Overview

MPhil in philosophy

Duration: One year full-time, two years part-time.

Description: The M.Phil. (Master of Philosophy) degree is a research degree in which you write a dissertation (about 30-40,000 words / max. 60,000) about any topic you like, so long as one of our members of staff can supervise it (see "research interests" above). Once assigned a supervisor, you will work together with him or her, meeting up whenever you want to. When your dissertation is finished, you will have a viva examination, in which an external and internal examiner will read your work and discuss it with you. The MPhil. is often thought of as a mini-PhD.; it is a very prestigious degree which takes two years at many universities.

Phd in Philosophy

Duration: Three years full-time, six years part-time. (Students who need extra time are only required to pay a continuation fee.)

Description: The PhD. (Doctor of Philosophy) degree, which earns you the title Dr., is the highest academic degree. It is research only and requires you to write an original thesis (about 70-80,000 words) on a topic of your choice, so long as it is approved by one of our member of staff (see their research interests below). Candidates for the PhD. are expected to have completed a master’s degree beforehand (M.A., MRes., or MPhil.). Once assigned a supervisor, you will work with him or her, meeting up whenever you want to. When your thesis is finished, you will have a viva examination, in which an external and internal examiner will read your work and discuss it with you.

Philosophy's placement within the School of Humanities and Social Sciences means that PhD candidates whose philosophical interests intertwine with issues in related academic areas can receive supervision for a multi-disciplinary thesis.

Research interests

The following staff are currently available to supervise research degrees:

Sophie Allen

Sophie primarily works in Metaphysics, the Philosophy of Science and the Philosophy of Mind, although she also has an on-going interest in the Philosophy of Language. In particular, she is interested in the connections between these different areas of philosophy and the meta-philosophical questions which arise when we try to decide between competing philosophical theories. She is the author of A Critical Introduction to Properties (Bloomsbury, 2016) and several papers, including on classification, modality, conceivability arguments, the metaphysics of properties, metametaphysics, and the indeterminacy of translation. She is happy to supervise graduate students in any of her areas of specialisation. Please get in touch for further information.

Jonathan Head

Jonathan is a specialist in early modern philosophy, Kantian philosophy, and philosophy of religion. His recent publications include The Philosophy of Anne Conway (Bloomsbury 2020) and Schopenhauer and the Nature of Philosophy (Lexington 2021). He is currently working on various projects in early modern philosophy. He is interested in supervising theses in his areas of interest, as well as the history of philosophy more generally.

Research Facilities

Keele library has excellent provision for philosophy. Most of the research activities of Keele Philosophy are organised under the auspices of the Keele Forum for Philosophical Research. The Forum arranges for leading philosophers from around the UK and abroad to present their ideas at Keele on a regular basis.

Events include the Forum Annual lecture, the Royal Institute of Philosophy Invited Lecture Series, and various other work in progress seminars, workshops and lecture series organised by RC-SPIRE. There is also a thriving student–led Philosophy Society that holds regular debates and film screenings. And all post-graduate students are part of the Research Institute for Social Sciences, thereby benefiting from facilities such as a dedicated research building.

Student research topics

Topics currently or recently researched at Keele at MRes., M.Phil. or PhD. level include:

• Kant's Critical Philosophy of Hope and Salvation
• Moral Motivation and Environmental Sustainability
• Liberty, Normativity and Originality
• Heidegger's interpretation of Nietzsche
• The Normative relevance of Phenomenology
• Collingwood’s Philosophy of History
• Davidson, Rorty, and the Problem of Mental Causation
• Panpsychism in Contemporary Analytic Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophical progress: its possibility and nature
• Kant's transendential idealism and laws of nature

We are always ready to supervise MPhils and PhDs relating to our main research strengths, which are: Kantian philosophy (all aspects); metaphilosophy; philosophy of mind and action; Collingwood; Rorty. We will also consider proposals within the areas of history of philosophy; political philosophy; environmental philosophy; metaphysics; moral philosophy, in particular normative ethics and metaethics. See the ‘Research Interests’ tab on this page for more details.

International

The School of Humanities and Social Sciences is a thoroughly international school, and is particularly welcoming to international students, as well as providing plenty of opportunities for home students to broaden their horizons.

We have staff with educational backgrounds in a wide variety of countries, such as Columbia, Canada, Bulgaria, Italy, Austria, Romania, and Turkey, who present their research all around the world. Students have the opportunity to hear visiting lecturers from various different countries, arranged through our ERASMUS partnerships.

International students will join established international communities at Keele, and will find plenty of support mechanisms in place to help them make the transition to study in the UK (see the ‘International Applicants’ button above).