Course details
At Homerton
At Homerton, we take around two students each year to study Philosophy. These students are able to pursue familiar and less familiar philosophical interests through the course and popular choices include: the epistemology and metaphysics of science; aesthetics; experimental psychology; the philosophy of mind; and political philosophy. Teaching draws on expertise across the University through external supervisors, as well as in house, and there are plenty of opportunities for social vitamins.
Philosophy is the study of fundamental problems about the nature of knowledge and reality, and about moral, political and aesthetic value. In universities it is studied in a way that lays considerable emphasis on precise and careful argument. Although Philosophy undergraduates at Cambridge read a wide range of philosophical authors, the main aim of the course is not to impart information about which author said what. Rather the aim is that you acquire the kind of skill in reasoning that will enable you to tackle problems of a philosophical character and to think rigorously and productively about abstract questions.
We are looking for students prepared to take on a considerable amount of reading but also to have the skills in logical and analytical thinking that will enable them to think philosophically in their own right. Prospective students should have the academic ability and potential to succeed on the course, as well as the necessary interest in and motivation for the subject.
In order to explore Philosophy in more detail we would recommend the reading list for Part IA for prospective applicants and offer holders listed here.
Admissions assessment: There is a college admissions assessment for Philosophy. More details are available on this page.
Written Work: No written work is required for Philosophy.
Thinking is a vocational skill and Philosophy graduates apply their training to a diverse range of careers after Cambridge. Philosophy graduates have gone into academia, the arts, education, finance, technology as well as big game conservation and professional wine tasting.
