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 university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

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

History

For over half a century since the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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, 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, adjacent to Somerset House and continuing its frontage along the River Thames. The original campus comprises the Grade ...

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 is the nephew of Cornelia Sorabji. Life Richard Sorabji was b ...

founded the ''King's College Centre for Philosophical Studies'' at the department with the aim of promoting philosophy to the wider public.

Traditions

The Department of Philosophy owns a historic bar on its premises in Surrey Street, 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 in 2016. However, the bar was closed in 2020 in response to COVID-19 restrictions, and despite a petition to KCL and the KCLSU which received 680 signatures, the bar remains closed. 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, an educational charity and social ...

, a Grade II listed country house in

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

. 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'', is a ranking of graduate programs in philosophy in the English language, English-speaking world. It was founded by philosophy and law professor Brian Leiter and ...

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

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

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

Emeritus faculty

Dov Gabbay Dov M. Gabbay (, ; born October 26, 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 autho ...

, Augustus De Morgan Professor Emeritus of Logic *

Raimond Gaita Raimond "Rai" Gaita (born Raimund Joseph Gaita; 14 May 1946) is a German-born Australian philosopher and writer, best known for his 1998 biography about his early life, titled '' Romulus, My Father''. He was foundation professor of philosophy a ...

, Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy * Jim Hopkins, 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, Emeritus Professor of Computational Linguistics * Mary Margaret McCabe, 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, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' was written in blank verse and included 12 books, written in a time of immense religious flux and politic ...

, Emeritus Professor of the History of Philosophy * David-Hillel Ruben, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy * Anthony Savile, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy * Gabriel Segal, 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, 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. Biography ...

, 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 Pet ...

, former Peter Sowerby Chair in Philosophy and Medicine * R. Mark Sainsbury, former Susan Stebbing Professor of Philosophy * Roger Steare, former Reader in History of Western Philosophy * L. Susan Stebbing, former Lecturer in Philosophy * Peter Vardy, former Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion * Alexander Bird * Maria Rosa Antognazza, Professor of Philosophy

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 re ...

File:Brian Davies.jpg, Brian Davies File:Davidtang.jpg, David Tang File:Hanif Kureishi.jpg,

Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British Pakistani playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker, and novelist. He is known for his film '' My Beautiful Laundrette'' and novel '' The Buddha of Suburbia''. Early life and education Hanif Kureish ...

File:Nicla vassallo eng.jpg, Nicla Vassallo File:Alain de Botton.jpg,

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

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 moral philosophy and the relationship between education and liberalism. Brighouse is particularly famous for his book wi ...

* 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 * Nicla Vassallo, 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 stu ...

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

Stathis Psillos Stathis Psillos (; ; 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 the Rotman Institute of Philosophy of the University of Wester ...

, Greek academic and philosopher * Helen Beebee, 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