Philosophy (120 EC) Leiden University

Overview

The two-year Master's programme in Philosophy at Leiden University investigates the fundamental principles underpinning human knowledge while cultivating your capacity for reason and sound argumentation.

This demanding and high-level programme is ideal for students who wish to enhance their knowledge of a particular discipline with complementary understanding of its philosophical foundations combined with further honing of their analytical thinking skills.

The master in Philosophy offers you the choice of three specialisations: Philosophy of Humanities, Philosophy of Law, Governance, and Politics Philosophy in World Traditions. Each specialisation delves deep into the philosophical foundations and methodological approaches underpinning that discipline. Content incorporates the very latest academic theory and the field’s historical development across a number of branches of philosophy.

The intellectual tools yielded by the study of philosophy are typically transferable skills to complement any given profession. The master in Philosophy will train you to become an outstanding critical thinker, capable of breaking down the most complex ideas and evaluating the principles upon which various positions are based. During your master, you will study, analyse and discuss primary philosophical texts while learning how to develop and communicate your own theories and ideas.

What you will learn

Future employers are interested not only in the subject-related knowledge that you acquired during your study programme, but also in the ‘transferable skills’. These include cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, reasoning and argumentation and innovation; intrapersonal skills, such as flexibility, initiative, appreciating diversity and metacognition; and interpersonal skills, such as communication, accountability and conflict resolution. In short, they are skills that all professionals need in order to perform well.

It is therefore important that during your study programme you not only acquire as much knowledge as possible about your subject, but also are aware of the skills you have gained and the further skills you still want to learn. The course descriptions in the Prospectus of the MA Philosophy 120 EC include, in addition to the courses’ learning objectives, a list of the skills that they aim to develop.

The skills you may encounter in the various courses are:

• Collaboration
• Persuasion
• Research
• Self-directed learning
• Creative thinking

Career prospects

The Master's programme in Philosophy (120 EC) offers outstanding preparation for students seeking a profession that requires knowledge of a specific discipline and the added value of advanced skills in logic, reasoning, abstraction and critical thinking.

Successful completion of the master’s programme can lead to PhD research and an academic career, or in the public, private or non-profit sectors. 75% of our students choose to enter a PhD programme after their studies, primarily in the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Germany or France. The remaining 25% already have a job when they joined the programme and were seeking to enhance their performance.

If you are interested in a career in teaching, you can apply for the Dutch-taught teacher-training MA at the ICLON Graduate School of Education after graduating from the master’s programme. To be admitted, you need to have a master’s degree in the relevant discipline. Fluency in Dutch is mandatory, and additional entry requirements may apply.

Accreditation

Accredited by NVAO, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders.