The Department of Philosophy is an academic division in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. It is one of the largest and most distinguished centres for the study of philosophy in the United Kingdom.

History

For over half a century since the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

foundation of King's College in 1829, the study of philosophy was restricted to courses within the Department of Theology and the Department of English Literature. In 1906 a separate Department of Philosophy and Psychology was explicitly established, and in 1912 Philosophy split to form its own department. The department is located in the Philosophy Building on

Surrey Street Surrey Street in the City of Westminster, London, runs from Strand, London, Strand in the north to Temple Place in the south. It was built on land once occupied by Arundel House and its gardens. History Surrey Street was built on land once occ ...

, a set of three adjacent townhouses joined through a series of corridors and forming part of the

Strand Campus The Strand Campus is the founding campus of King's College London and is located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, sharing its frontage along the River Thames. The original campus comprises the Grade I listed King's Building of 1831 ...

of King's College. The vaults along the back of the building are those containing the old Roman Baths on Strand Lane. In 1989, Sir

Richard Sorabji Sir Richard Rustom Kharsedji Sorabji, (born 8 November 1934) is a British historian of ancient Western philosophy, and Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at King's College London. He has written his 'Intellectual Autobiography' in his ''Festschrift' ...

founded the ''King's College Centre for Philosophical Studies'' at the department with the aim of promoting philosophy to the wider public. The Head of Department is currently Maria Alvarez Professor of Philosophy at King's.

Traditions

The Department of Philosophy owns a historic bar on its premises in

, officially the ''King's College Sports & Social Club Bar'' but referred to informally as simply the ''Philosophy Bar''. Management of the bar was taken over by the

King's College London Students' Union King's College London Students' Union (KCLSU) is an independent charitable organisation that's works to further the interests of its members (approximately 36,000 students at King's College London). It governs the 300 student societies and a ...

in 2016. Academic staff and students of the department also make an annual trip to

Cumberland Lodge Cumberland Lodge is a 17th-century Grade II listed country house in Windsor Great Park 3.5 miles south of Windsor Castle. Since 1947 it has been occupied by the charitable foundation known as Cumberland Lodge, which holds residential conferences ...

, a Grade II listed country house in

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for many ...

. There is a programme of lectures, communal meals and other activities, including an annual football match played between staff and students. Student life in the department is administered mainly by the King's College London Philosophy Society.

Rankings

The Department of Philosophy at King's ranks highly in both national and global rankings. The

Philosophical Gourmet Report The Philosophical Gourmet Report (also known as the Leiter Report or PGR), founded by philosophy and law professor Brian Leiter and now edited by philosophy professors Berit Brogaard and Christopher Pynes, is a ranking of graduate programs in phil ...

lists the department at 4th in the UK and 26th in the English-speaking world.

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...

places the department at 4th in the UK and 9th globally in 2021.

Current faculty

Emeritus faculty

Dov Gabbay Dov M. Gabbay (; born October 23, 1945) is an Israeli logician. He is Augustus De Morgan Professor Emeritus of Logic at the Group of Logic, Language and Computation, Department of Computer Science, King's College London. Work Gabbay has authore ...

, Augustus De Morgan Professor Emeritus of Logic *

Raimond Gaita Raimond Gaita (born Raimund Gaita; 14 May 1946) is a German-born Australian philosopher and award-winning writer. He was, until 2011, foundation professor of philosophy at the Australian Catholic University and professor of moral philosophy at ...

, Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy *

Jim Hopkins Jim Hopkins (born 1946) is a New Zealander known for his work in television, radio and theatre. Biography Hopkins was scriptwriter for '' Close to Home'', presenter of ''Fast Forward'', ''Don't Tell Me'', ''The Inventors'', ''Dateline Monday'', ...

, Reader Emeritus in Philosophy *

Ruth Kempson Ruth Margaret Kempson, FBA (born 26 June 1944) is a British linguist. She is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at King's College, London. In 1977, Kempson published ''Semantic Theory'', which discusses the concept of entailment in linguistics. ...

, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics *

Shalom Lappin ''Shalom'' ( he, שָׁלוֹם ''šālōm''; also spelled as ''sholom'', ''sholem'', ''sholoim'', ''shulem'') is a Hebrew word meaning ''peace'', ''harmony'', ''wholeness'', ''completeness'', ''prosperity'', ''welfare'' and ''tranquility'' and ...

, Emeritus Professor of Computational Linguistics *

Mary Margaret McCabe Mary Margaret Anne McCabe (born 18 December 1948), known as M. M. McCabe, is emerita professor of ancient philosophy at King's College London. She has written books on Plato and other ancient philosophers, including the pre-Socratics, Socrates ...

, Emeritus Professor of Ancient Philosophy * Wilfried Meyer-Viol, Emeritus Lecturer in Computational Linguistics *

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

, Emeritus Professor of the History of Philosophy * David-Hillel Ruben, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy * Anthony Savile, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy *

Gabriel Segal Gabriel Segal may refer to: * Gabriel Segal (philosopher) (born 1959), British philosopher * Gabriel Segal (soccer) (born 2001), American footballer {{hndis, Segal, Gabriel ...

, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy * Sir Richard Sorabji CBE FBA FKC, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and founder of the ''King's College Centre for Philosophical Studies'' *

Charles Travis Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy

Former faculty

* Father Brian Evan Anthony Davies, former Tutorial Assistant * John Gardner FBA, former Reader in Legal Philosophy *

Verity Harte Verity Harte is a British philosopher and George A. Saden Professor of Philosophy and Classics at Yale University. Books * '' Plato on Parts and Wholes: the Metaphysics of Structure'', Oxford: Clarendon 2002 * ''Aristotle and the Stoics Reading ...

, former Reader in Philosophy *

Christopher Peacocke Christopher Arthur Bruce Peacocke (born 22 May 1950) is a British philosopher known for his work in philosophy of mind and epistemology. His recent publications, in the field of epistemology, have defended a version of rationalism. His daught ...

, former Susan Stebbing Professor of Philosophy *

Sherrilyn Roush Sherrilyn Roush is an American philosopher and Professor of Philosophy in UCLA Department of Philosophy specializing in the philosophy of science and epistemology. Career She joined King's College London in 2014 after accepting the inaugural P ...

, former Peter Sowerby Chair in Philosophy and Medicine * R. Mark Sainsbury, former Susan Stebbing Professor of Philosophy *

Roger Steare Roger Steare is a British ethicist and corporate philosopher. Career Steare's early career included roles as a social worker and banker, and ten years as chief executive of a recruitment company. He is now Honorary Visiting Professor of Organ ...

, former Reader in History of Western Philosophy *

L. Susan Stebbing Lizzie Susan Stebbing (2 December 1885 – 11 September 1943) was a British philosopher. She belonged to the 1930s generation of analytic philosophy, and was a founder in 1933 of the journal ''Analysis (journal), Analysis.'' Stebbing was the fir ...

, former Lecturer in Philosophy * Peter Vardy, former Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion *

Alexander Bird Alexander James Bird (born 1964) is a British philosopher and Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. Career In 2020, Bird was elected to the Bertrand Russell Professorship of Philosophy, succeeding Huw Pric ...

Notable alumni

File:Asher.jpg,

Peter Asher Peter Asher, (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and r ...

File:Brian Davies.jpg, Brian Davies File:Davidtang.jpg,

David Tang Sir David Wing-cheung Tang, (; 2 August 1954 – 29 August 2017), was a Hong Kong businessman, philanthropist and socialite. He was best known for founding the Shanghai Tang fashion chain in 1994, which he sold in 1998 to Richemont. Early l ...

File:Hanif Kureishi.jpg,

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Early l ...

File:Nicla vassallo eng.jpg,

Nicla Vassallo Nicla Vassallo (born 1963), is an Italian analytic philosopher with research and teaching interests in epistemology, philosophy of knowledge, theoretical philosophy, as well as gender studies and feminist epistemology. She is currently (when?) a ...

File:Alain de Botton.jpg,

Alain de Botton Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993), w ...

File:Simonsaunders2.png, Simon Saunders File:Harry Brighouse (March, 2015).jpg,

Harry Brighouse Harry Brighouse is a British political philosopher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research interests include the relationship between education and liberalism. His work on this topic has been widely cited by broadsheet newspapers, ...

* Peter Asher CBE, British musician, manager and record producer * Brian Evan Anthony Davies OP, British academic and philosopher * Sir David Tang KBE, Hong Kong journalist and businessperson * Hanif Kureishi CBE, British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist * John Stammers, British writer and poet * Sir Ralph Wedgwood, 4th Baronet, British philosopher *

, Italian academic and philosopher * Alain de Botton FRSL, Swiss-British author and philosopher * Simon Saunders, British philosopher and physicist *

, British academic and philosopher *

Stefan Lorenz Sorgner Stefan Lorenz Sorgner is a German metahumanist philosopher, a Nietzsche scholar, a philosopher of music and an authority in the field of ethics of emerging technologies. Life Sorgner was born on 15 October 1973 in Wetzlar (Germany). He studied ...

, German academic and philosopher * Tariq Goddard, British novelist and publisher *

Stathis Psillos Stathis Psillos (; el, Ευστάθιος (Στάθης) Ψύλλος; born 22 June 1965) is a Greek philosopher of science. He is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Metaphysics at the University of Athens, Greece and a member of thRotman In ...

, Greek academic and philosopher *

Helen Beebee Helen Beebee was formerly the Samuel Hall Professor of Philosophy at the University of Manchester. She is now a professor at the University of Leeds. Beebee's work has been influential across a wide variety of fields, including causation, fr ...

, British academic and philosopher

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Department Of Philosophy, KCL Departments of King's College London Philosophy departments in the United Kingdom 1912 establishments in the United Kingdom