Religion, Philosophy and Ethics

How should you live your life and relate to others? How should we organise society? What is a religion? How have religious, philosophical, and ethical ideas changed over time? How do they continue to shape us as individuals and shape society? Who and what should you believe? How should characteristics like gender and race be taken into account in theoretical inquiry and social decision-making?

In our Religion, Philosophy and Ethics (BA) programme, you’ll tackle these types of questions, and more. You'll investigate topical and complex issues from a range of perspectives and address some of today’s great social challenges.

Our priority lies in developing your skills as an independent thinker. We’ll support you to engage critically and creatively with difficult problems in an open-minded and collaborative way, including on sensitive and controversial topics.

During your studies, you'll have the opportunity to engage with a broad range of religious, philosophical, and ethical topics and traditions. Religion modules guide you through the histories and legacies of religions around the world, which have shaped current conflicts and provided solutions for them. You'll explore and analyse religious identity in modern societies, the role of theological thinking, and the ethics that influence views on hot topics from the environment to sexuality and reproductive rights. In Philosophy, you'll develop a solid grounding in moral philosophy and will also study epistemology, philosophy of mind, and political philosophy. There's also the opportunity to study areas such as aesthetics, feminist philosophy, and phenomenology. In the final year of the programme, you can specialise in your preferred areas of study from across religious, philosophical, and ethical topics.

Many of our modules directly examine the practical implications of religious and philosophical thought, providing you with a clear link between theories and their application. This is emphasised in the final year of the programme with a collaborative project that applies philosophical research to develop policies or strategies aimed at solving a real-world ethical or social problem.

Alongside the research and academic skills you’lI develop, we offer opportunities for doing off-campus work placements or community outreach projects based on your studies.

You’ll graduate with a range of professional skills, including collaboration, communication and critical thinking. You will also have developed 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 religious, ethical and philosophical traditions and engage with new areas of research. - Think for yourself Critically and creatively engage with difficult questions in an independent and open-minded way. - Shape the future Apply philosophical research to solve real-world social problems or engage with local communities about your studies. - Study at the frontiers of inquiry Analyse contemporary research with staff who are leading researchers in their field. - Communicate effectively Develop skills and experience in shaping and presenting your ideas and arguments.