Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year) BA (Hons)

On our four-year BA Philosophy with Human Rights (including foundation year), we work with you to develop your subject-specific knowledge, and to improve your academic skills. You receive a thorough grounding in these areas during your foundation year (known as Year Zero) to prepare you for a further three years of undergraduate study at Essex. Our five-year version of this course enables you to study abroad during your fourth year of study. This course includes a foundation year (Year Zero), followed by a further three or four years of study, depending on whether you choose to study abroad for a year. During your Year Zero, you study three academic subjects relevant to your chosen course as well as a compulsory academic skills module.Philosophy has great practical value, which lends itself to the practice of defending human rights. Our philosophy academics have particular strengths in the areas of ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, and European philosophy (including critical theory, phenomenology, and existentialism). What is more important – moral obligation or the ‘easy way out’? Should we allow asylum seekers to settle in other countries? What are their rights once they are here? Is it the right thing to do if they have a criminal record? These are the kind of questions that those practicing in the human rights fields must contend with – and the critical thinking skills gained from studying philosophy enables you to form a logical and reasoned argument.