Philosophy, Politics and Economics combines the best of the three disciplines. The content and the approaches of each discipline feed into each other, yielding a three-dimensional appreciation of the toughest problems facing our society in the institutional, local, national and international contexts. This programme is designed to provide future politicians, civil servants, journalists and managers with a complex and subtle vision of how to improve things, and the skills to argue in support of such a vision. This appreciation of complexity is thus the greatest value that we strive to inculcate in our students: a reluctance to be fobbed off with cliché and mantra, or to be intimidated by statistics and jargon; a curiosity about what lies behind the newspaper headlines, and a persistence to research a topic thoroughly before forming an opinion; the willingness to engage with others respectfully and sensitively, and a humility to acknowledge one’s own error and prejudice.

1 - demonstrate a broad understanding of the central issues, theories and problems within all three of the disciplines of Philosophy, Politics and Economics;
2 - demonstrate a very detailed knowledge and understanding within a narrower range of areas within these disciplines;
3 - evaluate critically the leading theories and ideas within all of these disciplines;
4 - solve abstract problems using clear and concise arguments;
5 - develop their own ways of thinking about problems in philosophy, politics and economics, with rigour and clarity;
6 - communicate their ideas effectively using written and oral methods;
7 - develop their own research projects, applying research techniques effectively;
8 - work responsibly and directedly as an individual and in teams;
9 - demonstrate an awareness of principles of ethical practice in politics and economics and how these principles should be applied.

PPE programmes are scattered throughout many of the top universities in the world, attracting the best and most ambitious students and educating cohorts of politicians, civil servants, journalists and managers. All three disciplines share a commitment to rigour and problem-solving that will develop useful skills for any career – skills such as research, analysis, written expression and interpreting data. For a list of famous PPE programmes and graduates (such as Bill Clinton, David Cameron and Aung San Suu Kyi), see the Wikipedia entry on ‘Philosophy, Politics and Economics’. According to the BBC, the Oxford PPE “dominates public life in the UK”. 

Please ensure that you register to a minimum of 50 credits in total of Philosophy, Politics & International Relations and Economics modules. You must register to a minimum of 15 credits in EACH subject area. The remaining 5 credits can be in either Philosophy, Politics & International Relations or Economics. If you are studying abroad (Erasmus/non-EU exchange), please see registration guidelines here.

Students are required to take 50 option credits in stage 4. Students can choose modules in two subjects (and no modules in the third) OR they can choose modules in all three subjects.



If choosing modules in all THREE SUBJECTS: You must select 10-20 credits in EACH subject, adding up to 50 credits in total.



If choosing modules in TWO SUBJECTS (and no modules in the third subject.): You must select 20-30 credits in BOTH subjects, adding up to 50 credits in total.


If choosing Politics options: Students wishing to take POL30860 and POL30870 (taken together) must apply to the school in advance.

Module ID	Module Title	Trimester	Credits
Stage 1 Core Modules
ECON10030	Introduction to Quantitative Economics	Autumn	5
ECON10770	Introduction to Economics	Autumn	5
INRL10010	Foundation of Political Theory & International Relations	Autumn	5
PHIL10160	Critical Thinking	Autumn	5
PHIL10190	Introducing PPE	Autumn	5
POL10170	Foundations in Political Research	Autumn	5
PHIL10040	Introduction to Ethics	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON10010	Principles of Microeconomics	Spring	5
ECON10020	Principles of Macroeconomics	Spring	5
PHIL10020	Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy	Spring	5
POL10160	Foundations of Contemporary Politics	Spring	5
Stage 1 Core Modules
Stage 1 Options - A)MIN1OF: Choose 1 option module. (Students who achieved less than an O3 in Leaving Cert Mathematics must register to MATH00010 from list below.
MATH00010	Introduction to Mathematics	Autumn	5
PHIL10030	Introduction to Modern Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL10070	Ancient Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL10100	Existentialism and Humanism: An Introduction to Continental Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL10110	Introduction to Eastern Philosophy	Spring	5
POL10120	Foundations in Global Development	Spring	5
Stage 1 Options - A)MIN1OF: Choose 1 option module. (Students who achieved less than an O3 in Leaving Cert Mathematics must register to MATH00010 from list below.
Stage 2 Core Modules
ECON20010	Intermediate Microeconomics I	Autumn	5
PHIL20490	Knowledge & Scepticism	Autumn	5
POL20010	Individuals and the State: The Idea of Freedom in the History of Political Thought	Autumn	5
ECON20040	Statistics for Economists	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON20020	Intermediate Macroeconomics	Spring	5
PHIL20620	Philosophy of Social Science	Spring	5
POL20050	Research Methods in Political Science	Spring	5
Stage 2 Core Modules
Stage 2 Options - A)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 option from the Politics & IR modules listed below.
INRL20040	Theories and Concepts in International Relations	Autumn	5
POL20020	Comparative Politics	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
Stage 2 Options - A)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 option from the Politics & IR modules listed below.
Stage 2 Options - A1)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 option from the Philosophy modules listed below.
PHIL20010	Rationalism and Empiricism	Autumn	5
PHIL20020	Logic	Autumn	5
PHIL20320	Philosophy of Science	Autumn	5
PHIL20440	Feminism & Gender Justice	Autumn	5
PHIL20500	Phenomenology & Existentialism	Autumn	5
PHIL20630	Art and Society	Autumn	5
PHIL20240	Applied Ethics	Spring	5
PHIL20570	Philosophy & Literature	Spring	5
PHIL20580	Plato's Republic	Spring	5
PHIL20640	Philosophy of Mind	Spring	5
PHIL20710	Body, Mind, World	Spring	5
Stage 2 Options - A1)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 option from the Philosophy modules listed below.
Stage 2 Options - B)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
ECON20060	Irish Economy	Autumn	5
ECON20080	Economic Policy Analysis	Autumn	5
ECON20190	Introduction to Financial Economics	Autumn	5
INRL20040	Theories and Concepts in International Relations	Autumn	5
PHIL20010	Rationalism and Empiricism	Autumn	5
PHIL20020	Logic	Autumn	5
PHIL20440	Feminism & Gender Justice	Autumn	5
PHIL20500	Phenomenology & Existentialism	Autumn	5
PHIL20720	Philosophy of Work	Autumn	5
POL20220	Introduction to Political Institutions	Autumn	5
POL20260	Introduction to Chinese Politics	Autumn	5
DEV20130	Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals	Spring	5
ECON20120	The Economics of the European Union: Institutions, Policies and Crises	Spring	5
ECON20130	Economic History: From the Middle Ages to the Second World War	Spring	5
ECON20180	Intermediate Microeconomics II	Spring	5
ECON20230	Economics, Organisation and Management	Spring	5
INRL20110	Intro to Middle East Politics	Spring	5
PHIL20240	Applied Ethics	Spring	5
PHIL20570	Philosophy & Literature	Spring	5
PHIL20580	Plato's Republic	Spring	5
PHIL20640	Philosophy of Mind	Spring	5
PHIL20710	Body, Mind, World	Spring	5
PHIL20730	Revelation and Reason	Spring	5
POL20020	Comparative Politics	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
POL20250	Irish Politics	Spring	5
Stage 2 Options - B)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
Stage 3 Options - A)MIN3OF: Please select a minimum of 15 credits from the Philosophy option list below.
PHIL30280	Philosophy of Interpretation	Autumn	5
PHIL30490	History of Ethics: Eighteenth Century	Autumn	5
PHIL30570	Matters of Life and Death	Autumn	5
PHIL30590	Aristotle: Ethics & Politics	Autumn	5
PHIL30820	Hume and Kant	Autumn	5
PHIL30910	Irish Enlightenment	Autumn	5
PHIL30970	Phenomenology and History	Autumn	5
PHIL30070	Philosophy of Language	Spring	5
PHIL30260	Philosophy of Law	Spring	5
PHIL30520	Philosophy of Religion	Spring	5
PHIL30650	History & Philosophy: Nazi Germany	Spring	5
PHIL30670	Practical Philosophy: Work Experience	Spring	5
PHIL30870	Philosophy of Fiction	Spring	5
PHIL30880	Applied Epistemology	Spring	5
PHIL30890	Wittgenstein and the Origins of Analytic Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL30900	Personal Identity	Spring	5
PHIL30960	Love: A Philosophical Problem (in the Middle Ages and Modernity)	Spring	5
Stage 3 Options - A)MIN3OF: Please select a minimum of 15 credits from the Philosophy option list below.
Stage 3 Options - B)MIN3OF: Please select a minimum of 15 credits from the Economics option list below.
ECON30100	The Economics of Health and Health Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30150	International Money and Banking	Autumn	5
ECON30180	Industrial Economics: Economics of Business Strategy	Autumn	5
ECON30270	Behavioural Economics and Public Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30360	Labour Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30400	Political Economy	Autumn	5
ECON30410	Development Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30520	R for Economists	Autumn	5
ECON30130	Econometrics: Applying Statistics to Economic Data	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON30160	International Trade Economics	Spring	5
ECON30170	Financial Economics: Asset Pricing	Spring	5
ECON30190	Public Economics: Government Spending, Taxation and Public Choice	Spring	5
ECON30260	The Economics of the Transport Sector	Spring	5
ECON30390	Experimental Economics: Lab Experiments	Spring	5
ECON30430	Economics of International Fin	Spring	5
ECON30500	Field Experiments Social Sci	Spring	5
ECON30550	Philosophy of Economics	Spring	5
Stage 3 Options - B)MIN3OF: Please select a minimum of 15 credits from the Economics option list below.
Stage 3 Options - C)MIN1OF: Please select a minimum of 15 credits in total from the Politics and International Relations options lists below. A minimum of 10 credits must be selected from the level 3 Politics and International Relations option list, and a maximum of 5 credits can be selected from the Politics & International Relations level 2 option list below.
INRL30320	Gender in War & Peace	Autumn	10
INRL30340	Internat. Political Economy	Autumn	10
INRL30370	Terrorism & Political Violence	Autumn	10
INRL30400	EU Foreign Policy: understanding how the European Union and its member states engage with the world	Autumn	10
POL30640	Deliberative Mini-Publics	Autumn	10
POL30660	Data Analytics for Social Sciences	Autumn	10
POL30820	Political Risk and Foreign Direct Investment	Autumn	10
POL30840	Electoral Systems and their Consequences	Autumn	10
POL30880	Capitalism and Democracy	Autumn	10
POL30890	The Politics of Organised Crime	Autumn	10
POL30920	Women and Political Violence: Understanding Women’s Participation in Political Violence	Autumn	10
POL36070	Political Psychology	Autumn	10
INRL30330	Integration and Fragmentation in the Global System	Spring	10
INRL30390	Foreign Policy Mistakes	Spring	10
POL30680	Gender and Politics	Spring	10
POL30720	Parties and Party Competition	Spring	10
POL30780	Justice in Education	Spring	10
POL30900	Global Environmental Politics	Spring	10
POL30910	Transitional Justice: Introduction and Current Debates	Spring	10
Stage 3 Options - C)MIN1OF: Please select a minimum of 15 credits in total from the Politics and International Relations options lists below. A minimum of 10 credits must be selected from the level 3 Politics and International Relations option list, and a maximum of 5 credits can be selected from the Politics & International Relations level 2 option list below.
Stage 3 Options - D)MIN0OF: Students may select up to 5 credits from the following level 2 options to fulfill your 15 credit Politics and International Relations requirement.
INRL20040	Theories and Concepts in International Relations	Autumn	5
INRL20160	Introduction to European Union Politics	Autumn	5
POL20220	Introduction to Political Institutions	Autumn	5
POL20260	Introduction to Chinese Politics	Autumn	5
DEV20130	Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals	Spring	5
INRL20110	Intro to Middle East Politics	Spring	5
POL20020	Comparative Politics	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
POL20250	Irish Politics	Spring	5
Stage 3 Options - D)MIN0OF: Students may select up to 5 credits from the following level 2 options to fulfill your 15 credit Politics and International Relations requirement.
Stage 4 Options - A)MIN0OF: If you are choosing to take all THREE SUBJECTS, you must select 10-20 credits below. If you are choosing to take TWO SUBJECTS (and no credits in the third subject), you must select 20-30 credits below. Students wishing to take POL30860 and POL30870 (must be taken together) must apply to the school in advance.
INRL30320	Gender in War & Peace	Autumn	10
INRL30340	Internat. Political Economy	Autumn	10
INRL30370	Terrorism & Political Violence	Autumn	10
INRL30400	EU Foreign Policy: understanding how the European Union and its member states engage with the world	Autumn	10
POL30640	Deliberative Mini-Publics	Autumn	10
POL30660	Data Analytics for Social Sciences	Autumn	10
POL30820	Political Risk and Foreign Direct Investment	Autumn	10
POL30840	Electoral Systems and their Consequences	Autumn	10
POL30860	Advanced Seminar in Politics 1	Autumn	5
POL30880	Capitalism and Democracy	Autumn	10
POL30890	The Politics of Organised Crime	Autumn	10
POL30920	Women and Political Violence: Understanding Women’s Participation in Political Violence	Autumn	10
POL36070	Political Psychology	Autumn	10
INRL30330	Integration and Fragmentation in the Global System	Spring	10
INRL30390	Foreign Policy Mistakes	Spring	10
POL30680	Gender and Politics	Spring	10
POL30720	Parties and Party Competition	Spring	10
POL30780	Justice in Education	Spring	10
POL30870	Advanced Seminar in Politics 2	Spring	15
POL30900	Global Environmental Politics	Spring	10
POL30910	Transitional Justice: Introduction and Current Debates	Spring	10
Stage 4 Options - A)MIN0OF: If you are choosing to take all THREE SUBJECTS, you must select 10-20 credits below. If you are choosing to take TWO SUBJECTS (and no credits in the third subject), you must select 20-30 credits below. Students wishing to take POL30860 and POL30870 (must be taken together) must apply to the school in advance.
Stage 4 Options - C)MIN0OF: You may select a maximum of 5 credits from the following Politics level 2 option list to fulfill stage 4 requirements.
INRL20160	Introduction to European Union Politics	Autumn	5
POL20220	Introduction to Political Institutions	Autumn	5
POL20260	Introduction to Chinese Politics	Autumn	5
DEV20130	Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals	Spring	5
INRL20110	Intro to Middle East Politics	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
POL20250	Irish Politics	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - C)MIN0OF: You may select a maximum of 5 credits from the following Politics level 2 option list to fulfill stage 4 requirements.
Stage 4 Options - D)MIN0OF: If you are choosing to take all THREE SUBJECTS, you must select 10-20 credits below. If you are choosing to take TWO SUBJECTS (and no credits in the third subject), you must select 20-30 credits below.
ECON30100	The Economics of Health and Health Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30150	International Money and Banking	Autumn	5
ECON30180	Industrial Economics: Economics of Business Strategy	Autumn	5
ECON30270	Behavioural Economics and Public Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30290	Advanced Microeconomics	Autumn	5
ECON30360	Labour Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30400	Political Economy	Autumn	5
ECON30410	Development Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30520	R for Economists	Autumn	5
ECON30530	Advanced Econometrics: Microeconometrics	Autumn	5
ECON30130	Econometrics: Applying Statistics to Economic Data	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON20100	Game Theory	Spring	5
ECON30120	Advanced Macroeconomics	Spring	5
ECON30160	International Trade Economics	Spring	5
ECON30170	Financial Economics: Asset Pricing	Spring	5
ECON30190	Public Economics: Government Spending, Taxation and Public Choice	Spring	5
ECON30260	The Economics of the Transport Sector	Spring	5
ECON30390	Experimental Economics: Lab Experiments	Spring	5
ECON30430	Economics of International Fin	Spring	5
ECON30500	Field Experiments Social Sci	Spring	5
ECON30540	Advd Econometrics: Time Series	Spring	5
ECON30550	Philosophy of Economics	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - D)MIN0OF: If you are choosing to take all THREE SUBJECTS, you must select 10-20 credits below. If you are choosing to take TWO SUBJECTS (and no credits in the third subject), you must select 20-30 credits below.
Stage 4 Options - E)MIN0OF: If you are choosing to take all THREE SUBJECTS, you must select 10-20 credits below. If you are choosing to take TWO SUBJECTS (and no credits in the third subject), you must select 20-30 credits below.
PHIL30280	Philosophy of Interpretation	Autumn	5
PHIL30490	History of Ethics: Eighteenth Century	Autumn	5
PHIL30570	Matters of Life and Death	Autumn	5
PHIL30590	Aristotle: Ethics & Politics	Autumn	5
PHIL30820	Hume and Kant	Autumn	5
PHIL30910	Irish Enlightenment	Autumn	5
PHIL30920	Training as a Philosophy Researcher Part 1	Autumn	5
PHIL30070	Philosophy of Language	Spring	5
PHIL30260	Philosophy of Law	Spring	5
PHIL30520	Philosophy of Religion	Spring	5
PHIL30650	History & Philosophy: Nazi Germany	Spring	5
PHIL30870	Philosophy of Fiction	Spring	5
PHIL30880	Applied Epistemology	Spring	5
PHIL30890	Wittgenstein and the Origins of Analytic Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL30900	Personal Identity	Spring	5
PHIL30930	Training as a Philosophy Researcher Part 2	Spring	5
PHIL30960	Love: A Philosophical Problem (in the Middle Ages and Modernity)	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - E)MIN0OF: If you are choosing to take all THREE SUBJECTS, you must select 10-20 credits below. If you are choosing to take TWO SUBJECTS (and no credits in the third subject), you must select 20-30 credits below.

		Award		GPA
Programme	Module Weightings	Rule Description	Description
BHSOC010	Stage 4 - 50.00% Stage 3 - 30.00% Stage 2 - 20.00%	Standard Honours Award	First Class Honours	3.68	4.20
			Second Class Honours, Grade 1	3.08	3.67
			Second Class Honours, Grade 2	2.48	3.07
			Pass	2.00	2.47