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.
- Liars, heaps and surprise tests: an introduction to paradoxCourse Date: Tue 1 Jun 2021
Location on this date: Online
A paradox is an apparently absurd conclusion derived from seemingly uncontroversial premises through supposedly valid reasoning. This course will introduce you to six major philosophical paradoxes and some of the attempts to solve them.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £79.00 - Philosophy for life: happiness, laughter and homeCourse Date: Thu 3 Jun 2021
Location on this date: Online
This course is about trying to interrogate one’s own beliefs and attitudes, especially the attitudes that most shape our life.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £49.00 Senior fee £49.00 Concession £30.00 - The oneness of time and being: explore the Zen philosophy of Eihei DogenCourse Date: Sat 5 Jun 2021
Location on this date: Online
“Life is not coming, not going, not present, not becoming. … life is the manifestation of the whole works, death is the manifestation of the whole works.” - Dogen.
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 £55.00 Concession £42.00 - Aristotle’s notion of memory: is it still relevant today?Course Date: Mon 21 Jun 2021
Location on this date: Online
What does Aristotle say about memory? Does his account make sense to us? This course by Anita Kasabova explores Aristotle’s philosophy of memory from a contemporary perspective. Extracts from his treatise ‘On Memory and Recollection’ are examined with a view to current discussions.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Should we be stoic? How ancient wisdom can help us in the modern worldCourse Date: Tue 22 Jun 2021
Location on this date: Online
In our age of tumult, the Stoic mantra ‘No person can be harmed’ brings reassurance. But what did the stoics mean by this and were they right?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Philosophy of musicCourse Date: Tue 6 Jul 2021
Location on this date: Online
What is music? Does it consist of sounds, scores or something else? Is it a language? Can it express emotions? Or be objectively beautiful? Why do we value it? Can we always differentiate between music and other sounds?
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £60.00 - Beyond the human: explore the philosophy of artificial intelligence and lifeCourse Date: Thu 8 Jul 2021
Location on this date: Online
The fields of synthetic biology and artificial life are merging with artificial intelligence to put our conceptions of what it is to be human in doubt. What are the consequences of thinking ‘beyond the human’?
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 of artCourse Date: Sat 10 Jul 2021
Location on this date: Online
Why do we value art? For the pleasure it gives us, the emotion it expresses, its truthfulness, its form? In this introduction to the philosophy of art we will consider various approaches to these questions and others.
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 - Collective memory and Covid 19Course Date: Sat 17 Jul 2021
Location on this date: Online
How does a collective memory come about? What will we remember of the corona pandemic? This workshop by Anita Kasabova explores the role of memory in the time of Covid-19. Participants are invited to share their experience as first-hand views of a collective memory in the making.
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 £49.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £30.00 - Philosophy of the sublime: horrorCourse Date: Tue 20 Jul 2021
Location on this date: Online
The sublime - dreadful, ecstatic, terrifying, awesome, uncanny, perverse - names the uncommon in human experience. The dark sublime of horror reveals our mortality and those dangerous transformations of self that lead us into an unsettling beyond.
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 £55.00 Concession £42.00 - Social media and the philosophy of shameCourse Date: Sat 24 Jul 2021
Location on this date: Online
What is shame and how has it evolved in social media cultures? This course by Anita Kasabova examines shame situations in social media. Negative and positive imports of shame are explored, using insights from Aristotle’s theory of shame.
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 £79.00 Senior fee £63.00 Concession £48.00 - A taste of philosophy
Course Date: Sat 24 Jul 2021Location on this date: Online
Have 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 £19.00 Senior fee £15.00 Concession £12.00 - Making sense of fictions through philosophyCourse Date: Sat 7 Aug 2021
Location on this date: Online
Our ability not only to talk about fictional characters, but to say true things about them, has puzzled philosophers throughout history. This introductory course will show you why fictional characters present such a puzzle.
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 - Philosophy of the sublime: magic and imaginationCourse Date: Tue 10 Aug 2021
Location on this date: Online
The philosophical sublime refers to those terrifying and delightful realities that exist beyond the common everyday, it is these that the magician seeks to experience and use to achieve a cosmic elevation of the self.
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 - Theseus' ship and other metaphysical puzzles: explore the concept of identityCourse Date: Sat 21 Aug 2021
Location on this date: Online
This course will introduce students to a number of well-known puzzles concerning the concept of identity – and to some of their solutions.
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
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