MSc Philosophy of the Social Sciences

About the MSc programme

Anthropology, economics, geography, political science, sociology – you already know what the social sciences are. But how do they work? What makes them special? There are clear senses in which they differ from some of the natural sciences, such as their extremely diverse set of methods and analytic techniques, but does this make the social sciences any less scientific or objective?

With LSE widely recognised as the world’s leading specialist social science university, the MSc in Philosophy of the Social Sciences is the ideal degree with which to pursue questions about human societies, and to apply philosophical reasoning to understanding the nature of the social sciences themselves.

This programme offers a critical examination of the conceptual and methodological issues underlying social scientific research and the Department's strength in philosophy of economics and rational choice theory makes it the ideal environment in which to study, examine and critique the use of these methods within the social sciences.

Programme details

You can find the most up-to-date list of optional courses for MSc Philosophy of the Social Sciences in the Programme Regulations section of the current School Calendar.

You must note however that while care has been taken to ensure that this information is up to date and correct, some circumstances may cause the School to subsequently change, suspend or withdraw a course or programme of study, or change the fees that apply to it. The School will neither be liable for information that after publication becomes inaccurate or irrelevant, nor for changing, suspending or withdrawing a course or programme of study due to circumstances outside of its control. You must also note that places are limited on some courses and/or subject to specific entry requirements. The School cannot therefore guarantee places on its courses. You should visit the School's Calendar, or contact the relevant academic department, for information on the availability and/or content of courses and programmes of study. Certain substantive changes will be listed on the Updated graduate course and programme information page.

Graduate destinations

Past programme graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers, ranging from Law, studying in various PhD programmes in Philosophy, forming their own start-up, working in the City and working at Google. We have a very good record of students entering excellent PhD programmes.

Contact us

If you have any further questions about the programme or the department, please email us at philosophy-dept@lse.ac.uk.