Philosophy: Global and Comparative Philosophy

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.

Leiden is the only Dutch university, and one of only a few in the world, to offer a master’s programme that combines Western perspectives with those of India, East Asia, and the Arab world, taught by internationally renowned experts in their fields. Leiden University is home to various institutes dedicated to study these traditions. In addition, Leiden University Library has a world-famous collections of Asian and Arabic manuscripts and materials.

This programme is philosophy at its broadest. In addition to western philosophy, the programme features philosophies from India, eastern Asia and the Arab world, combining conceptual analysis with hermeneutics and phenomenology, and historical contextualisation with cross-cultural comparison. In this way, you will learn from the world’s traditions of thought and how they mutually inform and enrich one other.