Philosophy stretches back into Ancient Greece, India, and China. It studies general problems and issues that undergird most other academic disciplines – being split into the branches of Aesthetics (the study of beauty), Logic (the study of reason), Ontology (the study of existence), Epistemology (the study of knowledge), and Ethics (the study of values), amongst others. Philosophers tend to concentrate on the constructing sound arguments based on a small number of basic assumptions. A Masters in Philosophy (MA or MPhil) has a wide range of professional applications, beyond preparation for further academic study. The ability to construct valid arguments has relevance in Law, finance and the political realm, while a specialism in aesthetics can lead to positions in the creative industries. Philosophy is also taught in schools and colleges, and so teaching is a valid alternative.
