What moves an individual, a society or a culture? How does religion relate to politics, economics and morals? Religion is everywhere and often plays, unnoticed, a large role in the daily lives of yourself and others.

As Lila Abu Lughod pointed out in 1989, North Africa has been one of the geographical ‘zones of prestige’ for the development of canonical approaches and crucial theoretical debates regarding the comparative study of Islam.

Do humans have free will? Does the world look different than it really is? Can moral judgements be right or wrong? In the Dutch-taught Bachelor's programme Philosophy at Leiden University you will ask questions that cross different disciplines and you will study the theories of classical thinkers,…

The Centre for Public Values & Ethics (CPVE) is an interdisciplinary, academic centre of expertise aiming to conduct and disseminate scientific research on normative issues in the public sector, in particular the fulfillment of public office and the planning, making and executing of public policy, both…

PhD Defence

Lecture

Anthropologist Erik Bähre has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for research on the morality of life insurance.

To be eligible for Moral and Political Philosophy at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Conference

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

1. How does the social context influence emotion perception? 2. How do attentional control processes influence the unfolding of affective responses?

Philosophy of law is concerned with the the foundations of law.

If you have a question, there are various ways to get in touch with us.

The Disticha Catonis by Catenaccio of Anagni. A text in vernacular from Latium (late 13th - early 14th century)

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-Promotor: F. Calle-Vallejo

Chenyu Cheng defended her thesis on 6 April 2017.

Here’s a selection of key publications by members of the CPP:

PhD Defence

PhD Defence

The D66 proposed bill on Ending Life with Dignity is inadequately substantiated and contains contradictions. This is the view expressed by Professor of Political Philosophy Paul Nieuwenburg in his inaugural lecture on 17 March.

Conference

Within a multidisciplinary research team, cooperation takes place on the following focus areas:

How did British scholars and scientists in the period of discipline formation envision, experience and resist scholarly temptations?

What was the relationship between women and modern media in different parts of Asia in the 20th century? Under what historical and social conditions did women achieve prominence in popular music in Asia?

Muge Özoglu defended her dissertation on 5 December 2018

Part of ‘Moralising Misfortune: A comparative anthropology of commercial insurance’, an ERC Consolidator project of Erik Bähre.

This book addresses the definition of history and how people are influenced by it.

There are a number of problems in philosophy that seem to share a similar possible solution: 'Why do promises and contracts bind?', 'Why ought citizens and judges obey the law?' and 'Can we realize the gains to be made from cooperation?'. All three problems (as well as some others) share a possible…

A comparative study in the History of Modern Philosophy focused on the recourse to physiology on the part of two key figures, Spinoza and Nietzsche.

Observational, cognitive and physiological measurements in social contexts.

Leiden University offers ambitious students a world-class environment in which to reach their potential.

Priya Swamy defended her thesis on 27 October 2016

Although there has been an increase in the research into brain function and dysfunction in relation to the impact of social factors, there are still many unanswered questions.

This new volume, published 19 November 2020, - within the series 'Intersections' -, explores the concept of magnificence as a social construction in seventeenth-century Europe. Although this period is often described as the ‘Age of Magnificence’, thus far no attempts have been made to investigate how…

This political theory specialisation focuses on the concepts of legitimacy and justice—political philosophy’s core themes. Immersing yourself in theories, philosophical and theoretical methods, and complex cases, you will make the leap from opinion to analysis.

On February 20th, Gulnaz Sibgatullina succesfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Gulnaz on this great result.

On 12 mei 2020, Darryl Robinson defended 'Exploring Justice in Extreme Cases: Criminal Law Theory and International Criminal Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. C. Stahn.

The reintegration of high profile ex-offenders frequently receives great political and public attention. While this attention, more often than not in the form of negative sentiments, may be understandable from a moral perspective, it raises several important questions: how do such offenders reintegrate…

Mr. Jan van den Berg defended his thesis on 8 November 2018

The Philosophy of Law Department is responsible for various courses both in the Bachelors and the Masters.

This article discusses local expressions of crisis in Beed district, central Maharashtra. Both in public and academic discourse crisis has become the term of choice for the many structural deficiencies which make agriculture an increasingly precarious livelihood in India. While most voices subscribe…

This dissertation focuses on the production and consumption of a mediation show in China that collaborates with the local Justice Bureau and broadcasts on an entertainment channel—exploring answers to questions raised from the mentioned entertainisation, social and political, and cultural issues.

Liu Puning defended his thesis on 25 April 2018.

In this article, Samuels focuses on the active fostering of subjunctivity in processes of narrative worldmaking. Drawing extensively from the narrative of an HIV‐positive woman in Indonesia, she shows that by subjunctively leaving open multiple narrative trajectories and future possibilities, individuals…

Announcement of the publication of Vamping the Stage: Female Voices of Asian Modernities, the first book-length study of women, modernity, and popular music in Asia (University of Hawai'i Press, 2017).