PHIL10190 Introducing PPE

Academic Year 2022/2023

This module, a core for PPE majors, will introduce students to some of the key issues in philosophy and political economy. In the first half of the module, we will discuss the basic self-understanding of citizens within contemporary democratic societies. How do political institutions shape or constrain individual life choices? What mechanisms do ordinary citizens have at their disposal to challenge these conditions? Are there any circumstances in which unlawful protest, or even violence, becomes justifiable? Our aim is to encourage students—particularly those who do not consider themselves politically active or engaged—to think about the ways social reality is shaped by their actions, and even through their inaction. We will consider how ‘personal’ choices, like pursuing a career and holding down a job, hold wider social and political implications. And we will learn how political philosophy can serve both to justify the world as it is, or to highlight how it can be changed.

The second half of the module is designed to help students understand and critically respond to issues concerning economic development, trade, and investment. Today, more than two-thirds of world trade occurs through global value chains as firms organise the production of goods and services across the world. We will examine how globalisation has shaped the politics behind these complex economic transactions. Why are some countries rich and other countries are poor? How do these disparities reflect deep-seated inequalities between and within nations. We will consider some of the basic economic theories used to decide the winners and the losers in global economic development. We will then explore how distributive effects shape policy decisions at the level of individuals, interest groups, firms, and states. And we will consider how these differing interests and policy preferences reinforce the importance of international institutions in mitigating power asymmetries between wealthy and poor nations.