Student Profiles

Eleanor March, Physics and Philosophy

I chose to study physics and philosophy because I wanted to understand what the world is like, in the broadest sense. Both subjects offer their own approaches to this, but it was the intersection of the two – the philosophy of physics – which particularly fascinated me. There are lots of ways to explain what philosophy of physics is about, but probably the easiest is to begin with the thought that, if we're interested in what the world is like, we should pay attention to what our best physics says it's like. Philosophy of physics becomes a discipline of its own once we take a look at physics and realise that there's no unique or straightforward answer to that question. For example, does quantum mechanics entail the existence of a multiverse? Is there a fact of the matter about what's happening “now” on Mars?  Does spacetime exist independently of matter? What does it mean to talk about localised particles (i.e. the particles of the standard model) in quantum field theory?

These were the kind of questions which first drew me to physics and philosophy, and getting to think about them has been one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of the course. One of the great things about the physics and philosophy degree at Oxford is that the course is structured so that you cover topics in philosophy of physics throughout all four years of the degree, along with all the relevant physics and philosophical background, but also have the flexibility to explore other topics in physics and philosophy outside of this through your choices of modules in third and fourth year.

Some of my favourite parts of the degree were studying general relativity and the quantum measurement problem in third year, and writing my fourth-year philosophy thesis, which was about the relationship between theories of Newtonian gravity set on curved spacetime and theories of Newtonian gravity with no linear accelerations. Another highlight was the fourth-year advanced philosophy of physics module, which takes you right up to some of the frontiers of current research in the field.

After graduating, I chose to continue studying philosophy, but students also go on to pursue careers ranging from physics, to finance, to law. This diversity is a reflection of the wide variety of skills that the physics and philosophy degree gives you – in mathematics, computing, and how to think, write, and argue clearly. But most of all, you will come away from the degree in the knowledge that, whilst you may not understand what the world is like, you have certainly grappled with it – and nothing compares to that!

Lina Alrawashdeh, Philosophy Politics and Economics

I chose to apply to PPE, in part, because I was indecisive about the future. Of course, there were some things I knew about what I wanted to study. I was always interested in questions about people—the kinds of lives we lead, the ways we interact with one another, the systems and societies that we build. For these reasons, I knew I wanted to study something in the humanities or social sciences. This narrowed down my choices, but it still left a lot of options and I wasn't ready to pick just one. PPE offered a solution to this indecisiveness. It meant that I could explore three main subjects within the areas I was interested in, without having to commit to one.

During the first year of PPE, there was a little bit of everything. There were problem sheets for economics that were math-heavy; there were statistics and coding courses that introduced me to methods in the social sciences; and there was a lot of essay-writing that taught me to reason in a way that is careful, clear, and concise.

In the second and third years, I had more control over my courses and was able to drop one of the three subjects. At this point, my initial indecisiveness had gone and I had discovered that I really enjoy the careful analysis and argumentation involved in philosophy. I wanted to do as much of it as possible! And so, I chose not to continue with economics, took as many philosophy courses as I could, and used the politics part of my degree to explore political philosophy. But this was only one of many possible paths. I have friends who chose to focus on the social science aspect of the degree, studying political science and economics. Others chose economics and philosophy, making connections between the subjects by studying topics like the philosophy of social science. And though it is an uncommon choice, students can prioritise breadth, continuing to study all three subjects at once. The flexibility of PPE means that everyone can shape the degree around the ideas and questions that interest them most.

Because the degree is so flexible, it can be difficult to explain what the day-to-day of studying PPE looks like. It looked very different for me than it did for some of my friends. What I can explain is what it was like to be a PPE-ist who focused on philosophy and politics. Typically, I would have two essays due every week. I would spend most of the week doing readings to explore a new literature. I would then use what I learnt from the readings alongside my own ideas to engage with the essay question and present a particular argument. And then I would have tutorials, where I would get feedback on the ideas I presented in my essay, discuss the ideas that other people had, and try to work through the questions and problems together. This collaborative environment was one of my favourite parts of the degree.

Overall, I'm very glad I chose to study PPE. It allowed me to keep several doors open when I still hadn't figured out exactly what I wanted to do. And it let me exercise a lot of choice over my education when I did figure it out. And in the process, it taught me how to break down complex problems, reason clearly, and write well.