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BA English Literature and Philosophy
University of East Anglia (UEA)
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Course Summary
- Type: BA
- Location: Norwich, United Kingdom
- Duration: 3 Years
- Deadline: 20-12-2013
Course Description
According to Socrates the most serious question for humanity is: How are we to live? This question, amongst others, is one that philosophy tries to answer. It asks: What is justice? How can our minds know the world? What is truth? Can we prove anything about God? How do we tell good reasoning from bad? Philosophy considers these questions in a systematic attempt to make sense of human life and the world in which it is lived. But there are other ways of trying to make sense of human life and the questions it raises. One of the most important of these is to be found in literature. Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice can be interpreted as a reflection on Socrates’ question; Shakespeare’s play The Tempest raises questions about the gap between the mind and the world, and whether there is such a thing as natural justice; and Eliot’s poem Four Quartets is a meditation on the concealed nature of God. Again and again, artists and philosophers consider the same questions in different ways. This is what makes the combination of English literature and philosophy so fruitful.This very popular course will be especially suitable for you if you are interested in existential and intellectual themes in literature. Students take a full range of philosophy and literature modules, developing skills in both fields. Interdisciplinary links are emphasised, with some philosophy modules - eg Moral Philosophy, Film and Literature as Philosophy - making ample use of literary examples.
