Philosophy

Do you have a strong desire to sharpen and clarify the loose arguments and vague concepts we all encounter in newspaper articles, textbook readings and everyday conversations? Are you as interested in questioning answers as answering questions? 

A solid foundation plus specialised knowledge

The research Master in Philosophy is a challenging, two-year, research-oriented programme that prepares you to participate in the current debates in the international philosophical community and to develop your own research contributions to the field.

The programme combines an advanced grounding in the core themes and texts of philosophy with ample opportunity and flexibility for specialisation. Through elective seminars, specialised tutorials, and seminars at other universities in the Netherlands or abroad, you will have the opportunity to dive into issues, methods, and philosophers that are central to your own research project.

Why this programme in Utrecht?

Developing your career plans

During this research Master’s programme, you will develop the knowledge and skills to participate in the international research community in philosophy. Our course content offers high standards of analytical rigor, conceptual clarity, expressive precision, compelling argumentation, and historical perspective. We offer guidance and advice on developing your career plans. You also have the possibility of doing a research internship.

Active research community

Moreover, since you will conduct your research in an active research community of postdocs, PhD researchers, and senior staff, you will gain hands-on experience as a researcher and participant in current international discussions in philosophy. Utrecht University’s Philosophy researchers have distinctive research strength in the following areas:

• History of Philosophy: Plato and Greek political thought; Hellenistic philosophy (Stoicism and Epicureanism), 17th century (Descartes and Spinoza, and their contemporaries) and 18th and early–19th centuries (Kant and German Idealism); continental philosophy (Nietzsche, Arendt, Habermas, and the Frankfurt school).
• Theoretical Philosophy: Metaphilosophy, social and formal epistemology, philosophy of logic and language, contemporary analytic metaphysics, philosophy of reasoning, agency and AI.
• Ethics Institute: Ethical justification, theories of political justice, moral psychology, and the ethics and politics of public health.

Collaboration and interdisciplinarity

Much of the philosophy research done in Utrecht has a strong interdisciplinary emphasis. This interdisciplinary approach and collaborative effort is evident in:

• Research done via the Ethics Institute, which is particularly involved in the University-wide strategic research focus areas Institutions and Sustainability.
• Research performed through the Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and Humanities.
• University-wide research in artificial intelligence.

After graduation

Philosophers can be found in a surprisingly wide range of careers, from journalism and politics to banking and consulting. Those who go on to do a PhD in Philosophy can pursue numerous different roles that professional philosophers play in society. 

Utrecht goes to Venice

In September 2020 the movie Princesse Europe was presented at the Venice Film Festival. In it, two of our professors appear by playing the part of themselves. This clip gives you an idea of what is philosophy in our programme.

The internship gave me first-hand experience on what a research project looks like from the inside.