The master's in Philosophy: Moral and Political Philosophy at Leiden University offer an excellent opportunity to explore fundamental issues in moral and political philosophy.

Political philosophy

The Centre for Political Philosophy (CPP) at Leiden University is an interdisciplinary platform for political thought. It aims to bring together all those with an active interest in the field from different institutes, branches and fields of study at Leiden University.

Are there general principles or values that should govern our actions as moral agents and/or as political subjects?

This master programme introduces the student to the philosophical issues on the intersection of law, politics, and policy. This master’s programme is meant for students who wish to combine an MA in Law,Political Science, Public Administration, or an adjacent discipline with an MA in Philosophy Law,…

The Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University is host to the NWO programme, "Between Deliberation and Agonism: Rethinking Conflict and its Relation to Law in Political Philosophy".

This dissertation offers a reconstruction of the propositional contents of the writings of Karl Popper, Leo Strauss, and Hannah Arendt while bringing these into discussion with their performative meanings, such as polemical forms of reasoning, analogical and metaphorical uses of language, and hidden…

How can party bans be justified? Which parties were banned in post-war Europe – and why? Do militant democracy instruments work? Is an international militant democracy concept in the making?

In what ways do historical and current events affect how we should judge the legitimacy of political authorities?

A research program that focuses on the development and implementation of cyber norms.

A discourse on international cyber norms has emerged ever since the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on Developments in the Field of Information and Telecommunications in the Context of International Security (UN GGE) recommended eleven norms on responsible state behaviour in cyberspace.

An experimental comparison of the impact of liberal norms on a population residing and socialised within a democracy (the Netherlands) with a population in an autocracy (China) and their respective supports for war with another state shows that the level of liberal norms in the democratic experimental…

Why obey the state? Dorota Mokrosińska presents a fresh analysis of the most influential theories of political obligation and develops a novel approach to this foundational problem of political philosophy, an intriguing combination of the elements of natural duty and associative theories.

Slavoj Žižek is one of the most prominent public intellectuals of the left. His central claim holds that “today, it is more crucial than ever to continue to question the very foundations of capitalism as a global system”.

PLATO considers learning its main theme and its main purpose.

Kazimierz Twardowski (1866-1938) is the founder of the Lvov-Warsaw School with its strong tradition in logic and its scientific approach to philosophy. Twardowski’s unique way of doing philosophy, his method, is of central importance for understanding his impact as a teacher.

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,…

Ilina Georgieva published an article in the journal Contemporary Security Policy on the norm-setting role of intelligence agencies.

Political scientist Maurits de Jongh (Leiden University/Sciences Po) argues that political liberalism is self-defeating as a framework of justification for liberal conceptions of justice. He explores how the framework's self-imposed criterion of acceptability in the eyes of all reasonable citizens leads…

The aim of this project is to study what makes an act or form of violence a specifically political reality.

The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) has published the 2017 issue in their Civil Society and Disarmament series, titled Voluntary, Non-Binding Norms for Responsible State Behaviour in the Use of Information and Communications Technology: A Commentary. The series aims to provide…

In this thesis the most dominant academic perspectives pertaining to the relationship between myth and philosophy are questioned and repositioned and Plato’s use of myth is analyzed to demonstrate this reevaluation.

The philosophers at the Institute for Philosophy develop new perspectives and insights not only on topical themes such as immigration and climate change, but also on more fundamental philosophical questions.

The one-year master's in Philosophy at Leiden University integrates historical and systematic approaches in philosophy. It offers an advanced training in philosophical methodologies and skills, as well as a sophisticated knowledge of traditional and recent philosophical developments.

The two-year MA Philosophy at Leiden University investigates the fundamental principles underpinning human knowledge while cultivating your capacity for reason and sound argumentation.

The Leiden Centre for Theoretical Philosophy (LCTP) is a platform for analytic philosophy in a broad sense at Leiden University. Its members do research in philosophy of science, philosophy of logic and metaphysics, with a keen interest in the history of topics such as mind, knowledge, truth, and ti…

This project studies the theory and practice of moral education in the (Neo)Platonic tradition.

The master's programme in Philosophy of Knowledge at Leiden University is your opportunity to investigate the connections between philosophy and science in historical perspective.

The master's programme in Modern European Philosophy at Leiden University focuses on the philosophical reflection on human nature and culture, both from a systematic and a historical perspective.

The members of the Institute for Philosophy study all aspects of philosophy. In our research we seek a fruitful interaction between systematic and historical approaches to philosophy, and we thrive on intensive national and international collaboration.

Neil Young and Philosophy, edited by Douglas L. Berger, explores the meanings, importance, and philosophical dimensions of the music, career, and life of this prolific singer/songwriter over the past five decades.

The master's programme in Philosophy of Humanities at Leiden University allows you to specialise in conceptual and methodological issues in the Humanities.

Leiden University Centre for Intercultural Philosophy (LUCIP) is housed in the Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University.

Many stimulating philosophical analyses have been written on contemporary technology; this book examines on the contrary how changes in contemporary technological environment have been reflected onto philosophy itself. The book shows how technological changes have marked a number of key concepts of…

This dissertation explores Aristotle’s use of teleology as a principle of explanation, especially as it is used in the natural treatises.

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

This Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives master’s programme is unique in Europe. It offers comparative perspectives from around the world that will enable you to be part of the next generation of thinkers, someone studying and shaping philosophy for a globalised 21st century.

This research project focuses on the thoughts of ethnicity and political orthodoxy in Medieval China by investigating Wang Tong’s works.

The Leiden Centre for Continental Philosophy (LCCP) is a research community based at the Institute for Philosophy of Leiden University, devoted to research in all areas of continental philosophy. LCCP is envisaged as an open space for stimulating discussion, critical debate and inventive co-operation…

This MA programme combines advanced levels of philosophical analysis with the study of non-Western sources, in particular, Chinese, Indian, and Arabic sources.

On a referendum held on May 21, 2006, 55.5% of voters in Montenegro voted in favor of their country’s independence. While in numerical terms the outcome shows overwhelming support for independent Montenegro, from a normative standpoint it was a narrow win. The normative framework that regulated rules…

In what way is constructivist logic able to account for both the role of the judging agent in inference and the universal claims of logical validity?

In this dissertation, Boethius’ mathematics and logic and their roles in philosophy are reassessed, and on the basis of these, the connections between mathematics and logic in Boethius and their applications to theological or philosophical topics are explored.

Article by Leiden University political scientist Daniel Thomas about shifting norms for membership in international organisations.

This project aims to situate the current policy concept of ‘valorization of scientific knowledge’ in historical and epistemological perspectives. Conceptual understanding of the utility of scientific practices is developed in dialogue with historical analyses of the politics of knowledge in European…

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) in Leiden is a unique interdisciplinary master’s programme, considering topics of freedom, justice and citizenship in the 21st century. Watch this video to learn more about the programme!

Philosophy has an important contribution to make to society, says Professor of Practical Philosophy Glen Newey. You need people who can think clearly, certainly in positions of power and authority. Newey stresses that “there will always be a place for philosophy”. An introduction to the practically…

Cody Bahir defended his thesis on 1 June 2017.