King's College London - Faculty of Arts & Humanities
MA in Philosophy of Medicine & Psychiatry
London, United Kingdom
MA
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 32,100 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* full-time tuition fees international | part-time tuition fees International: £16,050 per year
Key Summary
About: This MA covers Philosophy of Medicine and Psychiatry and lets you take other philosophy modules. Suited to philosophy, medical and other graduates, it requires two compulsory 15-credit modules (Philosophy of Medicine; The Concept of Mental Disorder), four 15-credit options, and a 60-credit dissertation (10,000–12,000 words) to complete 180 credits. It's based in central London.
Career Outcomes: Graduates go on to research; others enter teaching, management, finance or the public sector. You could work in research, lecturing, clinical ethics, health policy or consultancy. It builds critical analysis, argumentation, research and written communication. Career opportunities include doctoral study and policy roles.
The course provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the Philosophy of Medicine and Psychiatry. Students will also have the opportunity to study other areas of Philosophy, selecting from a broad range of modules and covering all areas of the subject.
Geared to philosophy, medical and other graduates, the course introduces students to key concepts, arguments, texts and techniques in the Philosophy of Medicine and Psychiatry.
Key benefits
- Offers a pathway into the Philosophy of Medicine and Psychiatry, particularly well suited to students whose undergraduate background is in medicine.
- Offers a wide selection of optional topics, both current and historical, covering the entire philosophical spectrum from aesthetics to logic and everything in between.
- Located in the heart of London.
Course essentials
This course is suited both to students with an undergraduate degree in philosophy and to those moving into philosophy from another subject at the undergraduate level. It is particularly suitable for students moving into philosophy from a medical background.
The course will provide you the opportunity to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the Philosophy of Medicine and Psychiatry. You will also have the opportunity to study other areas of philosophy, chosen from a broad range of modules which cover all areas of the subject.
Whether you are a philosophy graduate or studying the subject with us for the first time, our course will provide a firm foundation for subsequent research.
Over the course, you will be required to study modules on the Philosophy of Medicine and The Concept of Mental Disorder, each worth 15 credits. You can choose four further modules (4 x 15=60 credits) from the Department of Philosophy’s Master’s courses. Students new to philosophy are encouraged to take the General Philosophy module in Term 1 (15 credits) as one of these four. You will also write a dissertation of around 10,000-12,000 words during the summer months, on a topic in the philosophy of medicine and psychiatry worth 60 credits. One of these modules can be chosen from outside the Department, if permission is granted. Together these modules will total 180 credits.
Modules
Required Modules
You are required to take:
- Philosophy of Medicine (15 credits)
- The Concept of Mental Disorder (15 credits)
- Dissertation (30 credits)
Optional Modules
Those converting in from other subjects at undergraduate level will be strongly encouraged to take ‘General Philosophy’ as one of their options, although this will not be made strictly compulsory:
- General Philosophy (15 credits)
Students are required to make up the total of 90 credits from a range of optional modules. In any average year over 20 of the following modules may be on offer. Individual modules are not guaranteed to be running each year, and students should identify at least 10 of the following in order to avoid disappointment. Optional modules may typically include:
- Advanced Logic (15 credits)
- Aesthetics (15 credits)
- Central Thinkers in Analytic Philosophy (15 credits)
- Continental Philosophy I (15 credits)
- Early Modern Philosophy (15 credits)
- Epistemology II (15 credits)
- Ethics I (15 credits)
- Ethics II (15 credits)
- Foundations of Phenomenology (15 credits)
- Greek Philosophical Texts I: Plato (15 credits)
- Greek Philosophical Texts II: Aristotle (15 credits)
- Kant’s Philosophy (15 credits)
- Medieval Philosophy (15 credits)
- Mathematical Logic: Limitative Results (15 credits)
- Metaphysics (15 credits)
- Metaphysics II (15 credits)
- Perspectives on Death and Killing (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Language (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Medicine (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Mind I (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Mind II (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Psychology I (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Psychology II (15 credits)
- Philosophies of Religion (15 credits)
- Philosophy of Science (15 credits)
- Political Philosophy I (15 credits)
- Political Philosophy II: Special Topics (15 credits)
- Topics in Applied Ethics and Politics (15 credits)
Up to 30 credits from a range of MA modules offered across King’s College London (including up to 15 credits from Graduate Language Modules offered by King’s Language Centre) or at University College London or Birkbeck, subject to approvals.
There are a limited number of spaces available on each optional module, and you will have the opportunity to discuss your choices with your personal tutor.
Our graduates usually continue to further research, but many have also entered into the fields of teaching, management and the financial or the public sectors.