Philosophy/Russian

Philosophy and Russian is a combination that gives you access to one of the richest philosophical traditions in the world through one of its most important linguistic vehicles. Philosophy is the systematic use of reason and argument to arrive at clear answers to profound questions about knowledge, reality, ethics, mind, and human nature. Russian is the language of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov, but also of Pushkin, Akhmatova, and a long tradition of philosophers from Berdyaev to the logicians of the Soviet era.

The intellectual culture of Russia has been deeply concerned with the philosophical questions that Western traditions have also addressed, and studying both opens a richer comparative perspective on those questions.

At the University of Glasgow, you will study philosophy and Russian over five years full-time, developing your language skills in Russian to a high level of proficiency while also building the philosophical rigour and analytical capacity that the philosophy strand demands. The philosophy curriculum covers epistemology, ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and the history of philosophy, from ancient Greece through to contemporary analytic and continental traditions. The Russian strand develops your language alongside engagement with Russian literary and cultural history.

The programme includes a sandwich year and work placement provision, giving you professional experience before you graduate. The typical entry tariff is 200 UCAS points.

Graduates carry a genuinely distinctive combination: the analytical precision and breadth of philosophical training, and the linguistic and cultural depth of Russian studies. Careers in academia, translation, diplomacy, journalism with an Eastern European or Russian focus, the civil service, publishing, and the charitable sector are all common paths. Many graduates go on to postgraduate study in philosophy, Russian and Eastern European studies, or related disciplines.