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 empathy: the philosophy of Edith SteinCourse start date: Sat 3 Jun 2023
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John GoffThis course aims to make Stein’s thought more familiar by examining her contribution to a philosophical-phenomenological understanding of faith and religion.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - The Socratic philosophers: PlatoCourse start date: Mon 5 Jun 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: John GoffPlato’s philosophy is the foundation of Western thought. It remains essential to a philosophical understanding the human condition.
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 £35.00 - 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 - Philosophy of artCourse start date: Sat 8 Jul 2023 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Christopher HornerWhy 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.Full fee £59.00 - 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 - 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 - Constructing the witch: how women became maleficent
Course start date: Sat 28 Oct 2023Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Ann JeffersThis study day will examine the question of the association of women with magic and witchcraft.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £47.00 Concession £38.00 - Philosophy reading groupCourse start date: Wed 1 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Kate BanksDescartes’ Meditations is arguably the foundational text of modern Western philosophy influencing not only the what of philosophy, but the how and the why. Reading it together, we’ll discover the stone that created ripples still affecting our thinking today.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £97.00 - Greek philosophy: the Hellenistic periodCourse start date: Thu 2 Nov 2023
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: John GoffThe pursuit of happiness is ongoing. In the ancient Greek world this gave rise to several ‘philosophies of life’ that remain the cornerstone of contemporary attitudes. Join this course to explore their key sources.
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 £99.00 Concession £64.00 - The great philosophersCourse start date: Mon 8 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Oliver JosiahExplore the ideas of major philosophers from Plato to Sartre. How does Western philosophy differ from religion
and science? What problems have the great philosophers tried to solve?
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This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £239.00 - 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 - Philosophy and memoryCourse start date: Tue 9 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Anita KasabovaWhat is memory? How does memory impact our sense of self and time? Why does memory often go wrong? If our memory is unreliable, can it provide knowledge of our personal past? What is collective memory? This course explores memory from philosophical and psychological perspectives.
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 £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 - An introduction to the philosophy of mindCourse start date: Tue 9 Jan 2024
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Ariel Kernberg“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.
NB There will be no class on 13/02/24.
This course will be delivered online. See the ‘What is the course about?’ section in course details for more information.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £149.00
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