Philosophy and Politics

How should you live your life and relate to others? What is the theoretical basis of different political and governance systems? How do they work in practice, and how should they work? What are today’s big ethical, social, and political challenges and how should we approach them? How should characteristics like gender and race be taken into account in theoretical inquiry and social decision-making? With our Philosophy and Politics (BA) programme, you’ll investigate important questions at the intersection of philosophy and politics, along with other topics from each of these disciplines.

Our priority lies in developing your skills as a global citizen and a thinker in your own right. Throughout the programme, you’ll be supported in engaging critically and creatively with difficult problems in an open-minded way, including on sensitive and controversial topics.

During your studies, you’ll have the opportunity to explore a broad range of philosophical and political topics and traditions. You’ll develop a solid grounding in moral philosophy, will also study epistemology, philosophy of mind, and political philosophy, and will have the opportunity to study areas such as aesthetics, feminist philosophy, and phenomenology. In Politics, you can explore how parliaments and governments function, investigate how politics works in Wales, the UK, Europe, and across the globe, and evaluate key political ideas such as power, freedom, rights, conflict, accountability, democracy, and legitimacy.

Our modules provide you with opportunities to connect theory with practice in applied modules in both philosophy and politics. In addition to opportunities to explore public policy from a political perspective, in the final year you’ll take part in a project to apply philosophical research to develop policies or strategies aimed at solving a real-world ethical or social problem.

You’ll graduate with a range of valuable professional skills, including collaboration, effective communication, and independent critical thinking. You’ll have a deep appreciation of the ethical and social challenges that face contemporary society and industry, and have the ideas and confidence required to solve them. From here, you’ll be ideally placed to progress into a range of exciting careers.

Distinctive Features of the Programme

• Follow your interests: Choose from modules across a range of philosophical and political topics, trace connections to other disciplines, and engage with new research.

• Think for yourself: Critically and creatively engage with difficult problems in an independent and open-minded way.

• Shape the future: Apply research to develop policies or strategies aimed at solving real-world social problems.

• Connect with political institutions: Benefit from excellent links with the Welsh Government and Senedd Cymru, Westminster, the EU, and NATO.

• Communicate effectively: Develop skills and experience in shaping and presenting your ideas and arguments.