BA Philosophy

Phenomenology is the study of the structure of experience. In this course unit we will examine aspects of the work of some of the most important Twentieth Century phenomenologists: Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Edith Stein, Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Topics covered may include: the nature of intentionality, perception and imagination; our awareness of self, body and others; and our consciousness of time. We shall also look at what is distinctive about the methods of phenomenological philosophy.

The unit aims to:

• Introduce students to the writings of Twentieth Century phenomenologists;
• Present the historical and philosophical context in which phenomenology was developed;
• Explore in detail some central concepts of phenomenology: intentionality, reduction, constitution, transcendental ego, time-consciousness, embodiment, intersubjectivity, etc;
• Show how phenomenology relates to issues in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind.

One two-hour lecture and one one-hour tutorial per week.

Students should be able to:

• Identify the main philosophical questions arising in phenomenological texts;
• Clearly articulate the philosophical claims of key phenomenologists. 

Students should be able to:

• Evaluate the claims and arguments of key phenomenologists;
• Relate phenomenology to other areas of philosophical inquiry;
• Evaluate phenomenology's lasting significance.

Students should be able to:

• Interpret and criticise both primary and secondary texts in phenomenology;
• Undertake independent research in phenomenology and apply theoretical knowledge to complex issues.

Essay 1 (2000 words) 50%

Essay 2 (2000 words) 50%

The School of Social Sciences (SoSS) is committed to providing timely and appropriate feedback to students on their academic progress and achievement, thereby enabling students to reflect on their progress and plan their academic and skills development effectively. Students are reminded that feedback is necessarily responsive: only when a student has done a certain amount of work and approaches us with it at the appropriate time is it possible for us to feed back on the student's work. The main forms of feedback on this course are written feedback responses to assessed essays and exam answers.

We also draw your attention to the variety of generic forms of feedback available to you on this as on all SoSS courses. These include: meeting the lecturer/tutor during their office hours; e-mailing questions to the lecturer/tutor; asking questions from the lecturer (before and after lecture); presenting a question on the discussion board on Canvas; and obtaining feedback from your peers during tutorials.

• Cerbone, D. 2006. Understanding Phenomenology. Chesham: Acumen.
• Moran, D. 2000. Introduction to Phenomenology. London: Routledge.
• Moran, D. & Mooney, T. Eds. 2002. The Phenomenology Reader. London: Routledge.
• Smith, J. 2016. Experiencing Phenomenology. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Zahavi, D. Eds. 2012. The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Phenomenology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2027 will be £10,050 per annum. Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 per annum.

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All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

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As an international student you may be eligible for our Global Futures Scholarships . This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.