Filosofie

How can we respond to grave injustices committed by the state in the past, like slavery and racism? What does it mean to be a free and equal citizen in a modern democracy? What are the ethical considerations behind euthanasia and abortion laws? If you have a legal background, but you’ve found yourself asking questions about the underlying justice behind legal assumptions and provisions, you’ve come to the right place.

In the Philosophy of Law and Governance specialisation of the two-year Master’s in Philosophy, you’ll tackle challenging questions like these, gaining a deeper understanding of the systems of law and justice in Western society. The programme is interdisciplinary. General philosophical courses and specific courses in philosophy of law are combined with a student's own selection of legal courses. The students of this track usually complete simultaneously a one year master's degree in Law.

In deze master wordt het verband tussen hedendaagse vraagstukken en de dynamiek van cultuur uitgelicht en haar invloed vanuit filosofisch oogpunt benaderd.

De grote vraagstukken van deze tijd worden aan de orde gesteld vanuit een cultuurfilosofisch perspectief, met een zekere nadruk op de zogenoemde continentale traditie: van Hegel, Heidegger en Spengler tot Taylor, Zizek en Stiegler. Filosofische reflectie wordt daarbij gecombineerd met vakwetenschappelijke kennis en praktische wijsheid. Op die manier krijg je inzicht in deze culturele dimensie van hedendaagse ontwikkelingen en ben je in staat om een beredeneerde inschatting te maken hoe je daarop beleidsmatig en bestuurlijk het best kunt inspelen. Naast de filosofisch-theoretische verdieping heeft deze master dus uitdrukkelijk ook een praktische meerwaarde – iets waaraan in deze tijd steeds meer behoefte is!

What are the ethical considerations behind abortion and euthanasia? Where do we draw the line between preventing serious handicaps in children and creating “designer babies”? Who determines whether a patient’s personality has changed after neurological surgery? The field of bioethics has surged in recent years due to breakthroughs in medicine and technological advances. But these have also led to new and puzzling questions – not just for scientists but for society as a whole. Do you want to tackle questions such as these? Then the Philosophy, Bioethics and Health could be your next challenge!

The programme will provide you with the theoretical and practical tools to deal with ethical issues in health care and health-care policy. You will learn how to reflect on practical problems from a medical, moral, legal, political and economic perspective. The need for interdisciplinary reflection is growing as developments within society lead to new challenges in health care. The programme aims to educate professionals in philosophy and medical ethics and foster their capacity to reflect on these issues. This is truly a programme for today’s evolving world.