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.
- Phenomenology: an introductionCourse start date: Mon 20 Sep 2021
Location on this date: Online
Phenomenology, one of the most influential approaches in contemporary philosophy, asks: how do we constitute experienced reality? Following Husserl and Heidegger, phenomenologists try to understand what it means, if anything, to be in the world.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £146.00 - Chinese philosophy in a nutshellCourse start date: Mon 20 Sep 2021
Location on this date: Online
There is great richness of thinking in Chinese Philosophy. From the nature of nature to the human condition, Chinese thinkers offer much to ponder.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £42.00 - Introduction to moral philosophy
Course start date: Tue 21 Sep 2021Location on this date: Online
What’s the right thing to do? But what does ‘right’ actually mean? And what reason do I have to do it? Join us as we grapple with these fundamental questions. No class on Tues 26th October.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £219.00 Senior fee £219.00 Concession £134.00 - Introduction to political philosophyCourse start date: Tue 21 Sep 2021
Location on this date: Online
What are the ends and means of politics? Interweaving modern history and politics with key philosophical texts, study and debate the ideas, ideologies and concepts underpinning our thinking about the organisation of society.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £109.00 - What do mathematicians do? An introduction to philosophy of mathsCourse start date: Thu 23 Sep 2021
Location on this date: Online
This course offers the opportunity to explore fascinating questions concerning the nature of mathematical knowledge by providing an introduction to four major 19th and 20th century philosophies of mathematics.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £54.00 - Philosophy as literature, literature as philosophy: the legacy of Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard and NietzscheCourse start date: Fri 24 Sep 2021
Location on this date: Online
The Legacy of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.
Foundational for both existentialism and postmodernism, these philosophers were the great stylists of the post enlightenment era. In examining their works, this course will explore the unprecedented reciprocity between the literary and the philosophical in the redefining of the self and subjectivity.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £146.00 - Introduction to philosophyCourse start date: Mon 27 Sep 2021
Location on this date: Online
This problem-based introduction to philosophy explores key themes of modern philosophy, including truth, knowledge, ultimate reality and the mind-body problem.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £239.00 Concession £146.00 - Hannah Arendt: On Violence and politicsCourse start date: Sat 2 Oct 2021
Location on this date: Online
“ … power always stands in need of numbers, whereas violence … relies on implements.” “The extreme form of power is All against One, the extreme form of violence is One against All.”.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £36.00 - Where to begin? Approaches to philosophical thinking in Ancient Greece and todayCourse start date: Thu 7 Oct 2021
Location on this date: Online
This is an introduction to ancient philosophy which connects the questions of some of the earliest philosophers to questions relevant to our own time.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £159.00 Concession £121.00 - A change of perspective: Aristotle on negative and positive aspects of shameCourse start date: Thu 14 Oct 2021
Location on this date: Online
Shame usually gets bad press. In this workshop students will become familiar with Aristotle’s theory of shame and explore how it changes the negativity bias towards shame. We will show how Aristotle’s theory can be applied to analysing shame in social media culture and how it allows for a change in perspective towards social media shame. This workshop will run in a seminar format. The tutor will give an initial presentations followed by Q&A and open discussion. Power-point presentations and other materials will be available for personal study. This session is part of the 2021 Mental Wealth Festival hosted by City Lit and partners.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £5.00 Senior fee £5.00 Concession £5.00 - Japanese philosophy in a nutshellCourse start date: Mon 18 Oct 2021
Location on this date: Online
Japanese 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 £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £42.00 - A taste of gothic horror: philosophy and FrankensteinCourse start date: Sat 23 Oct 2021
Location on this date: Online
What does it mean to be human? What are the social, political, and philosophical consequences of our definitions of humanity? This course examines this question through an engagement of Modern Philosophy and Shelley’s Frankenstein.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £36.00 - Thinking through philosophy: a guideCourse start date: Mon 25 Oct 2021
Location on this date: Online
What is morality and what is it based on? Is the mind a ghost in the machine?
What can I really know? This is a beginner’s introduction to how philosophy tackles questions like these and many others.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £54.00 - Philosophy for the guiltyCourse start date: Thu 4 Nov 2021
Location on this date: Online
What can philosophy offer us once we have transgressed, fallen or sinned? You could say that philosophy only truly comes alive to us once we have betrayed our own values. Only then are we ready for philosophy's interrogation.
This course may include content that some learners may find of a sensitive or challenging nature.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £54.00 - Buddhist philosophy in a nutshellCourse start date: Mon 15 Nov 2021
Location on this date: Online
As an ‘atheistic’ religion, Buddhism offers a way beyond the natural unsatisfactoriness of human life not by abandoning living in this world but rather by giving it a new ‘enlightened’ meaning.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £42.00
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