Explore Philosophy, Religion & Belief
From the meaning of life to moral dilemmas: explore the questions philosophers and thinkers have pondered for centuries. Our daytime, evening and weekend courses cover a wide range of subjects. Join a class to encounter ethics and existentialism, memory and the mind, or discover the paradoxes and politics of the modern world.
Choosing your course
Many of our courses are delivered online. For more information about our live online courses, please see our guide to online learning.
Expert tutors
Our classes are taught by experienced, professional tutors with a wide range of specialisms in philosophy, from ethics to political philosophy, and from Eastern philosophies to psychoanalysis to name just a few. Many of our tutors also teach at London universities and bring their expertise from other academic disciplines, for example art, literature and politics. Please refer to specific course outlines for individual tutor biographies.
Studying at City Lit
Philosophy courses are offered in a range of formats and lengths - from a single day to a twelve-week course, during the day, in the evening and at weekends. Courses can be studied singly or in combination with other courses as your interests and learning develop in new directions. A number of our past philosophy students have gone on to study philosophy at university at degree and masters level.
Find a course
Browse our range of philosophy courses in London and online below to choose your perfect option: both complete beginners and returning students are equally welcome at City Lit.
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Communicating with the dead: the faith and science of spiritualism
Course Date: Sat 6 Mar 2021
Location on this date: OnlineSince Victorian times Spiritualists, from eminent scholars to ardent Christians, have been convinced that we can talk to the dead. Explore some of the scientific techniques and religious arguments that have been used to test the reality of the spirit world.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £69.00Senior fee: £55.00Concession: £42.00 -
Phenomenology: culture and the 'lifeworld'
Course Date: Mon 8 Mar 2021
Location on this date: OnlineThe ‘lifeworld’ is the cultural background in and through which we live. It shapes our experience and expectations of realiity. What is the phenomenology of our contemporary global lifeworld?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £49.00Senior fee: £49.00Concession: £30.00 -
Ethics and the modern world: how do we fulfil our duty to protect the environment?
Course Date: Wed 10 Mar 2021
Location on this date: Online
This short course is part 3 of the wider Ethics and the Modern World series of courses, each of which covers a major subject area within practical ethics, specifically within the discipline known as bioethics: biomedical ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £49.00Senior fee: £49.00Concession: £30.00 -
Miriam the prophetess, Ruth the migrant and Queen Esther: stories and afterlives of biblical women
Course Date: Sat 20 Mar 2021
Location on this date: OnlineExplore the biblical stories of three women, each representing an aspect of religious, political and social life of ancient Israel. These stories have inspired many writers, and been transformed to adapt to the social, political and religious concerns of the times.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £59.00Senior fee: £47.00Concession: £36.00 -
A taste of philosophy
Course Date: Sat 27 Mar 2021 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineHave you ever wondered what philosophy is? What do philosophers talk about? Can they tell you the meaning of life or is it just jargon and navel gazing? Come along and find out.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £19.00Senior fee: £15.00Concession: £12.00 -
Constructing the witch: how women became maleficent
Course Date: Sat 10 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineThis study day will examine the question of the association of women with magic and witchcraft.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £59.00Senior fee: £47.00Concession: £36.00 -
Philosophy and the meaning of life
Course Date: Mon 12 Apr 2021 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineSome philosophers have insisted that philosophy should explain the meaning of our existence. What does it mean for us to be? And how then should we live? This course examines some seriously philosophical answers.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £229.00Senior fee: £229.00Concession: £140.00 -
Understanding the modern world
Course Date: Mon 12 Apr 2021 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: OnlineExplore the ideas of four key thinkers whose ideas have vitally shaped our world. Examine their views on morality, meaning, the role and status of women, human nature, political and economic injustice and much more.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £229.00Senior fee: £183.00Concession: £140.00 -
Japanese philosophy
Course Date: Mon 12 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineJapanese philosophy extends well beyond Zen, with several philosophical traditions including that of the modern Kyoto School. Developing distinct cultural, aesthetic and political concepts, Japanese philosophers offer a rich field of thought.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £229.00Senior fee: £183.00Concession: £140.00 -
German Idealism from Kant to Hegel: the beginnings of continental philosophy
Course Date: Wed 21 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineGerman philosophers created the most ambitious and imaginative systems of thought of modern times against the backdrop of revolution and war. This creative and speculative beginning to modern continental philosophy is an exciting intellectual adventure.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £169.00Senior fee: £169.00Concession: £103.00 -
The decline of truth from pragmatism to postmodernism
Course Date: Wed 21 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineDo we live in a post-truth world? Should all our beliefs be subject to revision or are there universal truths we can’t doubt? Join us for a retrospective on a century of scepticism and relativism.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £209.00Senior fee: £167.00Concession: £127.00 -
The symmetry of things: an introduction to group theory
Course Date: Wed 21 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineSymmetry lies close to the heart of art, design, science and nature. This course embeds the abstract study of this subject in the arts and sciences, providing an accessible taste of modern mathematics.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £229.00Senior fee: £183.00Concession: £140.00 -
Two thousand years of women in philosophy: from Hypatia to Angela Davies
Course Date: Wed 21 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlinePhilosophy is the oldest academic subject from which all other disciplines emerged. But philosophy has historically excluded women, and, to this day, continues to be the most male-dominated discipline in the humanities. The underrepresentation of women in philosophy is now recognised as a problem, and there are efforts to rectify this. The book, The Philosopher Queens: The Lives and Legacies of Philosophy’s Unsung Women, invites us to explore the lives and ideas of women philosophers.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £229.00Senior fee: £229.00Concession: £140.00 -
Love, sex and robots: a philosophical investigation
Course Date: Thu 22 Apr 2021
Location on this date: OnlineSex robots are coming. But will this technology lead to a happier world in which sexual inequalities are addressed? Or will sexbots undermine our human relationships by perpetuating troubling attitudes toward women, minorities, and consent?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £89.00Senior fee: £89.00Concession: £54.00 -
Minds, brains and related philosophical headaches
Course Date: Thu 22 Apr 2021
Location on this date: Online“No Brain, No Pain” — that’s hardly controversial. But is having an experience or—indeed—entertaining a thought
nothing else than neural activity? In this course we will look at this and some related philosophical questions.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee: £209.00Senior fee: £167.00Concession: £127.00
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