Acting and Philosophy and Ethics (Hons) Liverpool Hope University

Overview

The Acting and Philosophy and Ethics (Hons) BA programme from Liverpool Hope University provides students with knowledge and understanding of the history and practice of acting, and the skills to apply this knowledge to real-life settings across different disciplines, as well as acting for stage and screen.

Philosophy and Ethics explores the big questions of life and morality: on what basis do we judge things good or evil? It challenges you to examine your assumptions, opinions and worldview. Do we need to believe in God for life to have meaning – or have the arguments for the existence of God broken down? What does it mean to be human? Do we have free will, or is our life completely determined?

Through close attention to the primary texts of philosophers such as Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche, our Philosophy and Ethics degree will help you learn to analyse and evaluate arguments, and to compose and communicate your own ideas in a reasoned way. You will have a grounding in the foundational questions of philosophy. As you progress, you will look in depth at philosophy of religion, political philosophy, applied ethics and issues of human personhood, artificial intelligence, ecology and animality.

Liverpool is a great place to study philosophy: the city famously wears its heart on its sleeve, and is home to a rich web of cultures that explore the human condition through humour, art and performance. The Liverpool Hope team has developed a programme that aims to be contemporary and timely, especially in the field of applied ethics. And in a city that has been riven with sectarian strife in its past, the innovative approaches that the team takes to thinking about religion in the modern world are highly topical. 

This degree will help you to develop your professional capacity by equipping you with the intellectual skills and perspectives needed to face the ethical and ideological challenges of the contemporary world. Such skills are essential for careers that require you to grasp with complex and often conflicting ideas across a whole range of professions.

Career opportunities:

A degree in Philosophy and Ethics is excellent preparation for teaching the subject at A level, and equips you with the intellectual skills and perspectives needed for facing the ethical and ideological challenges of the contemporary world.

As a Philosophy graduate you, will have developed excellent skills in critical thinking, which are highly prized by employers. You will be competent in textual analysis, report writing and have high-level oral communication skills.

This prepares you for a range of careers including law, media, public administration, social and community work. Many graduates enter the teaching profession and you will also be well positioned to pursue postgraduate studies in philosophy and related humanity subjects.