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.
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.
- Being and beauty: the philosophy of Japanese aestheticsCourse start date: Thu 15 Jun 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John GoffNot something apart from everyday life but intrinsic to it, beauty in Japanese thought does not entail perfection but the surprise of imperfect and transient being.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £71.00 Concession £45.00 - Phenomenology: an introductionCourse start date: Mon 18 Sep 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John GoffPhenomenology, 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.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £175.00 - Introduction to political philosophy
Course start date: Tue 19 Sep 2023Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerWhat 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.Full fee £199.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £129.00 - Thinking through philosophy: a guideCourse start date: Mon 23 Oct 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerWhat 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.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £79.00 Concession £64.00 - Understanding the modern worldCourse start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerExplore 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.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Being in the world: Heidegger's philosophyCourse start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John Goff“The being of 'being' is itself not a being”. Questioning the meaning of ‘Being’ lies at the root of Heidegger’s critique of the ‘crisis’ of Western culture that his philosophy sought to overcome.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Modern political philosophy: ideas and ideologies in the 21st centuryCourse start date: Tue 9 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerWhat are the key philosophical ideas behind the issues and debates of today? This is an opportunity to explore in more depth the concepts and ideologies that are shaping the politics of the 21st century.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Philosophy and cultural theoryCourse start date: Fri 12 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Barrie SelwynWe will look the philosophical underpinnings of culture through the writings of key philosophers who engage critically with the self images of the post enlightenment era. In particular we well look at Ideology, language and art in the context of cultural reproduction.Full fee £239.00 Senior fee £191.00 Concession £155.00 - Heaven and hell in world religionsCourse start date: Mon 29 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Vanessa KingCompare and contrast the afterlife beliefs of the five major religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Explore how these ideas developed and influenced each other.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £116.00 - Existentialism and the artsCourse start date: Mon 22 Apr 2024
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John GoffExistentialist themes of anxiety, anguish, dread, freedom, melancholy, loneliness, death and absurdity pervade the arts from the era of Romanticism onwards. What is the cultural significance and consequence of giving expression to such concerns?
NB: no classes on 6th and 27th May.Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £175.00 - German Idealism from Kant to Hegel: the beginnings of continental philosophy
Course start date: Tue 23 Apr 2024 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerGerman 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.Full fee £199.00
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