Philosophy of Science MSc

Philippe Van Basshuysen

Pursuing this MSc at LSE is an excellent experience. There is a fair division between taught courses and a research project, leading to your dissertation. This gives students the opportunity to acquire new or deepen existing knowledge in a field as well as to dip into the fascinating experience of developing your own ideas and approaches to tackle a problem.

The courses you can choose from are designed by top investigators and are in many cases research-led. My focus lay on set theory and logic, some decision and game theory, and some general philosophy of science; I also audited some economics lectures. I found the structure of the courses – a lecture plus a corresponding seminar led by the respective lecturer – ideal for fruitful progress. Also, the instructors are generally very accessible which is partly due to the small student-teacher ratio.

Besides the general coursework, there is a dissertation seminar in which students present and discuss their research project with the coordinator and fellow students. My dissertation was on probabilistic modelling of the coherence of theories in a reductive context. Both the seminar and the ideas and support I received in various discussions with people from the department, particularly Miklos Redei, Nicolas Wuethrich, and Stefan Schubert, were of vital importance for successfully undertaking the research.

The broad range of public lectures from renowned scientists completes the experience of studying at LSE. Amongst others, I attended lectures from Christopher Pissarides, Gerd Gigerenzer, Paul Collier, Hillel Steiner, and Helga Nowotny. Last but not least, the George which is just across the street from the Lakatos Building is the perfect place to discuss academic as well as non-academic matters with both fellow students and staff over a pint.