Postgraduate
We have a lively community of around thirty postgraduate students. Our research interests focus on certain key areas of analytic philosophy: metaphysics; aesthetics; ethics; epistemology; the history of analytic philosophy; and the philosophy of mind. We also have close contact with colleagues in the Manchester Centre for Political Theory (which is part of the Politics discipline area within the School of Social Sciences) who engage in pioneering research in such areas as political theory, human rights, and theories of justice. In addition to this, John O'Neill co-directs the Political Economy Institute. We are committed to providing a first-class educational and research environment for our postgraduate students.
We have a lively research culture with regular research seminars presented by both visiting speakers members of staff. There is also the weekly PhD seminar, at which current PhD students present their own research. We also regularly host conferences involving major national and international philosophers. Some of these conferences are in our role as regional organisers for the Royal Institute of Philosophy. We also host Open Minds, an annual postgraduate conference. This conference gives postgraduates from Manchester University and elsewhere an invaluable opportunity to present their own research and receive feedback from an audience of other students and academics. Postgraduates at Manchester also edit Praxis, an online postgraduate journal of philosophy.
At Manchester we offer full and part-time graduate study leading to the MRes and PhD in Philosophy. The MRes is a taught course designed specifically for philosophy graduates. In conjunction with the Politics Discipline Area, we also offer an MA in Ethics and Political Philosophy. This course enables students who have considerable philosophical background in their undergraduate degree (but who need not have completed an undergraduate degree in philosophy) to complete a taught postgraduate degree which focuses on ethics and political philosophy and draws on the philosophical expertise of both Philosophy and Politics staff.