BA Philosophy and Classical Studies

Compulsory modules

Reason and Argument 

Explore arguments in different contexts such as newspaper opinions, social media spats and philosophical treaties. You’ll develop critical thinking and logic to evaluate claims and arguments. 

Great Works in Philosophy 

You’ll delve into the most important philosophical works, considering the significance of each text and analysing the arguments within them to sharpen your critical skills.

Texts, Readers, and Writers  

Develop the knowledge and skills required to succeed in academic study of the ancient world including the literature, writing and numeral systems of ancient Greece and Rome. 

Ancient Song 

Discover a range of lyric poetry from ancient Greece and Rome and consider a range of thematic approaches to reading the surviving texts.

Optional modules

Radical Philosophy 

Question your assumptions and beliefs by exploring radical philosophical claims. You’ll compare and contrast different ways of doing philosophy, such as phenomenology and deconstruction.

Global Justice 

Discover global perspectives on justice and freedom, from the Buddha to Christian female mystics, to acquire new insights and question your own beliefs and ideas.  

Roman History: the rise and fall of the Republic 

Investigate a period marked by profound socio-political changes in Rome and discover the evidence for ancient history and modern methodological approaches, considering the relevance of Roman antiquity to issues in the modern world.

Latin 1-3

You’ll be taught elements of the Latin language, literature, and culture to enable you to read the language at an elementary level. 

Ancient Greek 1-3

Learn elements of the Ancient Greek language, literature, and culture, enabling you to read the language at an elementary level. 

Philosophical Skills for Life 

Develop the skills needed to produce persuasive and nuanced academic arguments, research, and referencing. You’ll learn how to identify limitations and advantages of philosophical writing. 

These are the modules we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they're informed by the latest teaching and research methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Optional modules 

Ethical Argument 

Develop your knowledge and skills by considering arguments in moral philosophy and contribute to debate by learning how to argue in a charitable but critical way.  

Oppression, Inequality, and the Enemies of Democracy 

Explore the concerns of society by asking questions within contemporary political philosophy. You’ll enhance your ability to think reflectively and critically about the role of fairness in society.  

Ancient Epic 

Discuss interpretations of Greek and Latin epic hexameter poetry such as the Iliad, Odyssey, and Aieneid.

Greek History: Persian Wars to Alexander 

Discover the Greek classical age (479-323 BC), how to interact with sources, and principles and methods central to the study of ancient history.   

My Mother's Sin and Other Stories 

Discover Greek poetry and fiction from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. You’ll consider historical, sociocultural, and wider literary developments of the period and how they illustrate attitudes to the ancient past.

Greek Sculpture and Architecture 

Gain knowledge of sculpture and architecture in the Greek world, from its beginnings to the end of the Hellenistic period and consider how, why, where and when these media developed. 

Curatorship and Collections Management 

Explore the methods used by professionals to store, catalogue, and research objects, and to communicate their meanings to the public. You’ll receive an induction to these methods and undertake assignments based on objects in the University’s collections.

Latin 2-4

Further your knowledge of the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of Latin to increase your confidence when reading authors in the original Latin. 

Ancient Greek 2-4

Develop your skills to become competent reading ancient Greek authors and further your knowledge of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary of the language. 

Careers for Classicists and Ancient Historians with Placement 

Complete a work or academic placement in summer to enhance your employability. You’ll relate your experience of exploring career paths to selected careers in the ancient world.

Careers for Classicists and Ancient Historians  

Set yourself targets in order to make impactful job applications following your graduation, relating your experience of exploring career paths to selected careers in the ancient world. 

Ancient Drama 

Discover ancient drama by examining their content, themes, and performance style and uncovering the context in which they were produced. 

Roman History: From Republic to Empire 

Gain knowledge of the historical, political, social, and economic developments of the imperial era of Rome, using various sources to investigate the impact of the Roman world on the present day. 

Museum Learning and Engagement

Critically examine the learning role of museums in society. Explore learning theory, programme and event management, while also learning about resource design, evaluation, and visitor research. You'll hear from museum-based learning and engagement professionals and observe and evaluate learning resources and events.

Meaning and the Mind

Consider questions such as How can there be minds in a physical world? How does a mental state (like a memory or a perceptual experience) come to represent the world? What role does consciousness play in the mind? Discuss and analyse some of the core arguments in philosophy of mind, including with historical reference to the figures who originally formulated those arguments.

Global Philosophies

Participate in cross-cultural conversations about global issues such as gender, race, social identities, and death. You will be introduced to and taught how to analyse a range of concepts, including Buddhist, Jain, and African American critical theories, performative theories, and phenomenological theories.

Aesthetics

Explore topics that are central to philosophical aesthetics including beauty, definitions of art and truth in literature. This will enable you to develop critical understanding of philosophical problems raised by art and aesthetic experience. 

Philosophy through the Ages: The Minds that Shaped our World 

You’ll engage with a range of ideas and theories from classic texts that mark some of the most important and influential ideas in philosophy, from Socrates to the present day. 

Ignorance, Doubt, and Relativism

Investigate the concept of knowledge and analyse and evaluate some of the core arguments in contemporary epistemology. You will learn about the different theories of knowledge and explore famous works from Ernest Sosa, Alvin Goldman, David Lewis, Edward Craig, and Miranda Fricker.

These are the modules we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they're informed by the latest teaching and research methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.

Optional modules

Dissertation in Classics

Investigate a topic within classics to form the basis of an extended piece of original research or an original artistic production. To prepare for the dissertation you’ll participate in workshops and submit an assessed proposal. 

Independent Learning Module

Choose a philosophical topic that fascinates you to form the basis of an extended essay. This will enhance your independent learning skills, self-awareness and ability to reflect on your progress and strengths. 

Dissertation in Philosophy

Engage in original and independent research to produce an extended essay that focuses on a philosophical topic of your choice. You’ll also submit an assessed research proposal and give a presentation. 

Independent Project in Classics

Conduct research, explication and documentation of a topic presented in a format different from the traditional dissertation. You’ll prepare for the project by participating in workshops and submitting an assessed proposal. 

Philosophy of Language: Animals, Babies, Colours, and Language Death 

Engage with questions concerning meaning, language and communication. To address these, you'll engage with foundational texts in linguistics, psychology and anthropology and research informed by developments in the cognitive sciences. 

Free Will and Responsibility  

Investigate the concepts of freedom and responsibility using philosophical thinking and by applying approaches from different cultures.

Latin 3-6 

Practice unseen translation to improve your language skills and achieve greater fluency in Latin with increased knowledge of the language’s grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.

Ancient Greek 3-6  

Increase your fluency in Ancient Greek by practicing unseen translation and developing advanced knowledge of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. 

'Race' and Ethnicity in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds 

Challenging the notion that ‘race’ and racism are modern concepts, you’ll explore racial and ethnic otherness in Greek and Latin texts along with how classical texts continue to shape our thinking on these issues. 

From Classroom to Courtroom 

Consider the relationship between theory of rhetoric and the practice of oratory in antiquity by examining the construction of ancient speeches and the skills required for composing and delivering them. 

Early Chinese Philosophy 

Deepen your understanding of the history of philosophy. You’ll focus on early Chinese philosophy to include the Confucian and daoist traditions, as well as moral, social, and political philosophy. 

Current Moral Philosophy

Explore current debates in ethics, roughly focusing on material published in the last 20 years. These debates could be totally new, or they could be current takes and debates about much older issues (such as Aristotle's ethics).

Fairness

Learn about leading contemporary theories of fairness, including the relation of fairness to impartiality, equality, proportionality, need, desert, and free-riding. You'll address conflicts between fairness and other values, while developing your skills in dealing with abstract moral concepts and normative arguments.

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

Explore and debate critical issues in business ethics from a moral, practical and, sometimes, political perspective. You will learn about topics such as the morality of sweatshop labour, the ethics behind advertising, and the corporate obligation to do what is right.

Society and State in Ancient Greece

Study the classic works in Ancient Greek political philosophy, including some or all of Aristotle's Politics and Rhetoric and Plato's Republic and Gorgias. You'll look at the philosophers' conceptions of politics, society, and government, and examine their relevance to modern concerns and issues.

The Scandal of Film 

Study the role films play in our cultural lives. Explore film in relation to reality, the human condition, philosophy and art. 

Hume and Wittgenstein

Investigate the concept of knowledge and analyse and evaluate some of the core arguments in contemporary epistemology. You will learn about the different theories of knowledge and explore famous works from Ernest Sosa, Alvin Goldman, David Lewis, Edward Craig, and Miranda Fricker.

Speech Attacks: Bullshit, Lies, Propaganda

Discuss the foundations of speech act theory and examine ways that it has been applied to philosophical problems in feminist theory and political and social theory. Explore lies and bullshit, and what (if anything) is wrong with these uses of language. And we will discuss the nature of propaganda and 'fake news' and how to resist its effects. 

Paradoxes

Explore some of the great contemporary and historical paradoxes in philosophy, and their proposed solutions. Philosophy is full of paradoxes – logical, semantic, metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, and others, which shed light on big philosophical issues.

Metaphysics

Discover metaphysics, one of the foundation stones of philosophy, and how the way we deal with metaphysical problems affects our approach to problems in many other areas of philosophy, such as philosophy of mind and epistemology.

Philosophy of Religion 

Explore central topics within the philosophy of religion. You’ll examine contemporary ideas and their historical origins, evaluating their significance and validity. 

These are the modules we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they're informed by the latest teaching and research methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the University of Reading.