Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
Philosophers are prone to asking critical questions: about humankind, the world and society. Not satisfied with simple answers, philosophers will try to shed a light on these issues by looking at them from all the relevant angles. In their search for answers, philosophers delve deep for underlying motives and rational explanations.
What
Philosophy starts with wonderment. Philosophers are prone to asking critical questions: about humankind, the world and society. Not satisfied with simple answers, philosophers will try to shed a light on these issues by looking at them from all the relevant angles. This wonder results in a persistent demand for quality of argumentation. In their search for answers, philosophers delve deep for underlying motives and rational explanations. A philosopher’s search has no fixed end point: what is important, is the rational search for insights while continuously asking new questions. Since antiquity, our way of thinking has been influenced by great philosophers. For that reason, our Philosophy programme largely consists of a critical analysis of answers to fundamental questions then and now. In addition to a thorough historical study of philosophical texts, our programme also strongly focuses on critical reflection on contemporary issues in terms of ethics, epistemology and other philosophical disciplines. A thorough study of important thinkers in history in combination with a focus on contemporary issues results in Philosophy students who learn to build arguments in a critical and autonomous manner, and who are able to contribute to contemporary and socially critical debates.
For whom
Have you always been a deep thinker? Are you undaunted by a considerable amount of required reading and independent work? Are you eager to delve into the - at times - age-old texts by the great philosophers? Do you have a keen interest in the issues of life and in social issues? Are you critical and can you accept that philosophy is not so much about providing answers as it is about further exploring questions? If the answer to all these questions is a resounding ‘yes,’ then our Philosophy programme will appeal to you!
Structure
The Philosophy programme is built on the idea that general knowledge acquisition and understanding comes before specialist orientation.
- Bachelor
The first-year curriculum contains a number of faculty-wide general course units. Together, they provide a broad framework for acquiring a basic understanding of the Humanities. Four main modules contain the curriculum’s programme-specific course units: Logic, Knowledge and Science; Man, Ethics and Aesthetics; History and Text; and Skills and Methodology, respectively. The three-year Bachelor’s programme has room for methodological course units in which you will acquaint yourself with general and philosophy-specific research skills such as researching and assessing information, formulating research questions and critically reading texts relevant to your research question, elaborating and presenting your findings in writing (and orally).
From the second year onwards, the curriculum works towards a more in-depth and specific study of Philosophy. The four main modules described above remain in place, but the focus shifts to more practical applications of philosophical insights and to textual studies. A choice of minors offers an indispensable acquaintance with non-philosophical course units, staggered over the second and third year. Moreover, the minor can sometimes give access to other Master’s programmes (after completing a preparatory programme or abridged Bachelor’s programme). In the third year, the skills that you acquire throughout the Bachelor’s programme culminate in the Bachelor’s paper: a written research assignment on a topic chosen in consultation with your supervisor.
- Master
Specialization continues in the Master’s programme through a choice of Philosophy electives and non-philosophical course units on the one hand, and through the Master’s dissertation. The set of Philosophy electives are all specialist course units and for a large part based on ongoing doctoral research in our Department. These are best chosen in line with your Master’s dissertation topic. Distinguished students can also choose to apply for the two-year interuniversity Philosophy Research Programme.
In addition to the (domain) Master’s programme described above, you can also choose a Master’s Programme in Teaching (in Dutch: Educatieve Master) (120 ECTS-credits).
Labour Market
The Philosophy programme usually does not lead to a fixed or rigid career path. Career opportunities that are directly in line with the programme are all situated in the academic research and/or education sectors. Research has shown that Philosophy graduates end up in cultural, sociocultural, ideological and other organizations, and even in less obvious sectors such as government services, journalism, librarianship or in the business world. Take a look at our website for a list of specific professions www.philosophy.ugent.be.
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Multiperspectivism: we train students to reflect critically on a wide range of problems to which classical human, social and natural sciences research methods do not provide an answer. That reflection can take on as many forms as the problems that require reflection. We do not offer our students ready-made answers, but help them to develop a philosophical toolbox with which they can set out themselves.
- Social involvement: philosophy in society is omnipresent. Our students learn to think about current problems in a nuanced way and we challenge them to take on reasoned positions on those problems. We teach them to deal with a diversity of values and presuppositions and require of them to go beyond the boundaries of their own discipline (philosophy) by taking on a minor in another discipline. In so doing, we prepare our students to function in an interdisciplinary context.
- Talent development: an important part of the philosopher’s toolbox consists of argumentation and communication skills. Throughout the programme we train our students in analysing and formulating arguments. Numerous and diverse writing assignments play an important role in this. In addition, our students learn to give oral presentations and to debate and collaborate in a constructive way. By writing a Bachelor's and a Master's dissertation, our students prove that they are capable of conducting independent research on complex philosophical questions.
- Research-based: throughout the study programme, our students gain insight into important concepts and theories from various sub-domains of philosophy (such as ethics, aesthetics, epistemology, philosophy of science, logic, metaphysics, political philosophy, etc.), and learn to use these concepts in an adequate manner. Along the way we also pay attention to different styles of philosophizing. In addition, we focus on the history of philosophical thought. By asking our students to read a large number of historical texts, we train them in complex text interpretation, and confront them first-hand with the richness of the philosophical tradition.
- Upon graduation: Philosophy graduates are capable of sharp and clear-cut problem analysis. They are not afraid to think in abstract terms and can apply this to concrete situations. They quickly see the strengths and weaknesses of proposed arguments. They can integrate information of different kinds in a creative manner. They readily adopt other ways of thinking, and understand the importance of presuppositions in the confrontation between different perspectives. They have strong written and oral communication skills when it comes to complex problems.
Strengths
- Dare to think differently: our programme feedback shows that students appreciate our multiperspectivistic approach. In the words of one student, looking at things from different angles becomes a habit in daily life that allows for a better assessment and articulation of complex situations.
- Dare to think in an original and innovative way: our lecturers’ research output is high and internationally oriented. This contributes to a teaching practice that is strongly research-based. Our students also appreciate the wide range of acquired (research) competencies.
- Dare to think independently and critically: our students appreciate that we encourage independent and critical thinking. In the words of one student, our study programme stimulates the critical capacity to keep asking questions. In so doing, it focuses on "nothing less than our university’s 'credo' (...) 'dare to think'".
- Dare to think together: our students appreciate our lecturers’ approachability, professionalism, didactic qualities and expertise. Contact between lecturers and students is low-threshold.
- Dare to question yourself: as a result of the previous programme review (in Dutch: ‘visitatie’), we came up with a widely supported action plan in which we reformed the curriculum and optimized quality assurance. By way of example, we introduced full-year course units and a Bachelor's dissertation; we monitor the range of teaching and assessment methods, and improved the distribution of the study load. This has increased our programme’s coherence and content-related alignment.
Weaknesses
- Although social involvement is at the core of our identity, and thus of our study programme, we must ensure that this is sufficiently reflected in the subject matter and the curriculum.
- We must ensure that content-related and curricular inter- and multidisciplinarity does not lapse into eclecticism and a loss of depth and content-related alignment. Of course, everyone has their specialism and research profile, but as a study programme we must ensure a sufficiently rich and high-quality offer.
- Research-based education is the core of academic education. The most recent review report (in Dutch: visitatierapport) commends our programme for its strong research profile. However, we must ensure that this does not jeopardize social commitment.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2017. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This information was last updated on 01/06/2021.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.