Courses and programmes

The Department of Philosophy offers a range of courses both at basic, advanced and graduate level.

Search among our courses or and programmes

Philosophy at Stockholm offers an intellectually stimulating and supportive postgraduate environment with many different research seminars. You will be taught and supervised by members of faculty who are internationally well connected and actively involved in research in various fields of analytic philosophy.

Most of our basic level courses require proficiency in the Swedish language. Stockholm University offers a range of courses and programmes in the Swedish language, designed especially for international students and visitors and run by the Department of Scandinavian Languages More information

There are no specific admission requirements or application procedures for undergraduate studies at the department of Philosophy.

General information about studies and application is available here. There are no specific admission requirements or application procedures for undergraduate studies at the Department of Philosophy (in addition to the general requirements detailed in the previous link.)

If you have general questions about studies at Stockholm University or the application process, please contact the

Admissions office.

For further information, please contact the relevant director of studies: Lisa Furberg (Practical Philosophy) or Mattias Högström (Theoretical Philosophy) or contact our exchange studies co-ordinator Björn Brunnander.

Course structure

The course aims to attract students with a strong background in analytic philosophy at undergraduate level. The main purpose of the course is to provide students with the skills to conduct independent research in philosophy in their chosen area; and the ability to produce written work that displays sustained argument, independent thought and lucid structure and presentation.

In the first semester you will take four modules, one of which is mandatory and the other three are chosen from a range of special topics that vary from term to term. You must pass the examinations of the first semester in order to proceed into the second semester.

The second semester consists of your thesis work. You will be allocated a supervisor with expertise in the topic of the thesis. The topic is elective but must be approved by the examiners and must fit the research profile of the members of the faculty.

Course schedule and thesis guidelines and grading criteria

Admission

Admission is offered only once a year, for the autumn semester.

Requirements

For practical philosophy: Bachelor course in practical philosophy (90 ECTS credits) or equivalent

For theoretical philosophy: Bachelor course in theoretical philosophy (90 ECTS credits) or equivalent

Eligibility criteria

If there are more applications than places, the places will be allocated based on the grades and the relevance of academic courses, the quality/subject of the bachelor thesis and motivation letter. 

More information about the motivation letter pdf, 54.7 kB. (54 Kb)

How to apply

Applications are submitted electronically at universityadmissions.se (English) or antagning.se (Swedish). All international students, regardless of country of origin, can use the University’s step-by-step guide for applications. Students from countries outside the EU/EEA must pay application and tuition fees

more information about fees and scholarships.

Application date

The application date for all applicants is April 15.

Contact

For more information, please contact us:

info@philosophy.su.se

studierektor@philosophy.su.se

The Department of Philosophy is Sweden’s largest philosophy department, and is divided into Theoretical Philosophy and Practical Philosophy. It has a thriving graduate community that hosts the biennial Stockholm Graduate Philosophy Conference, and an active research culture.

Positions at the PhD programme are announced on the university's main page here as well as on the department website twice a year, insofar as there are any vacancies. Below is some general information about the programme. Specific details for application are given in the announcements.

Phd Program Placement Records

Admission

Admission to PhD studies at Stockholm University is highly competitive and a Masters Degree in Philosophy or equivalent is an admission requirement. For more information, please contact the directors of studies for the PhD-programme here.

Funding

In order to enter the PhD programme, you must have secured funding for the whole duration of the programme. Usually, a position in the PhD programme is tied to a PhD employment at the department. The duration of a PhD employment is four years including at least three years of research and at most one year of course work. The employment may be extended up to one year if up to 20% teaching assistance or administration is included in the contract. The holder of a PhD employment qualifies for the standard Swedish social benefits.

It is also possible to enter the PhD programme with external funding, like a scholarship. If you have secured external funding, but not enough to cover the whole duration of the programme, the department may provide additional funding.

Fees for non-EU/EEA students?

The government has recently started a process to change the rules concerning fees for non-EU/EEA students. Information will be posted soon.

Visiting research students

We also welcome visiting PhD students. If you are studying towards a PhD elsewhere and are interested in spending some time at our department, send an e-mail to the relevant director of graduate studies specifying your research interests and we will put you in touch with the relevant people at the department. If you already know who you would like to work with, you can contact them directly.

Research courses

Research ethics

Starting 2017, the Human Science Area offers a recurrent course package in research ethics, primarily aimed at PhD students. The package comprises five courses of 1.5 ECTS each. The courses are hosted by the department of philosophy, but teachers from other subjects will be involved in each course.

Research Ethics Autumn 2025

Philosophy of the Cultural Sciences

The aim of the course is to provide an opportunity for reflection on methodological and philosophical aspects of research in the humanities.

The course is in English and comprises 7.5 ECTS

Philosophy of the Cultural Sciences

Last updated: 2025-12-10

Source: Department of Philosophy

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