Comparative Literature and Philosophy

Comparative Literature and Philosophy is a degree for students who want to read widely across literary and intellectual traditions and think rigorously about the questions those traditions raise. Comparative Literature opens literary study across boundaries of culture, language, and period, exploring the relationships between texts from around the world, all read in English translation. It asks how literary works from different national traditions illuminate and respond to one another, and what happens when you read without the boundaries that national curricula typically impose.

Philosophy provides the analytical tools to examine the ideas that literature engages with, asking foundational questions about knowledge, ethics, language, and the nature of experience.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year, full-time degree draws on expertise from across the School of Modern Languages and beyond, giving you the chance to read texts of any genre or period in a programme that takes seriously both the pleasures of reading and the rigour of critical argument. The Comparative Literature element considers the global relationships between literary traditions; the Philosophy element trains you in logical reasoning, clear argumentation, and the evaluation of ideas. You will develop close reading skills, the capacity to construct precise written arguments, and the intellectual breadth that comes from taking two demanding disciplines seriously.

The degree includes a year abroad, extending your experience of working in a different academic context.

Graduates of this combination develop exceptional analytical and communication skills that are valued across an unusually wide range of careers, including publishing, journalism, education, law, the civil service, arts administration, and academic research. The combination of literary and philosophical training is particularly well suited to roles that require both sensitivity to language and rigour in argument. Postgraduate study in comparative literature, philosophy, literary theory, or translation is also a natural progression for those who wish to develop specialist expertise or pursue an academic career.