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Courses
Courses
Choosing a course is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make! View our courses and see what our students and lecturers have to say about the courses you are interested in at the links below.
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University Life
University Life
Each year more than 4,000 choose University of Galway as their University of choice. Find out what life at University of Galway is all about here.
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About University of Galway
About University of Galway
Since 1845, University of Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.
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Colleges & Schools
Colleges & Schools
University of Galway has earned international recognition as a research-led university with a commitment to top quality teaching across a range of key areas of expertise.
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Research & Innovation
Research & Innovation
University of Galway’s vibrant research community take on some of the most pressing challenges of our times.
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Business & Industry
Guiding Breakthrough Research at University of Galway
We explore and facilitate commercial opportunities for the research community at University of Galway, as well as facilitating industry partnership.
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Alumni & Friends
Alumni & Friends
There are 128,000 University of Galway alumni worldwide. Stay connected to your alumni community! Join our social networks and update your details online.
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Community Engagement
Community Engagement
At University of Galway, we believe that the best learning takes place when you apply what you learn in a real world context. That's why many of our courses include work placements or community projects.
PhD
PhD
Research Postgraduate Courses
The Philosophy Discipline is committed to fostering a strong sense of community amongst its Graduate Students by facilitating regular opportunities for Graduate Students to meet and discuss Philosophical issues. Students have the following opportunities for developing their philosophical knowledge and skills:
- A Philosophy Seminar Series meets regularly at which students can present their research.
- The Philosophy Discipline host conferences with prominent Irish and international speakers on a regular basis.
- A Tutorial Teaching Development Group meets several times a semester to support students in developing their skills in the area of teaching
Programme Director for Structured Ph.Ds, Master of Letters Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)
Prof Felix Ó Murchadha: Email address: Felix.omurchadha@universityofgalway.ie
Student Representatives:
PhD students: TBA
Funding opportunities
Funding Opportunities for Structured PhD programmes:
Research
Philosophy Seminar Series
The Philosophy Seminar Series meets every Monday during term time. This seminar provides an opportunity for Graduate Students to present their work in progress in a constructive and non-threatening environment. For information on the Philosophy Seminar Series contact tsarina.doyle@universityofgalway.ie
Philosophy Teaching Development Group
The Teaching Development Group meets about 4 times a semester and is open to all postgraduate students. Its main purpose is to support students in the development of their teaching skills in philosophy. The group is characterised by its collegial atmosphere and the participation of students at all levels of teaching experience. It provides support to those who are teaching in the department, but also introduces students to a variety of issues that are relevant for teaching philosophy in higher education. For information on the Teaching Development Group contact heike.felzmann@universityofgalway.ie
Information about our current Research students and research topics (See below)
Name |
Course |
Title |
Beirne, David |
Ph.D. |
Between Immanence and Transcendence: On the Religious Significance of the Hegelian Middle |
Couch Joanne |
Ph.D. in Arts & Culture |
An Investigation of Installation Art through the Phenomenological Method |
Coventry, Rachel |
Ph.D. in Arts & Culture (Completed) |
Poetry and Process: A Heideggerian Perspective |
Crowley, Greg |
Ph.D. |
The Two Worlds of Edmund Husserl: World as correlate of Consciousness and World as Lifeworld. This project seeks to clarify Husserl's conceptions of world as described in his middle and late philosophy, trace the essential linkages between both conceptions and demonstrate that they are not mutually exclusive but, instead, unifiable models of one objective world that is not the creation of a self-referential, solipsistic consciousness. |
McKeown, O'Donovan, Annie |
Ph.D. (Completed) |
'Ethics and Assisted Dying in Ireland' |
Elvis, Lucy |
Ph.D. in Arts & Culture (Completed) |
'Reading Building: A Gadamerian Account of Architecture' |
McEvaddy, Aisling |
Ph.D. |
The unknowable self: Imlications of Nietzsch's Philosophical Psychology for the possibility of freedom and morality (IRC funded project) |
Hansen, Chris |
Ph.D. |
'Nietzsche will to power metaphysics' |
Kavanagh, Johanna |
Ph.D. in Arts & Culture |
The Culture of Olfaction: History, Art and PHilosophy |
McHugh, Steven |
Ph.D. |
'Nietzsche, Art and Modernity' |
Milne, Oliver |
Ph.D. |
'Against computationalism: computation, consciousness, and the limits of the scientific image' - Oliver's project is an investigation of whether consciousness could be a matter of a system implementing a particular computation. His work builds on arguments made by John Searle and Hilary Putnam, as well as the ontological work of Amie Thomasson. Oliver has previously studied at Oxford and CEU, and has worked as a journalist and a game designer. His other philosophical interests include metaethics, value theory, and the philosophy of games. |
Roe, John |
Ph.D. (Completed) |
Faith, the Limits of Reason, and the Role of Language Abstract: My thesis tackles Kierkegaard's view of faith, reason, and existential despair, as a relation to the philosophical viewpoints of Kant, Hamann, and Jacobi. My aim is to find a more positive relationship between reason and faith that goes beyond the Kierkegaardian disjunction. The role of language expression in relation to the limits of reason will be a key perspective in addressing what both Kant and Kierkegaard have to say about reason's relation to religious faith. |
O’Rourke, Jonathan |
Ph.D. (Completed) |
Expression and Silence: The Language of Phenomenology in Wittgenstein and Heidegger Summary: My research forms a comparative study of Wittgenstein and Heidegger in relation to the problem of phenomenological expression. My central argument is that by reading Wittgenstein in this way, we can begin to make sense of the qualified equivalence he draws between his own phenomenology in 1929, and his earliest experiments in ordinary language philosophy in the Philosophical Remarks. The very same problem-set, I suggest, can be found in Heidegger’s early Freiburg lectures. Many of his key concepts, such as formal indication and phenomenological destruction, are developed as a direct response to the limits of language. By looking to the sense in which his hermeneutic phenomenology overcomes such linguistic constraints, we find the best correlate in the continental tradition for Wittgenstein’s account of philosophical grammar. It is on the basis of this comparison, I suggest, that the phenomenological relevance of Wittgenstein’s later work can be best understood. Publications: Heidegger on Expression: Formal Indication and Destruction in the early Freiburg lectures, Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 2018,Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 109-125 |
Hardiman, Michael |
Ph.D. (Completed) |
'Hannah Arendt and Mass Evil: A Critical examination of Arendt's concepts of ideology and banality' |
Querini, Gino |
Ph.D. in Arts & Culture (Completed) |
Kantian influences on Aby Warburg’s Thought. The Role of Orientation. |
Semba Matthews |
Ph.D. |
On the Value of Knowledge: From Plato’s ‘Meno’ to the contemporary debate |