The MA Philosophy (120 EC): Philosophy of Law, Governance and Politics is an MA in which you combine the MA Philosophy courses with Master level courses from another programme / discipline. The Board of Admissions of the MA Philosophy (120 EC) can only grant you (conditional) admission, if you can show that you will have access to 40 EC of courses of the other Master’s programme with which you want to combine the MA Philosophy courses. This means that you either need to apply for (and be admitted to) both Master’s programmes or show that you have permission to take those courses without being admitted to that particular Master’s programme.

Some master programmes within the Leiden Faculty of Humanities, such as e.g. the MA Middle Eastern Studies, the MA Asian Studies, or the MA International Relations, also offer courses on e.g. politics, political movements, or political economy, which you could take towards your non-philosophical courses. Note, however, that some of these courses have specific entry requirements.

MSC Political Science: Political Theory: Legitimacy and Justice

Students who would like to combine the MA Philosophy (120 EC): Philosophy of Law, Governance and Politics with (courses from) the MSc Political Science (60 EC): Political Theory: Legitimacy and Justice (MSc) - Leiden University are strongly advised to apply to this Master’s programme at the same time. A BA in Philosophy is sufficient for admission to this specialization of the MSc Political Science.

One-year MA Philosophy 

If, for some reason, you are not able to take the non-philosophical credits towards your degree, you may be able to switch to one of the specializations of the one-year Philosophy (MA) (60EC) - Leiden University and still obtain an MA degree in Philosophy.

The Board of Admissions will decide whether you are eligible for the MA Philosophy (120EC): Philosophy of Law, Governance and Politics. It will assess whether your degree(s) and background are sufficiently related to the level and content of a bachelor’s degree from a Dutch research university in Philosophy on the basis of the requirements specified on the website. For this specialization, you may also be eligible with a bachelor’s degree in a discipline such as political science, international studies, or law. In this case, the Board of Admissions may require additional coursework in Philosophy. The fastest way to find out is to follow the application procedures and to apply through Studielink (Application procedure - Leiden University).

You can apply for a maximum of three separate programmes / specializations in one application. If you want to submit more applications please contact the Student Affairs Front Office - Leiden University. You have to pay the application fee only once.

Having to take 40 EC of non-philosophical courses means that many students of the MA Philosophy (120 EC): Philosophy of Law, Governance and Politics opt for a double degree by writing two, separate theses: one for the MA Philosophy (120 EC): Philosophy of Law, Governance and Politics and one for the other master’s programme for which they sometimes also have to take one or more extra courses. Some are able to fit it all in two years, others take a semester or two extra to do so.

If you have one or more Bachelor degrees from a research university, but do not meet (all) the requirements, you may have to take some extra courses or you may be eligible for a pre-master’s programme in Philosophy and/or the other programme. This is up to the Board of Admissions. It is important, though to realize that you cannot apply for a pre-master programme as such.

The non-philosophical courses can also be taken at another university. So you could, e.g. combine an LLM or MSc in Political Sciences at another university with the MA Philosophy (120 EC): Philosophy of Law, Governance and Politics at Leiden University and use the ECs from the other university towards your 40 EC non-philosophical courses in Leiden pending approval of the Board of Examiners.

If you happen to have another Master’s degree in a relevant discipline, e.g. Law or Political Science, you may, once admitted, ask the Board of Examiners for an exemption from the non-philosophical courses.

The programme is formally a fulltime programme. This means that you pay the yearly fee for fulltime programmes as long as you are registered. It is, however, possible to spread the workload over more than the nominal two years and take, e.g. 20 EC of courses per semester instead of 30 EC.  It requires you to stay registered for a longer period and hence to pay the tuition fee for the extra time it will take you to finish.

For the requirement regarding English proficiency see the Language requirements. For detailed information, including exemption criteria and methods of submission, refer to English language proficiency. No exceptions will be made. 

The Board of Admissions may ask you for a writing sample. This can be a paper you wrote earlier for a class or, e.g., a chapter from your BA thesis. It preferably consists of no more than 3,500 words. The writing sample should convey your ability to formulate a philosophical research question and argue your own critical position.

You can find many more questions and answers on our FAQ website.