Ethics, Value and Philosophy

Ethics, value, and philosophy take as their subject the deepest and most enduring questions human beings ask: how should we live, what do we owe to each other, what makes an action right or wrong, how can we know anything, and what is the nature of reality? These are not merely academic questions; they arise in medicine, in politics, in law, in technology, and in everyday life, wherever decisions of consequence are made and where the reasons for those decisions matter. Studying philosophy and ethics at degree level means developing the conceptual vocabulary and argumentative rigour to engage with these questions seriously.

At the University of Reading, this three-year programme takes ethics and questions of value as its central focus while engaging with the broader traditions of analytical and continental philosophy. You will study moral philosophy in depth, exploring the major ethical theories and their applications, alongside work in political philosophy, epistemology, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics. You will develop skills in careful reading of philosophical texts, construction of well-structured arguments, and critical evaluation of competing positions.

The programme is designed to make you a clearer thinker and a more disciplined writer, capable of engaging with complex ideas with precision and intellectual honesty.

This full-time programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad, and a work placement, giving you an unusually rich set of experiential opportunities alongside your academic study. The year abroad and placement allow you to apply your thinking in different contexts and to develop the professional skills that philosophy graduates bring to a wide range of careers. Philosophy graduates go on to work in law, the civil service, journalism, public policy, education, consulting, social enterprise, and many other fields.

The clarity of thought, strength of argument, and breadth of reading that the programme develops are among the most transferable capacities that any degree can produce.