Criminology and Philosophy & Ethics BA (Hons)

CRIMINOLOGY

Crime and society's response are key issues today. Criminology looks at why crime happens, its effects, and how we can prevent it. At Liverpool Hope University, you'll explore how crime is defined. You'll learn who makes these decisions and why people commit crimes. You'll also study what happens in the criminal justice system.

You’ll also learn about important institutions like the police, courts, prisons, probation services, and government bodies such as the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office. The degree prompts you to think about big questions. Is criminal behavior learned or inherited? Why are some actions criminalized and others not? Does punishment really reduce crime?

Criminology at Liverpool Hope is a respected course taught by experienced staff. They are dedicated to helping you excel in a vibrant learning environment. The course focuses on justice—its delivery, access, and fairness—reflecting the university’s commitment to social justice locally and globally.

PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS

Philosophy and Ethics explores the big questions of life and morality: on what basis do we judge things good or evil? It challenges you to examine your assumptions, opinions and worldview. Do we need to believe in God for life to have meaning – or have the arguments for the existence of God broken down? What does it mean to be human? Do we have free will, or is our life completely determined?

Through close attention to the primary texts of philosophers such as Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche, our Philosophy and Ethics degree will help you learn to analyse and evaluate arguments, and to compose and communicate your own ideas in a reasoned way. You will have a grounding in the foundational questions of philosophy. As you progress, you will look in depth at philosophy of religion, political philosophy, applied ethics and issues of human personhood, artificial intelligence, ecology and animality.

Liverpool is a great place to study philosophy: the city famously wears its heart on its sleeve, and is home to a rich web of cultures that explore the human condition through humour, art and performance. The Liverpool Hope team has developed a programme that aims to be contemporary and timely, especially in the field of applied ethics. And in a city that has been riven with sectarian strife in its past, the innovative approaches that the team takes to thinking about religion in the modern world are highly topical. 

This degree will help you to develop your professional capacity by equipping you with the intellectual skills and perspectives needed to face the ethical and ideological challenges of the contemporary world. Such skills are essential for careers that require you to grasp with complex and often conflicting ideas across a whole range of professions.