Physics & Philosophy

Year 1 Courses are divided into modules. Each year you will normally take modules totalling 120 credits. Required Modules

In your first year you will take 75 credits in Physics and 45 credits in Philosophy.

Physics

Required modules

• Mathematics & Computations for Physics (30 credits)
• Classical Physics (30 credits)
• Introduction to Modern Physics (15 credits)

There are no optional physics modules in your first year.

Philosophy

Required modules

Choose two modules, one from each of the following groups:

Group A

• Elementary Logic (15 credits)
• Methodology (15 credits)

Group B

• Metaphysics (15 credits)
• Epistemology (15 credits)

Optional modules

Students choose one module from a list which typically includes:

• Greek Philosophy I (15 credits)
• Ethics I (15 credits)
• Modern Philosophy I (15 credits)
• Political Philosophy I (15 credits)

Any of the required philosophy modules listed above.

Year 2 Required Modules

In your second year you will take 75 credits in Physics and 60 credits in Philosophy.

Physics

Required modules

• Mathematical Methods for Physics (15 credits)
• Thermal Physics & Properties of Matter (15 credits)
• Quantum Mechanics I (15 credits)
• Electromagnetism (15 credits)
• Relativity & Sub-atomic Physics (15 credits)

There are no optional physics modules in your second year.

Philosophy

Required modules

• Philosophy of Physics I: Philosophy of Space and Time (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Science (15 credits)

Students choose two modules (30 credits) from at least two of the following groups:

Group A

• Greek Philosophy II: Plato (15 credits)
• Greek Philosophy II: Aristotle (15 credits)
• Modern Philosophy II: Locke and Berkeley (15 credits)
• Modern Philosophy II: Spinoza & Leibniz (15 credits)

Group B

• Ethics II: History of Ethical Philosophy (15 credits)
• Ethics II: Contemporary Ethical Philosophy (15 credits)
• Political Philosophy II: History of Political Philosophy (15 credits)
• Political Philosophy II: Theories of Freedom (15 credits)

Group C

• Epistemology II (15 credits)
• Metaphysics II (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Logic and Language (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Mind (15 credits)
• Intermediate Logic (15 credits)

Year 3 Required Modules

Physics

Required modules

• Statistical Mechanics (15 credits)
• Quantum Mechanics II (15 credits)
• Third Year Project in Physics (15 credits)

Physics:

Optional modules

You are required to take up to a maximum of two modules from a range of modules which may typically include:

• University Ambassadors' Scheme (15 credits)
• Particle Physics (15 credits)
• Optics (15 credits)
• Advanced Mathematical Methods for Theoretical Physics (15 credits)
• Fundamentals of Nanotechnology (15 credits)
• General Relativity & Cosmology (15 credits)
• Condensed Matter Physics I (15 credits)

Philosophy

Take enough Philosophy modules to bring your total for the year to 120 credits from a range of optional Philosophy modules:

• If students take 45 philosophy credits, they must select at least 30 credits from the range of level 6 (year 3) optional modules.
• If students are taking 60 to 75 philosophy credits, they must select at least 45 credits from the level 6 (year 3) optional modules.
• Students may select their remaining credits from either level 6 (year 3) or level 5 (year 2) optional modules.

The range of optional level 6 modules typically includes:

• Dissertation (30 credits)
• Hellenistic Philosophy (15 credits)
• Indian Philosophy: The Orthodox Schools (15 credits)
• Kant's Epistemology & Metaphysics (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Mathematics (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Psychology I (15 credits)
• Set Theory (15 credits)
• 19th Century Continental Philosophy (15 credits)
• Aesthetics (15 credits)
• Formal Syntax (15 credits)
• Moral Normativity (15 credits)
• Greek Philosophical Texts I: Plato (15 credits)
• Topics in Greek Philosophy (15 credits)
• Topics in Modern Philosophy (15 credits)
• Topics in Political Philosophy (15 credits)
• Topics in Philosophy of Language (15 credits)
• Scepticism (15 credits)
• Foundations of Analytic Philosophy (15 credits)
• Indian Philosophy: The Heterodox Schools (15 credits)
• Medieval Philosophy (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Religion (15 credits)
• Ethics of Science & Technology (15 credits)
• Modal Logic (15 credits)
• Formal Semantics (15 credits)
• Topics in the Philosophy of Mind (15 credits)
• Gender & Philosophy (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Psychology II (15 credits)
• Topics in Metaphysics (15 credits)
• Philosophy of Physics II: Quantum Mechanics (15 credits)

For the range of optional level 5 modules, see year 2. The groups do not apply in your final year.

Year 4 Required Modules

Physics

Required modules

• Physics Project (30 credits)

Physics

Optional modules

Choose up to four modules (totalling 60 credits) from a list that typically includes:

• Advanced Photonics (15 credits)
• Experimental Techniques in Condensed Matter (15 credits)
• Bio and Nanomaterials in the Virtual Lab (15 credits)
• Standard Model Physics and Beyond (15 credits)
• Condensed Matter Physics II (15 credits)
• Modelling Quantum Many-body Systems (15 credits)
• Dark Matter and Dark Energy (15 credits)
• Scientific Communications (15 credits)
• Modules available at other University of London Colleges

Philosophy

Optional modules

Take sufficient credits to bring your total for the year to 120 or a maximum of 130. If you didn’t take the Philosophy Dissertation module in your third year you have to complete a master’s level dissertation. Choose from a list which typically includes:

• Aesthetics (20 credits)
• Early Modern Philosophy (20 credits)
• Ethics (20 credits)
• First-Order Logic (20 credits)
• Foundations of Phenomenology (20 credits)
• Greek Philosophical Texts I: Plato (20 credits)
• Greek Philosophy I: Plato (20 credits)
• Indian Philosophy I: The Orthodox Schools (20 credits)
• Medieval Philosophy (20 credits)
• Metaphysics (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Medicine (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Language (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Mind (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Psychology 1 (20 credits)
• Political Philosophy (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Grammar (20 credits)
• Epistemology (20 credits)
• Ethics II (20 credits)
• Foundations of Analytic Philosophy (20 credits)
• Greek Philosophical Texts II: Aristotle (20 credits)
• Greek Philosophy II: Aristotle (20 credits)
• Greek Philosophy III: Special Topics (20 credits)
• Indian Philosophy II: The Heterodox Schools (20 credits)
• Kant I: Critique of Pure Reason (20 credits)
• Kant II: Moral Philosophy (20 credits)
• Mathematical Logic: Limitative Results (20 credits)
• Perspectives on Death & Killing (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Mind II: Special Topics (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Psychology II (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Religion (20 credits)
• Political Philosophy II: Special Topics (20 credits)
• Theory of Meaning (20 credits)
• Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy (20 credits)
• Set Theory (20 credits)
• Theory of Grammar (20 credits)
• The Concept of Mental Disorder (20 credits)
• Ethics of Science and Technology (20 credits)
• Modal Logic (20 credits)
• Nineteenth-Century Continental Philosophy (20 credits)
• Philosophy of Mathematics (20 credits)

Students may not take modules in which the syllabus overlaps significantly with modules taken in years 2 & 3. Personal tutors and module tutors will determine what constitutes substantial overlap.

We regularly review our modules to make sure our programmes are as up-to-date, innovative and relevant as possible. The optional modules we offer may therefore change. We suggest that you check the course finder for updates: