Philosophy

What is a good life? What do we owe others, be they human or other life forms? What is it to live a feminist or queer life? How does artificial intelligence impact how we understand mind, agency, democracy and moral responsibility? How does language, be it human or AI generated, shape how we think? What is it to be creative, in a world where we are continuously being created by environmental, technological and social forces? What political work – be it in terms of justice, emancipation or inclusion – can philosophy do? How do we maintain courage in times when courage seems to have become impossible?

Working alongside philosophers who publish and lead debate in their fields, you’ll learn to build an argument, take one apart, and hold a position under real pressure, and host conversations that bring people together across differences. This isn’t the study of a list of abstract propositions; it’s philosophy as a way of life.

Dundee is unique in Scotland for its specialism in the European ‘Continental’ tradition. You’ll read Nietzsche, Heidegger, Beauvoir, Foucault, Derrida, Zizek, Butler and Haraway, not as historical figures but as thinkers still worth arguing with. You’ll also test that tradition against voices from outside it, from Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language to Floridi’s philosophy of information, to non-Western traditions including Buddhism, Daoism, Ubuntu and Indigenous Philosophies.

Philosophy at Dundee is a rich interdisciplinary programme, where students have the opportunity to study Philosophy in combination with other fields such as English, Film, History, Psychology, Politics, International Relations and Art. This includes Dundee’s renowned Art and Philosophy degree, co-run with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design where students learn how to move between studio practice and philosophical argument, transforming what it is to make and think in the process, and Humanities Students exploring the creative economies. Being in the room with people who make art of various kinds, changes the learning outcome for everyone, and only Dundee philosophy students get this experience, as no such art and philosophy degree exists elsewhere in Scotland.

Dundee is a compact city with a vibrant cultural scene on its doorstep, so philosophical conversation here doesn’t stay sealed off from the wider world. As part of your degree, you'll have the opportunity to take internships and do outreach work in your honours years, including through the innovative Localising Philosophy partnership with local schools, a Dundee-led project that has already brought philosophical enquiry to thousands of school pupils across the city.

The Dundee philosophy programme also has close connections to research on AI, which some of its own world-influencing graduates now shape. Consider Amanda Askell, a Dundee Philosophy graduate, who now works on the character and values of Anthropic's AI systems and who the Scottish Government named as one of only five AI Pioneers in its AI Strategy 2026–2031. As Richard Lochhead, then Scottish Minister for Business and Employment, said at the strategy's launch: “John Napier helped the world make sense of numbers in the early 17th century. And Scots such as Amanda Askell are helping the world make sense of AI in the 21st century.”

At the same time, AI raises a host of serious problems, regarding its environmental impact, the commons from which it was trained, and the concentration of power being built in Silicon Valley. If a machine can write like you, what is left that is actually yours? In the Philosophy programme at Dundee, you will be supported to respond to these questions, by studying thinkers for whom technology, ethics and society and environment are never separable questions. Philosophy at Dundee is not a retreat from the world. It’s training for meeting the world with better questions, and with the skills to think and act collectively together.