Bachelor study Philosophy

What is it about?

The study of Philosophy at the Faculty of Social Sciences is characterised by the fact that it focuses on topics and questions that philosophers are dealing with today. These can be questions on top of current issues, e.g. ‘Should we eat vegan food?’, but they can also be questions whose topicality is not immediately recognisable. Theoretical questions about the relationship between language and thought or the solution to logical paradoxes are topics that philosophers are very passionate about discussing today. In courses in which students are required to actively participate, each student will gain their own experience of what constitutes good and bad arguments and how to conduct a fruitful philosophical discussion. It will also become clear why it is essential in philosophy to incorporate the results of other sciences. Conversely, the application of philosophy and philosophy of science in the individual sciences (natural sciences, social sciences, cultural studies) is also part of the programme. The methodological and formal knowledge required for this is taught in introductory and advanced courses in logic and philosophy of science.

More than just pure expertise!

In addition to specialised knowledge, studying philosophy also teaches students two particular intellectual virtues: Firstly, they should acquire the intellectual courage to enter the great debates of philosophy from the outset without hesitation. Secondly, students should also learn that the so-called big questions about the true, the good and the beautiful, which have characterised the history of the subject since antiquity, are much more complicated than they might appear at first glance, which can give them a certain intellectual humility.