study of Buddhist philosophy, you will also learn to be reflective about the challenges of studying philosophy from different cultural contexts and time periods.

Not all professional contexts are the same – and within any organisation there are diverse people with varied backgrounds. This module focuses on enhancing your intercultural competency and cultural awareness, with a particular emphasis on ‘place-based’ learning. Considering the cultural dynamics of the North West of England and the broader UK helps us reflect upon intercultural dynamics in very different locations.

Through analysis, discussion and self-reflection you will strengthen your ability to navigate diverse workplace settings and enhance your employability in today’s interconnected world.

Hone a strong sense of purpose and gain the satisfaction of applying your skills and knowledge to a community, charity or student-led initiative.

Your challenge will be to take responsibility for arranging and completing a voluntary or fundraising activity—locally, virtually or during vacation periods at home. You will need to show that you have made a positive difference through this activity.

In class, you will be asked to reflect on this experience and explore the wider social impact of the work. In doing so you will build your confidence in your ability to contribute meaningfully to society through your future personal and professional path.

You are invited to collaborate in an interdisciplinary team with other students as you explore major global challenges such as climate change, inequality or emerging technologies.

Throughout the module you will examine how the humanities, arts and social sciences contribute to understanding and addressing complex issues. Classroom discussions and activities focus on the process of identifying problems and considering innovative, ethical responses, while helping you to consider and articulate the relevance of this work to your personal and professional development.

The exploration of philosophical views about the mind is a highly active field on the interface between contemporary philosophy and science.

We will begin with the mind-body problem, that is, how the mental relates to the physical. We will cover key positions on this problem, such as substance dualism, Wittgensteinian ‘dissolving’ approaches, mind-brain identity theory, functionalism, and extended/embedded cognition.

We will also consider the implications of different views on the mind-body problem, such as:

• Could a computer think?
• Can we have a full understanding of how consciousness is possible?
• How can we tell if non-human animals, or even plants, have minds?

In addition, we will cover some of the problems around how we know about mental states:

• Can we be sure of our own mental states?
• How can we find out what other people are thinking or feeling?
• What are the limits of our abilities to understand beings with minds very unlike our own?

What is the role of science in enabling us to make sense of the world? In this module, we explore a series of interconnected questions that lie at the heart of the philosophy of science:

• What distinguishes science from other ways of knowing?
• Is there a scientific method?
• Is science the most reliable way to acquire knowledge?

Throughout the module, you will examine the influential ideas of key twentieth-century philosophers of science, such as Karl Popper's theory of falsifiability and Thomas Kuhn's concept of paradigm shifts. These thinkers challenge traditional views and lay the groundwork for ongoing debates.

Building on their ideas, you will explore contemporary discussions on scientific theories, the nature of scientific progress, and the relationship between science and other forms of knowledge. By the end of the module, you will have gained a deeper understanding of the proper role and limits of science.

Political and economic affairs raise many philosophical issues. Political theory and philosophy primarily explore normative questions (for example, about the nature of justice and freedom). In this module you will focus on epistemological and methodological challenges, which also have huge significance for how we think about our societies and the challenges they face.

Concepts such as democracy or autocracy, taxation or national debt, power or economic growth – all are complex and contested.

• They raise metaphysical questions: what sorts of ‘things’ are they?
• They pose epistemological challenges: how can we know or measure them?
• They lead you to ask: is it possible to study them without making assumptions about values?
• They provoke the consideration: how do large-scale political and economic phenomena relate to individual people and their activities?

Through considering these questions, you will gain an understanding of the special challenges involved in knowledge of our social, political and economic systems, and how philosophical thinking complements the tasks of political science and economics.

Explore how ideas can be developed into real-world projects with lasting value. Through hands-on collaboration and problem-solving, you will develop innovative projects, learn how to bring ideas to life and explore ways to sustain them.

Whether you are working in a team or individually, you will be encouraged to experiment with different approaches to making a difference in artistic, cultural, social and community spaces.

In your third year you will study at one of our international partner universities. This will help you to expand your global outlook and professional network, as well as developing your cultural and personal skills. It is also an opportunity to gain a different perspective on your subject through studying it in another country.

You will choose specialist modules relating to your degree and potentially modules from other subjects offered by the host university that are specific to that university and country.

The availability of places at overseas partners varies each year. In previous years destinations for students in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences have included Australia, USA, Canada, Europe and Asia.

From public philosophy articles online to science communications, from funding bids to policy advisory notes, academic philosophers regularly engage with, inform and persuade audiences outside the field of academic philosophy. To do so, they need to provide compelling, clearly-stated arguments; understand their target audience; and tailor their material to the audience they seek to impact.

You will develop and implement these practical philosophical skills on this module. Choosing from amongst the wide range of philosophical specialisms at Lancaster, and working closely with your academic supervisor to develop a question and relevant reading materials, you will first develop your own philosophical claim or perspective on a topic.

You will then participate in a series of structured workshops where you’ll develop and practice skills in writing for diverse public audiences, present and discuss your ideas and drafts with peers, and work towards the completion of a portfolio of pieces of public-facing philosophy. This module is an opportunity for you to take the philosophical skills and content you have learned over the course of the degree and use them to communicate important ideas beyond the field of academic philosophy.

Develop a philosophical dissertation: a substantial piece of independent research that demonstrates critical thinking, deep analysis, and original insight. You will identify a specific philosophical topic from the wide range of research specialisms within Philosophy at Lancaster and, together with your dissertation supervisor, develop a clear research question. You’ll engage with relevant primary and secondary texts to construct a compelling philosophical argument over a sustained piece of writing.

Complete your undergraduate student journey by demonstrating that you can expand on the knowledge base you have developed through your degree and use the philosophical skills you have gained to produce your own independent work in philosophy. Acquiring advanced research skills will prepare you for both further academic study in philosophy and for professional roles that require skills in research, critical thinking and independent thought.

What happens when radically different forms of art meet? How do these fused forms change our understanding of the world? We will draw on material from different periods and continents, to explore works of art where, for example, film meets history, poetry meets philosophy, fine art meets sociology, religion meets fiction, and theatre meets politics.

Politics is one of the most widespread and most diverse phenomena of human experience. Yet it is often studied by relying on concepts, theoretical resources, and methodological approaches derived from a single intellectual tradition. This module seeks to reverse this trend by introducing you to philosophical perspectives emanating from different intellectual traditions on a particular topic.

The topic will vary from year to year. It may have to do with how democracy, modernity, secularism, pluralism, rights, or political legitimacy have been construed in different settings, for example.

The philosophical traditions you engage with will also vary from year to year, but may include Chinese, Continental, Indian, Islamic, analytic, African, Feminist, postcolonial, and/or decolonial perspectives. In addition to learning about different philosophical traditions, you will also reflect on the challenges of studying philosophy comparatively and engaging with philosophical traditions that derive from different cultural settings, developing a broader critical understanding of political community and life.

How might we engage with the implications of environmental transformation locally, nationally and globally? Where do we have agency and capacity to intervene?

This module brings together a range of perspectives—historical, political, philosophical and cultural—to explore the nature and severity of the effects of the climate crisis on our world.

Discover key thinkers from what is known as the ‘continental’ tradition of philosophy. In different ways, these thinkers have critiqued the assumptions and methodologies of the western philosophical tradition, as well as its development in Anglo-American philosophy. The particular philosophers considered will vary from year to year, but will include thinkers who have been particularly influential (for example, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein) as well as more recent continental thinkers (for example, Lyotard, Derrida, Levinas, Žižek, Foucault, Arendt and Beauvoir).

You will engage with original texts, as well as secondary literature, in order to understand and interpret their central arguments. The approach will be predominantly critical rather than historical, encouraging you to assess their distinctive claims, methods and approaches and their wider contribution to philosophy.

In this module you will engage with cutting-edge philosophical research, working with an academic philosopher on a topic which is part of their current live philosophical project.

You may be reviewing the chapters of a manuscript and critically commenting on them, reading an academic’s recent publications and coming up with further questions and challenges that build on their ideas, or discussing new research relevant to the live philosophical debate your module supervisor is currently engaged with.

Through student-led and discussion-based workshops you will present your own summaries of key readings on the course, take part in guided discussions of those readings, and work on the challenge to be addressed in your final written piece: a paper which is not only informed by, but may itself eventually inform, current debates within the discipline.

In doing so you will be taking part in the experience shared by all professional philosophers, that of contributing to the development of the field itself.

What does it mean to imagine a world without borders? Using materials typically derived from case studies, reports, archives, film, television and literature, this module foregrounds interdisciplinary approaches.

You will be encouraged to develop your understanding of migration and displacement, and to envision alternative global migration futures in ways that can impact future policy, political and societal perspectives.

What are the possibilities and pitfalls of community and citizen action, voice and agency? This module uses interdisciplinary case-studies to critically examine collaboration with communities.

You will participate in activities such as a mock citizens' assembly, visit local community groups and hear different points of view from a range of guest speakers on concepts like power, race, gender, class, affect and justice.

In this module you will consider some of the most fundamental questions of existence and ethics. What are you? That is, what is the self? A representation, a subject of experience, a bundle of experiences, an agent, an organism, a person?

We will take a curated path through these interconnected questions, and work together to understand, develop, and communicate answers to questions such as:

• Is the self one thing or many? Or is it nothing, because there is no self?
• Which kinds of things have selves or might be considered to be persons? Only humans, or also non-human animals, artificial intelligences, aliens, corporations, nation-states?
• Is the self found or made? And what does that mean for how we should live?
• Which things have moral standing or rights or responsibilities?
• How do you stay the same through time and change?
• Is self-knowledge valuable?
• What is the good life for a person?

An opportunity to dive even more deeply into your Philosophy Dissertation with a more extensive piece of independent research. This module is an extension of the standard philosophy dissertation module and should be taken in conjunction with the standard module.

Take this module if you are particularly keen to demonstrate and hone your research skills and apply them to your own research topic. You may be planning to continue to postgraduate study or enter a professional role that requires skills in research, critical thinking and independent thought.

Together, we create a social world. This world is made up of:

• Groups and institutions such as nations, corporations and educational institutions
• Social products and structures such as money, marriage and class
• Collectively produced outcomes such as global climate change, wars and revolutions, and viral hits and memes

It is a world created by us through language, beliefs and our combined actions and choices, but – at the same time – it cannot easily be changed or ignored and has enormous power over our lives and reality.

In this module you will investigate how exactly our social world is created, sustained and changed, and the ethical and political impacts of this for our lives, and those of others. You will take part in some of contemporary philosophy’s newest and most lively debates in the fields of social ontology, social epistemology and collective ethics, and have the chance to make your own contributions to these new and still-developing fields of research.

You will leave the module with a greater understanding of the complex metaphysical, epistemological and ethical challenges that our social world compels us to address.

Examine key philosophical questions raised by warfighting, from ancient traditions to contemporary debates, and explore some of the central dilemmas faced by soldiers, governments, and non-combatant groups.

You will learn about the ethics of fighting and killing within diverse Just War and critical traditions as well as political, jurisprudential and experiential dimensions of war.

This module will allow you to build on your past studies to develop your knowledge of philosophy and enhance your critical evaluation and argumentative skills by addressing questions such as:

• Can war be beautiful?
• When, if ever, should we go to war?
• What counts as legitimate action in war?
• What, if anything, do we owe to our enemies?
• Is soldiering a good life?
• What does technological development mean for warfare?
• And who has the epistemic authority to speak about war?

What do we understand by queerness? Looking back at earlier interpretations, we imagine how queerness might evolve—how it might be lived, felt and understood in the future.

You will explore queer futures from a range of perspectives and viewpoints, while examining both feminist and queer theory, as well as queer media and cultural texts and material relating to areas such as activism, politics and healthcare.

Who does technology benefit or harm, and what should its role in society be? This module examines the social and ethical issues surrounding the development of modern technologies and their use in the modern world, with a vision to shape our future relationship with technology.

How do ideas understand, transform and conserve the world? In this module we will study examples of powerful ideas such as the nation, free speech, liberation, the free market, culture and nature. We will use case studies to help us explore the relationship between analysis, imagination and practice.