University of Canterbury

Course Details

Postgraduate Certificate in Arts in Philosophy

Course Description

Are killer drones immoral? What about genetic engineering? Should rich countries give substantially more in overseas aid? Are there objective moral truths? Does God exist? Could we survive death as computer uploads? What is consciousness? Can machines think? What is the difference between science and myth? Why do we enjoy art? Is time travel possible? These are a few of the questions that are studied in UC Philosophy classes. Philosophy teaches you how to think about such questions rationally, carefully, and clearly. These skills are of real value in the workplace, and also when dealing with more theoretical aspects of other disciplines, including professional subjects such as Law, Nursing, and even Engineering.

Course Duration

NumberDuration
6month

Career outcomes

The intellectual skills that Philosophy teaches lead to success in many different careers. Philosophy graduates are sought after by industry, government, education, and the financial sector. Many sectors increasingly require people who can think independently and creatively, write clearly, apply logic, solve abstract problems, and communicate precisely. This is what Philosophy students learn to do. Internationally, Philosophy has been recognised as providing excellent preparation for careers in medicine, business, and law. Recent UC graduates in Philosophy have become policy analysts, lawyers, web developers, teachers, environmental and sustainability advisors, research managers, popular science writers, claims analysts, computer game designers, e-learning executives, engineers, filmmakers, doctors, business analysts, publishers, editors, science journalists, software engineers, technical writers, university administrators and university lecturers. Many of our graduates have gone on to further study in New Zealand or overseas.

Postgraduate Certificate in Arts in Philosophy University of Canterbury