What will I learn?
Unlike most other universities, we cover both Anglo-American ‘analytic’ and post-Kantian ‘continental’ philosophical traditions, and expect students to engage seriously with aspects of each. We place a strong emphasis on the history of our discipline, teaching modules on major philosophical thinkers such as Marx, Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Nietzche, Aristotle, Wittgenstein, Burge and Kripke, as well as problem-based modules in areas such as philosophy of mind, logic, ethics, phenomenology, philosophy of language, aesthetics, metaphysics, philosophy of religion and philosophy of science.
Undergraduate philosophy students at Sussex can also study philosophy as part of a joint degree in select complementary subjects. The variety of perspectives students can bring to seminars makes them particularly lively.
What will I achieve?
When you take a philosophy degree, by inquiring into such diverse phenomena as language, science, social science, politics, law, morality, religion, mathematics, art, literature and education, you will acquire a whole range of skills, such as:
- argument: logic; making and assessing formal and informal arguments; identifying fallacies and invalid reasoning; making, sharpening and evaluating distinctions
- interpretation: sensitivity in evaluating and interpreting evidence; identifying types of knowledge
- precision: analysing concepts; interpreting texts
- articulacy: lucidity and accuracy in your use of language; the ability to invent new vocabularies, and to use and criticise specialist terminology
- self-reflection and self-criticism
- verbal presentation and debate
- understanding: the ability to listen, and to understand presentations of complex issues; the ability to see both sides of any argument
- problem-solving: the ability to spot, to understand and to solve puzzles of various kinds.
All in all, philosophers are adept at thinking creatively, and questioning accepted ways of doing things. As well as the importance we place on teaching, the Philosophy Department at Sussex forms a vibrant research community, publishing regularly in our own fields, and speaking nationally and internationally.