Themes in Western Philosophy

What is a good life? Does the world really exist? And how should we understand our place within it? On this course, Dr Matthew Rowe guides you through some of the most enduring and provocative questions philosophers have grappled with across the centuries.

Over ten sessions, you will explore how thinkers from Plato to de Beauvoir—and beyond—have framed, challenged, and reimagined the problems they believed lay at the heart of human understanding. Along the way, the course traces not only the development of ideas, but also the lively rivalries, disagreements, and moments of intellectual one-upmanship that have shaped philosophy’s history.

As the course unfolds, questions of ethics, reality, freedom, belief, and social life emerge and re-emerge in new forms.

• What counts as a good life?
• Do we inhabit a stable, knowable world?
• How do individuals relate to society?
• Does the idea of God still matter?
• Is there such a thing as good and evil?
• Why have certain voices, particularly those of women, so often been excluded from the philosophical canon?

Throughout, you will be encouraged to reflect on how these questions continue to resonate today, and how philosophical thinking can sharpen and deepen our understanding of contemporary life.

No previous experience of philosophy is needed, just curiosity and a willingness to think!

Course term dates

•  Autumn Term: week beginning 26 October 2026 until week ending 11 December 2026 (on alternate Mondays)

•  Spring Term: week beginning 11 January 2027 until week ending 26 March 2027 (on alternate Mondays)

Classes are held every two weeks.

For course content enquiries: Contact the course tutor, Dr Matthew Rowe, at m.rowe@imperial.ac.uk

For enrolment and booking enquiries: Contact Christian Jacobi at c.jacobi@imperial.ac.uk

Class recordings

These classes are not recorded.

Imperial certificates

There are no examinations or assessments for this course. However, attendance can lead to the award of an Imperial attendance certificate (T&Cs apply).