Departmental website: lse.ac.uk/philosophy|
Number of graduate students (full-time equivalent)
Taught: 66
Research: 16
Number of faculty (full-time equivalent): 12
RAE: 65% of the Department's research was rated world leading or internationally excellent
Location: Lakatos Building
About the Department
The Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method is widely recognised as one of the leading departments in the philosophy of science. The Department's strengths are in general philosophy of science (in particular realism, causation, modelling, and confirmation), philosophy of the natural science (in particular philosophy of physics, biology and medicine) and philosophy of social science and economics, most notably methodology of the social sciences, rational choice theory and philosophy of public policy. We are committed research that makes a significant difference not only in philosophy and the philosophies of the various sciences, but also in the practice of the sciences themselves - from economics and political science to physics, biology and medicine. Our teaching is research-led: courses cover cutting-edge material and are taught by experts in the field.
The range of graduate master's degrees offered by the Department reflects its strengths: it offers four different MSc programmes, each dedicated to the teaching of one of its particular specialities. The MSc programmes are complemented by an MPhil/PhD programme which creates an active intellectual environment with students working in philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, philosophy of economics, philosophy and public policy, rational choice and scientific methodology.
The Department is closely associated with the Centre for the Philosophy of the Natural and the Social Sciences| which hosts leading visiting scholars and supports a range of research projects, seminars and lecture series and the Forum for European Philosophy| which runs a full and varied programme of philosophy and inter disciplinary events in the UK.
The Department administers the prestigious Lakatos prize for an outstanding book in philosophy of science and hosts the annual Auguste Comte Memorial Lectures by a leading scholar in the philosophy of social science.
London provides a philosophical environment that is beyond compare. The Department is a member of the Institute of Philosophy of the School of Advanced Study of the University of London| which organises a large number of conferences, seminars, and public lectures every year, and which supports lecture series such as the Logic and Metaphysics Forum and the Aesthetics Forum. Other London Colleges run seminars and lectures that are open to LSE students, and the meetings of the Aristotelian Society, the Royal Institute of Philosophy, as well as the British Society for the Philosophy of Science are held in London.
Upon graduation students pursue a wide variety of careers. For those who wish to pursue an academic career an MSc provides an ideal springboard for a PhD. But an MSc also opens doors to many other careers. Our students go on to work as consultants, bankers, journalists, civil servants, or teachers, and yet others work for NGO's or international organisations such as the UN or UNICEF.
In the Philosophical Gourmet Report 2009 the Department was ranked first in the world for philosophy of the social sciences; joint second in the world for philosophy of science; joint third in the world for decision, rational choice, and game theory. In the Complete University Guide 2011, LSE-Philosophy received the highest score (86) of any Philosophy Department in the UK on Graduate Prospects in the University League and Subject Tables followed by Oxford (82) and Durham (78). In overall scores, LSE-Philosophy placed second with a score of 98.1, with Oxford in first place (100) and Cambridge in third place (94.9).
Staff and their academic interests
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Dr J McKenzie Alexander: Evolutionary game theory; philosophy of science; social and political philosophy.
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Professor Luc Bovens: Ethics; philosophy of economics; philosophy of public policy; rational and social choice theory; philosophy of probability; bayesian epistemology.
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Professor Richard Bradley: Decision theory; hypothetical reasoning; foundations of economic and social theory.
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Professor Nancy Cartwright: History and philosophy of science (especially physics and economics); causal inference; objectivity in science.
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Dr Roman Frigg: Philosophy of science (scientific representation, modelling, explanation) and philosophy of physics (quantum mechanics, statistical physics, chaos theory).
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Professor Christian List: Formal epistemology; rational choice theory; philosophy of social science; social choice theory; group agency; theories of democracy and deliberation.
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Dr Kristina Musholt: Philosophy of cognitive science, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of biology.
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Dr Miklos Redei: Foundational and philosophical problems of modern physics, quantum logic, general issues in philosophy of science.
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Dr Armin Schulz: Philosophy of biology and philosophy of economics.
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Dr Katie Steele: Rational choice; public policy.
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Dr Alex Voorhoeve: Political philosophy; rational and social choice theory; moral philosophy.
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Dr Charlotte Werndl: General philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, philosophy of biology, and philosophy of mathematics
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Professor John Worrall: Philosophy and history of science; rationality and theory change in science; methodology of medicine.
Associated staff and researchers
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Dr Catherine Audard: Hegel and continental philosophy, phenomenology and existentialism, Anglo-American moral and political philosophy, problems of contemporary citizenship and multiculturalism.
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Professor Nick Baigent: Group and individual choice theory, game theoretic models of the family and philosophy (personal identity, ethics and rationality). Currently working on formal models of internalised individual norms and also on Arrowian social choice theory.
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Professor Ken Binmore: Evolutionary game theory; bargaining theory; experimental economics; political philosophy; mathematics and statistics.
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Dr Franz Dietrich: Social choice theory; judgement aggregation; preference change; decision theory; formal epistemology.
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Professor Wulf Gaertner: Social choice theory; decision and game theory; microeconomic analysis; ethics; health economics.
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Professor David Makinson: Logic, particularly uncertain reasoning, belief change; input/output logics.
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Professor Michael Redhead: Conceptual and methodological problems of modern theoretical physics, particularly quantum mechanics; quantum field theory; statistical mechanics and the theory of relativity.
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Mr Max Steuer: Methodology of the social sciences.
Opportunities for research
We accept students for MPhil and PhD research programmes in any of the fields in which the Department has special expertise – including philosophy of science, moral philosophy, philosophy and public policy, philosophy of social science, philosophy and foundations of physics, philosophy and foundations of economics, philosophy and foundations of decision theory, evolutionary and game theory, and philosophy of probability.
We aim to produce philosophers of science with a first rate thesis as well as teaching skills. A successful thesis, no matter how sharply focused, must be based on wider expertise. We therefore require students to take an element of course work in both of their first two years as well as beginning work on their thesis. This involves a combination of examination courses (usually taken from one of our MSc degrees) and seminar courses with extended essays. In particular you will attend research methods seminars given by members of the Department on frontier topics in the field and be asked to write papers for these seminars.
The entry requirement is that candidates should have a good background in philosophy, ideally, but not necessarily, a taught master's degree in philosophy.
If your first language is not English, you need to submit a sample of your work in English (five to ten typewritten pages) with your application.
There are various opportunities for financial support, among then the LSE Philosophy Scholarship and the AHRC Block Grant Scheme. For further information visit the Department's website.
Taught programmes
Philosophy is also available as a specialist field within the MSc Social Research Methods|.