Ethics and Political Philosophy

Entry requirements

1. A completed Bachelor's degree in Philosophy or in a related discipline (in the latter case, students must have acquired at least 60 EC in Philosophical disciplines).

The applicant must have a degree with merit or distinction or equivalent. Meaning: a student’s weighted grade-point average in philosophy in the 2nd and 3rd year of their Bachelor's programme must be the equivalent of 7.5 or more (on the Dutch scale of 10).

On the page "Conversions of international grades" you will find an indication of what the equivalent of a Dutch 7.5 or 8 might be in the country where you obtained your Bachelor’s degree.

Additional infomration on the admission requirements can be found here.

2. A proficiency in English

In order to take part in this programme, you need to have fluency in both written and spoken English.This requirement has been satisfied when the student meets the conditions, listed on our website.

3. Highly motivated

An applicant must be able to demonstrate to the Examination Board that they have serious research interests and skills. Applicant must write a motivation letter and send a writing sample which can help evaluate their research and writing skills.

Months of entry

February, September

Course content

The Master's research specialisation in Ethics and Political Philosophy focuses on the study moral of conflicts and ethical issues in contemporary Western culture and how politics is a way of coping with these dilemmas.

Key authors for this specialisation are, in chronological order, Aristoteles, Thomas van Aquino, Kant, Hegel, Schleiermacher, Heidegger, Gadamer, Levinas, Ricoeur, Habermas, Taylor and Toulmin.

This programme is closely connected to the Centre for Contemporary European Philosophy, allowing you to take part in activities of this research group, which connects the chair of Practical Philosophy with the chair of Fundamental Philosophy.

What will you learn?

• Gain theoretical knowledge about philosophical ethics and learn how to apply this knowledge to contemporary debates
• Understand and interpret influential texts and ethical applications
• Get valuable experience designing, conducting and presenting your own research projects

Career prospects

This programme has been designed for people with the ambition to do research. Graduates tend to fall into one of three groups

• A majority of the students continue their research within academia by applying for a doctoral programme in the Netherlands or abroad. We take particular pride in the fact that more than 75 percent of our graduates manage to obtain a PhD position within two years of graduating.
• A second group goes on to teach philosophy at secondary schools.
• And a third group enter research-related professions outside of education
  

If you have any questions, email us here: study-information@ru.nl

Learn more via the Radboud University contact form.

Information for international students

Application deadlines

Non-EU/EEA students

• The deadline for non-EU/EEA students who wish to apply for a scholarship is 31 January prior to the September intake. For the requirements and selection procedure for scholarships, please check our scholarship overview.
• The deadline for those not applying for a scholarship is 1 April for non-EU/EEA nationals for the September 2026 intake. You can apply for the September 2026 intake from 1 October 2025.

EU/EEA students

• The application deadline for EU/EEA students with housing assistance for the September 2026 intake is 1 May, and the deadline without housing assistance is 1 July. You can apply from 1 October onward for the 2026/2027 academic year.

The application deadlines for Master’s starting in February are 1 November for non-EU/EEA citizens and 1 December for EU/EEA citizens.

Fees and funding

Radboud University offers 3 different scholarships that are open to prospective Master's students from non-EU/EEA countries and who want to follow an English-taught Master's programme.

Radboud Scholarship Programme

The Radboud Scholarship Programme offers talented, highly motivated, non-EU/EEA students with outstanding study results the opportunity to be awarded a partial scholarship for an English-taught Master’s programme.

NL Scholarship (for prospective students)

The NL Scholarship (formerly known as Holland Scholarship) is a partial scholarship for non-EU/EEA students who want to do their Master’s in the Netherlands.

Fulbright-Radboud Scholarships

The Fulbright Commission, sponsored by Radboud University, is offering scholarships for talented American students to study at Radboud University.