Anthropology and Philosophy | Undergraduate Degrees

Anthropology and Philosophy, _MA

Introduction

Anthropology and Philosophy at Aberdeen is a great combination, adding to your existing grounding in what it means to ‘be human’ with a deeper exploration of the the big questions that we humans have, and how we try to find the answers. The skills you will develop will put you in an excellent position to choose your career path in any area of business or other sector.

Did you know? Anthropology at Aberdeen is ranked 1st in the UK for Overall Student Satisfaction (National Student Survey 2024)

Study Information

At a Glance

Learning Mode: On Campus Learning
Degree Qualification: MA
Duration: 48 months
Study Mode: Full Time
Start Month: September
UCAS Code: LV65
Pathway Programme Available: Undergraduate Foundation Programme

Anthropology will give you a thorough grounding in humanity, the differences in human cultures and communities and how they have developed. You will gain insights into human behaviours, beliefs and attitudes all over the world, exploring connections between aspects of life such as family, economics, politics and religion.

Philosophy attempts to answer questions such as ‘what is knowledge?’ and ‘what is truth?’ It looks at how we apply reasoning and argument to these and other questions of fundamental importance to humans.

What makes Philosophy at Aberdeen especially attractive is the breadth of courses, the user-friendly materials you will use and the experts who will teach you. In your first year alone, you will study topics such as How Should One Live? Controversial Questions, and Experience, Knowledge and Reality.

The skills you will develop through this combination are greatly sought by employers and can be applied in a range of fields. Many of our graduates now work in research, teaching, media, politics, or in business or public sector organisations in a host of roles with international and cultural contexts.

What You'll Study

Year 1

Compulsory Courses

Getting Started at the University of Aberdeen (PD1002): This course, which is prescribed for level 1 undergraduate students and articulating students who are in their first year at the University, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.

Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.

Detailed course information
Introduction to Anthropology: Questions of Diversity (AT1502): 15 Credit Points

In this course students will be offered an extended introduction to social anthropology and will focus on topics: language and culture, belief and religion, gender and sex, kinship, and race. Students will develop and refine their understanding of major issues in the discipline of social anthropology through staff lectures, tutorials, and ethnographic films.

Detailed course information
Experience, Knowledge and Reality (PH1023): 15 Credit Points

How “real” is reality? How does the mind relate to the world? This course introduces two approaches to answering these questions: rationalism and empiricism. By reading Rene Descartes’ Meditations on First Philosophy, we learn about Descartes’ rationalist approach to knowledge, reality, mind-body dualism, and God’s necessary existence. Through David Hume’s Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding see how Hume grounds knowledge in experience. We read Hume on impressions and ideas, induction, causality, miracles and critically compare and examine Descartes’ and Hume’s arguments by drawing on readers and critics.

Detailed course information
Introduction to Anthropology: Peoples of the World (AT1003): 15 Credit Points

Anthropology explores ways of life in societies and cultures around the world. Through fieldwork in the places people live, anthropologists connect global issues with everyday lives. In this course you’ll learn about the key topics of anthropology and its research methods. Lectures introduce anthropological research topics such as ritual, climate change and indigenous rights. Small group tutorials will allow you to debate the issues and share your perspectives.

Detailed course information
Academic Writing for Social Sciences (AW1006): This compulsory evaluation is designed to find out if your academic writing is of a sufficient standard to enable you to succeed at university and, if you need it, to provide support to improve. It is completed on-line via MyAberdeen with clear instructions to guide you through it. If you pass the evaluation at the first assessment it will not take much of your time. If you do not, you will be provided with resources to help you improve. This evaluation does not carry credits but if you do not complete it this will be recorded on your degree transcript.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Plus two of the following courses.

Plus further courses of choice to gain a total of 120 credits.

Controversial Questions (PH1027): 15 Credit Points

We examine questions such as: Is eating animals immoral? Is being a good or bad person a matter of luck? If so, are we justified in punishing bad people? Should anyone be able to set limits on what you can do with your own body, even if it's ‘for your own good’? Should everyone be allowed to state their mind, even if their views are harmful or offensive? Is censorship ever justifiable? Do you have a moral obligation to help those worse-off? Are you unknowingly biased against underprivileged groups?

Detailed course information
How Should One Live? (PH1522): 15 Credit Points

What does it mean to live a good life? How do we determine what is good or bad, right or wrong? Are some ways of living better or worse for us? In this course we will look at some central philosophical approaches to answering these questions. Traditions we may engage with include virtue ethics, Chinese ethics, deontology, consequentialism, and feminist ethics. Along the way, we will read the original work of some of the most important scholars in the history of moral philosophy. Students will be encouraged to think deeply, and to explore their own views about what it means to live a (morally) good life.

Detailed course information
Logic and Argument (PH1518): 15 Credit Points

What makes an argument a good argument? What are the correct rules for reasoning? How should we revise our beliefs in the light of new evidence? What should we think about paradoxes?

This course provides an introduction to logic and tools for successfully evaluating arguments. Some of the topics covered include validity, soundness, consistency, entailment, provability, belief revision and paradoxes. The language of propositional logic and key ideas in Bayesian epistemology are introduced. The course develops the ability to symbolise English sentences into formal languages and to construct truth tables, truth trees and natural deduction proofs. Logical concepts are applied to everyday thinking as well as to philosophical puzzles and paradoxes.

Detailed course information
Environmental Ethics (PH1537): 15 Credit Points

We are living through an environmental crisis. This is well recognised and widely discussed. Most of this discussion focuses on what we should do to deal with the crisis, and rightly so. But it is also well recognised that the current crisis is deeply rooted in how we think of nature and the natural world and why we value it. Environmental Ethics helps us think about these foundational issues and get clear on why - and not just how - we should save the planet.

Detailed course information

Year 2

Key Debates in Anthropology (AT2010): 30 Credit Points

This course explores some of the key questions that anthropologists have debated: what it is to be human, the nature of human interaction with other humans and with other species, the role language plays in thought and culture, and the different ways that people perceive the world and act within it. Themes that will be discussed in this course include rationality, language, species difference, race, and place and community.

Detailed course information
Reimagining Colonialism (AT2515): 30 Credit Points

This course will explore contemporary colonial expressions from an anthropological perspective. It will be split into two main themes: Material Histories; and Mediated Histories. Within these themes it will address topics such as the "capturing" of cultures in museums, kinship and politics, gendered colonialism, economic development, media, aboriginal rights and contemporary resistance movements.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Select further courses of choice to make up 120 credits, of which 45 credits must be from level 2 Philosophy courses.

Year 3

Compulsory Courses

Anthropological Theory (AT3027)

Anthropological Theory (AT3027): 30 Credit Points

This course explores theoretical issues and key debates in contemporary anthropology. We begin with the questioning of the central concepts of culture and society in anthropology during the 1980s. Following this, we ask: how can anthropology proceed if the targets of its investigation can no longer be understood as objective entities? How can anthropology proceed if the anthropologist themselves is inevitably implicated in and part of those very targets? To look for possible answers, the course examines current anthropological interest in power and history, political economy and phenomenology, experience, embodiment and practice, ontology and things that speak.

Detailed course information

Optional Courses

Select a further 30 credit points from Level 3 Anthropology course(s)(see list below) and 60 credit points from Level 3 Philosophy courses.

Comparative Constitutional Systems (AT3557): 30 Credit Points

This course will examine anthropological theories of the state, political organization and violence. Through an analysis of both modern and historical case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, we will critically examine theories of state of modern and non-modern state formation and organisation, and the nexus of religion and colonial history. In the second half of the course, particular attention will we paid to the ethnography of violence as a mode of state and proto-state political action.

Detailed course information
Emotion, Self and Society (AT3558): 30 Credit Points

This course addresses the anthropological study of emotion and self. It covers the different theoretical approaches to emotion, self and subjectivity. The broad questions addressed revolve around the cultural construction of emotion and self, and the entanglement of psychodynamic processes and power in the formation of the subject. The topics covered include anger and fear, grief and compassion, personhood, technologies of self and subjectification, identification and melancholia.

Detailed course information
The Political Anthropology of Indigenous Rights (AT3559): 30 Credit Points

Indigeneity is one of the more controversial relations created by globalisation. Widely criticised for being ‘essentialist’ and ‘anti-liberal’, it is one of the more quickly growing identities recognized by the United Nations and defended in the constitutions of many nation-states. Using anthropological insight, this course survey the history of the term, study its expansion from the ‘salt-water colonies’ and ‘settler states’ to the heartland of Europe, and explore some of the challenges and advantages of the term. The seminar will explore how the term has come to be used in different post-colonial situations from the classic “heartlands” of indigeneity in North America, Latin America, and Northern Fennoscandia, to new contexts in China, India, Africa. The course will also explore how the politics of aboriginal rights has become closely linked to struggles for recognition, environmentalism, and collective struggles against neo-liberalism. The course is run in a seminar format with students encouraged to weigh and evaluate the results of their reading.

Detailed course information
More Than Human (AT3560): 30 Credit Points

This course explores new directions in how we think about humans and other species. Recent years have seen an upsurge in interest in how the social sciences and humanities deal with animals, plants and other organisms and we scrutinise these cutting edge ideas in depth. A lot of emphasis is placed on trying to think through real life encounters and issues, from a walk in the park to new revelations about life from the bottom of the ocean. Although the focus is on anthropological work, the course should appeal to students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Detailed course information

Year 4

Optional Courses

You must choose one of the following dissertation courses:

Joint Honours Dissertation in Anthropology (AT4047)
Philosophy Dissertation (PH402D)

Plus further credit points from level 4 courses in Philosophy to gain a total of 60 credits in the discipline.
NOTE: You are required to gain a minimum of 90 credit points from level 4 courses.

Joint Honours Dissertation in Anthropology (AT4047): 30 Credit Points

This course is open to joint honours students in anthropology. Having chosen a topic for their study, students will be allocated a supervisor and carry out readings, research and writing under the guidance of their supervisor. Students will write a 10,000-word dissertation based on library research.

Detailed course information
Dissertation (PH402D): 30 Credit Points

The dissertation is on a topic in philosophy. The specific topic will be chosen by the student with the approval of the supervisor. The choice of topics is restricted insofar as it must fall within the teaching competence of the supervisor.

Another dissertation or Project course must not be undertaken alongside the Philosophy Dissertation

Detailed course information
Roads, Mobility, Movement, Migration (AT4061): 30 Credit Points

In this course students will be introduced to the topical themes in contemporary anthropology: roads, automobility, car cultures, migration, road narratives, and roads in film and literature. The course is based on the notions of movement and mobility and will incorporate the ethnographic material from the North, including Scotland and Siberia. During the course students will conduct their own research on the road of their choice. The course includes: a fieldwork element, screenings of documentary films about roads, and weekly student-led discussions.

Detailed course information
Anthropology of the North (AT4062): 30 Credit Points

Through a series of lectures and a mix of tutor and student led tutorials, this course focuses on the sometimes difficult history of anthropology and the circumpolar north. Misconceptions (sometimes intentionally created) about the people who live there and their relationships to the environment have informed both state policy and anthropological theory and now is the time for a new anthropology of the north to set the record straight. Students will be encouraged and expected to do their own research on topics of their own choosing and bring these insights back to the course through lively tutorial discussions.

Detailed course information
Comparative Constitutional Systems (AT4557): 30 Credit Points

This course will examine anthropological theories of the state, political organization and violence. Through an analysis of both modern and historical case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas, we will critically examine theories of state of modern and non-modern state formation and organisation, and the nexus of religion and colonial history. In the second half of the course, particular attention will we paid to the ethnography of violence as a mode of state and proto-state political action.

Detailed course information
Emotion, Self and Society (AT4558): 30 Credit Points

This course addresses the anthropological study of emotion and self. It covers the different theoretical approaches to emotion, self and subjectivity. The broad questions addressed revolve around the cultural construction of emotion and self, and the entanglement of psychodynamic processes and power in the formation of the subject. The topics covered include anger and fear, grief and compassion, personhood, technologies of self and subjectification, identification and melancholia.

Detailed course information
The Political Anthropology of Indigenous Rights (AT4559): 30 Credit Points

Indigeneity is one of the more controversial relations created by globalisation. Widely criticised for being ‘essentialist’ and ‘anti-liberal’, it is one of the more quickly growing identities recognized by the United Nations and defended in the constitutions of many nation-states. Using anthropological insight, this course survey the history of the term, study its expansion from the ‘salt-water colonies’ and ‘settler states’ to the heartland of Europe, and explore some of the challenges and advantages of the term. The seminar will explore how the term has come to be used in different post-colonial situations from the classic “heartlands” of indigeneity in North America, Latin America, and Northern Fennoscandia, to new contexts in China, India, Africa. The course will also explore how the politics of aboriginal rights has become closely linked to struggles for recognition, environmentalism, and collective struggles against neo-liberalism. The course is run in a seminar format with students encouraged to weigh and evaluate the results of their reading.

Detailed course information
More Than Human (AT4560): 30 Credit Points

This course explores new directions in how we think about humans and other species. Recent years have seen an upsurge in interest in how the social sciences and humanities deal with animals, plants and other organisms and we scrutinise these cutting edge ideas in depth. A lot of emphasis is placed on trying to think through real life encounters and issues, from a walk in the park to new revelations about life from the bottom of the ocean. Although the focus is on anthropological work, the course should appeal to students from a wide range of backgrounds.

Detailed course information

We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.

Within Subject Areas

How You'll Study

Learning Methods

Individual Projects
Lectures
Research
Tutorials

Assessment Methods

Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods:

Coursework such as essays and reports completed throughout the course.
Practical assessments of the skills and competencies they learn on the course.
Written examinations at the end of each course.

The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.

Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.

Why Study Anthropology and Philosophy?

Aberdeen is one of the fastest growing Anthropology departments in the UK
Study at a nationally and internationally renowned university for Anthropology. The University of Aberdeen is ranked 3rd in the UK for Anthropology and Archaeology (Guardian University Guide 2025), 4th in the UK for Anthropology (The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025) and in the Global Top 100 for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024)
Aberdeen is ranked 1st in the UK for overall student satisfaction in Anthropology (National Student Survey 2024)
Our core staff specialise in regions as diverse as Canada, the Central Asian Republics, Iceland and Scandinavia, Siberia, Scotland and the UK, South America, Tibet and the Himalayas
We offer innovative ideas and a fresh vision of the subject, with an emphasis throughout on work at the cutting-edge of the discipline and research
A vibrant student anthropology society regularly organises academic and social events bringing together undergraduate and postgraduate students with staff outside the classroom
Two key features make Philosophy at Aberdeen especially attractive: the breadth of the courses on offer and the user-friendly character of course materials and the staff who deliver them
New students can choose from a varied menu including Moral Philosophy, Informal and Formal Reasoning, Metaphysics, Epistemology, the Philosophy of Science and History of Philosophy

Interested in this programme?

Call +44 (0)1224 272090 Email study@abdn.ac.uk Enquire Now Using an online form Next Steps Find out how to apply

Aberdeen Global Scholarship

The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme.

View the Aberdeen Global Scholarship

Entry Requirements

Qualifications

The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.

General Entry Requirements

2024 Entry
2025 Entry

2024 Entry: SQA Highers

Standard: AABB

Applicants who have achieved AABB (or better), are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers/ Advanced Highers may be required.

Minimum: BBB

Applicants who have achieved BBB (or are on course to achieve this by the end of S5) are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers/Advanced Highers will normally be required.

Adjusted: BB

Applicants who achieve BB over S4 and S5 and who meet one of the widening access criteria are guaranteed a conditional offer. Good performance in additional Highers/Advanced Highers will be required.

More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.

A LEVELS

Standard: BBB

Minimum: BBC

Adjusted: CCC

More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.

International Baccalaureate

32 points, including 5, 5, 5 at HL.

Irish Leaving Certificate

5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3.

Entry from College

Advanced entry to this degree may be possible from some HNC/HND qualifications, please see www.abdn.ac.uk/study/articulation for more details.
2025 Entry: SQA Highers

Standard: BBBB

Applicants who have achieved BBBB (or better), are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers/ Advanced Highers may be required.

Minimum: BBC

Applicants who have achieved BBC at Higher and meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed an unconditional offer for MA, BSc and BEng degrees.

Adjusted: BB

Applicants who have achieved BB at Higher, and who meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed an adjusted conditional offer for MA, BSc and BEng degrees.

We would expect to issue a conditional offer asking for one additional C grade at Higher.

Foundation Apprenticeship: One FA is equivalent to a Higher at A. It cannot replace any required subjects.

More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.

A LEVELS

Standard: BBC

Minimum: BCC

Adjusted: CCC

More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.

International Baccalaureate

32 points, including 5, 5, 5 at HL.

Irish Leaving Certificate

5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3.

Entry from College

Advanced entry to this degree may be possible from some HNC/HND qualifications, please see www.abdn.ac.uk/study/articulation for more details.

The information displayed in this section shows a shortened summary of our entry requirements. For more information, or for full entry requirements for Arts and Social Sciences degrees, see our detailed entry requirements section.

English Language Requirements

To study for an Undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:

IELTS Academic:

OVERALL - 6.0 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0

TOEFL iBT:

OVERALL - 78 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21

PTE Academic:

OVERALL - 59 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59

Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency:

OVERALL - 169 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169

International Applicants

Additional details for international applicants, including information specific to your country or territory, are available here..

International Applicants who do not meet the Entry Requirements

The University of Aberdeen International Study Centre offers preparation programmes for international students who do not meet the direct entry requirements for undergraduate study. Discover your foundation pathway here.

Fees and Funding

You will be classified as one of the fee categories below.

Fee information
Fee category	Cost
RUK	£9,535
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£9,535
EU / International students	£20,800
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£20,800
Self-funded international students commencing eligible undergraduate programmes in 2025/26 will receive a £6,000 tuition waiver for every year of their programme - See full terms and conditions
Home Students	£1,820
Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year	£1,820

International Applicants

More information about Fee status, living costs, and work allowances for international students is available here.

Additional Fees

In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips. Any additional fees for a course can be found in our Catalogue of Courses.
For more information about tuition fees for this programme, including payment plans and our refund policy, please visit our Tuition Fees page.

Scholarships and Funding

UK Scholarship

Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.

Aberdeen Global Scholarship

The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme. More about this funding opportunity.

Funding Database

View all funding options in our Funding Database.

Careers

You can become an expert researcher, advisor and teacher upon further study, or you may like to pursue a range of careers in the civil service, sales, business and administration

Useful Fact about this Degree

Aberdeen is ranked 3rd in the UK for Anthropology and Archaeology (Guardian University Guide 2025) and in the Global Top 100 for Anthropology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024)

Our Experts

Information About Staff Changes

You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.

Discover Uni

Discover Uni draws together comparable information in areas students have identified as important in making decisions about what and where to study. You can compare these and other data for different degree programmes in which you are interested.

Get in Touch

Contact Details

Address: Student Recruitment & Admissions
University of Aberdeen
University Office
Regent Walk
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX

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Anthropology and Philosophy, MA

Introduction

Study Information

At a Glance

What You'll Study

Compulsory Courses

Optional Courses

Within Subject Areas

How You'll Study

Learning Methods

Assessment Methods

Why Study Anthropology and Philosophy?

Interested in this programme?

Aberdeen Global Scholarship

Entry Requirements

Qualifications

General Entry Requirements

English Language Requirements

International Applicants

International Applicants who do not meet the Entry Requirements

Fees and Funding

International Applicants

Additional Fees

Scholarships and Funding

UK Scholarship

Aberdeen Global Scholarship

Funding Database

Careers

Useful Fact about this Degree

Our Experts

Information About Staff Changes

Related Undergraduate Degrees

Discover Uni

Get in Touch

Contact Details

Social Media

Anthropology and Philosophy, _MA