BA (Hons) Sociology and Philosophy Bachelor's degree at Royal Holloway, University of London

The 'new philosophy' of the seventeenth century set the modern philosophical agenda by asking fundamental questions concerning knowledge and understanding and the relation between science and other human endeavours, which subsequently became central to the European Enlightenment. This module aims to familiarise you with the origins of empiricist and rationalist/idealist thought, focussing on the work of Descartes and Locke. The module will enable you to develop your close reading skills, and wil

Knowledge is often thought to be the highest achievement of rational creatures, the thing that distinguishes us from other animals and is the basis of our ability to predict and control our environment. Beginning with the most Platonic of questions, 'what is knowledge?', this course introduces you to basic topics in contemporary epistemology. Among the questions it goes on to address are: why is knowledge valuable?; how do we acquire knowledge and how do we pass it on to others?; how do we become

On this module you'll learn to reason critically: to distinguish between bad arguments and good ones, supporting evidence from mere distraction. Everybody has the basic ability to do this, but it is not always as developed we need it to be: and in this complex world being able to present your point forcefully and rationally is vitally important. The aim of this module is to help you develop the skills required to get the most out of your degree.

In this module you will develop an understanding of ancient philosophical ideas and the ways in which philosophical arguments are presented and analysed. You will look at the thought and significance of the principal ancient philosophers, from the Presocratics to Aristotle, and examine sample texts such as Plato's 'Laches' and the treatment of the virtue of courage in Aristotle, 'Nicomachean Ethics' 3.6-9.

This module introduces you to key classical and contemporary social theories, including the 'founding fathers' of continental European sociology (Durkheim, Marx, and Weber) and the originators of US sociology (including Parsons, Goffman, and Garfunkel).

This module explores contemporary social issues, including poverty, inequality, unemployment and discrimination. You will learn about the foundations of the welfare state as well as social policies in areas such as education, housing, health and family life. Key questions to be discussed include: What are the most important social problems in contemporary society? Is the welfare state in crisis? Why are young people more vulnerable to unemployment? How does the media influence our perceptions of

In this module you'll look at key texts by Immanuel Kant, which are the foundation of Modern European Philosophy. These texts raise questions concerning the status of human knowledge and the nature and justification of human action that have concerned philosophers ever since. The module considers Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and the core theme is how philosophy responds to the situation in which it can no longer rely on theological support for its claims about truth and morality. The questions

In this module you will develop an understanding of how the rationalist and empiricist traditions in philosophy influence contemporary thought in the philosophy of mind. You will look at the continuing relevance of the mind-body problem to the question of what it is to be a human being and consider the connections between the analytic and European traditions in philosophy with respect to language, subjectivity, and the phenomenology of experience. You will also examine the importance of consciou

This module provides a sociological analysis of contemporary society, exploring how modernity and its subsequent transformations have reshaped the relationship between individual persons, communities, and institutions. Drawing on key debates in sociology and social theory, you will examine changing forms of identity, belonging, authority, and culture, and apply these perspectives to today's pressing social issues.

This module provides you with an introduction to the philosophical issues in social research. You will look at ethics in social research and theory, quantitative versus qualitative methods, sampling, observation, interviewing, media analysis, and questionnaire design. You will be given the opportunity to work through the research process on a topic of independent study of your choosing.

This module covers various issues in the philosophy of psychiatry. Addressing these issues requires the application of insights from a range of philosophical fields, including philosophy of science, philosophy of mind, philosophy of medicine, practical ethics, and metaphysics. Studying philosophy of psychiatry can be a great way to think about some difficult, highly theoretical philosophical issues including free will, mental causation, and explanation, all of which find natural application in t

The aim of this module is to consider the main directions of eighteenth-century and post-Kantian aesthetics, in particular the issues that have arisen about what it means to consider objects, whether art or nature, aesthetically, and an analysis of concepts bound up with this "aesthetic attitude", such as disinterestedness, beauty and the sublime. Each week will focus on one issue surrounding the question of taste, of judgements of beauty and the sublime and of the aesthetic experience, from Hume,

The module will provide the opportunity for you to apply theoretical skills developed in relation to philosophy of art and aesthetics to practical problems in some of the following domains: curating, gallery education, artistic practice, art criticism and the management of cultural institutions. After an initial five weeks of theoretical discussions around historical and contemporary art, you will work closely with the curators of Royal Holloway's art collection to gain familiarity with and appl

German idealism sets itself the task of satisfying three main aims: systematizing Kant's philosophy by finding necessary premises for its conclusions; providing a rigorous demonstration of the laws of thought; and ensuring that satisfying these aims satisfies the third aim of proving that reason is not the product of a purposeless, mechanistic world, but is itself an absolutely free purposive activity. This module investigates Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit as an attempt to satisfy these aims.