Religions, Philosophies and Ethics

• Opportunity to study current issues
• Encouragement to be open minded
• Attention to individual students
• Enquiry into ultimate questions
• High quality, academically led teaching
• Developing skills for global citizenship
• First-hand, experiential learning

Religions, Philosophies and Ethics explores responses to ultimate questions and crucial issues facing humanity. We adopt global, contemporary and applied approaches to the exploration of these questions and issues.

Religions, Philosophies and Ethics is offered as a Specialised Award. This means that you are not required to combine this course with any other subject. Alternatively, you may study either Philosophy & Ethics or Study of Religions as part of a Combined Degree with another subject.

Why study Religions, Philosophies and Ethics?

"What I love about this course is being able to discuss and explore topical issues within philosophy and religions with an open mind. Bath Spa has a very good reputation and a very personal feel to it."

Religions, philosophies and ethical systems have powerful impact on the lives of individuals and societies today as well as in the past. In studying Religions, Philosophies and Ethics you explore alternative answers to life’s ultimate questions: who am I? how should I spend my life? what happens when I die?

You discover radically different ways of seeing the world, and reflect on your own beliefs, values and identity. You understand the philosophical and/or religious underpinning of ethical standpoints and how these can be applied to contemporary moral and social issues. You explore sources of knowledge and how we can be certain what is true.

•    Global religions and world philosophies
We explore religions, philosophies and ethics from a world perspective, not just a Western one.  We include the philosophies and ethics of the Indian subcontinent and China as well as Anglo-American and European approaches. We study a wide range of religious traditions, from Buddhism to Christianity to Paganism, with a focus on living religions followed by people you can meet today.

•    Open and exploratory
We stress that we are studying religions, trying to understand, rather than trying to convert. We are equally welcoming of those who belong to a religious tradition and those who don’t. That is not to say that we do not also take a critical approach to religions and philosophies, and engage in dialogue with their truth claims and ethical positions.

•    Doing philosophy
Rather than teaching philosophy primarily as a history of ideas, we are concerned with enabling you to develop as analytical, critical and systematic thinkers. The programme has been constructed to foreground teaching and learning events that promote the formation of subject-specific and employment-facing thinking and practical skills.  

•    First hand experience and community placement
"My stay at the Buddhist monastery was challenging, yet very rewarding. I learnt a lot about Theravada Buddhism, but about myself, too."

We think it is important to meet people from religious and belief traditions. Our programme includes visit to religious communities, mosques, temples, gurdwaras and churches. You may visit the Goddess temple in Glastonbury, meet a Druid or have an opportunity to interview a Buddhist monk. In the third year you will have the opportunity to spend a week living with a religious or belief community: such as a Buddhist monastery, a Christian convent, the Hare Krishnas, the British Humanist Association or the Salvation Army. For further details see www.livingreligion.co.uk.

•    Contemporary / Applied
The programme is aimed at exploring how religious, philosophical and ethical perspectives can be applied to a range of contemporary debates, issues and problems, such as the ethics of war, ecological ethics, education and religious and philosophical views on gender.

•    Excellent teaching  
Our external examiners praised us last year for the excellent quality of our feedback to students on their work. Tutors think it is important to make time for individual students.

•    Appropriate for teaching RE
A popular career destination for our students is teaching RE in primary or secondary schools, or sixth-form colleges. Every year the numbers of pupils taking GCSE and A level Religious Studies is going up, and popular papers include religious, philosophical and ethical topics.

•    Chance to study abroad
One semester can be spent abroad, for example at the College of Charleston in the USA or the University of Helsinki in Finland. There is also the opportunity of a one month summer school studying religion and culture in Korea, with a focus on Buddhism, and we are exploring links with other universities.