PHIL10190

This module is core for all students enrolled in the Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) programme.

This module is not intended to offer general or broad introductions to the subjects. Rather the lecturers choose their own topics and deal with them in a manner that indicates the approaches typical of their disciplines.

The Economics lectures are on Mondays, the Philosophy lectures are on Thursdays.

Mondays will be taught by Dr Constantin Burgi (Economics). This material will centre on discussion about how economists approach modelling the world around them. This will include discussion of the benefits and limitations of using mathematical modelling, the potential perils of treating data as immutable facts, and different considerations that should be kept in mind when considering the welfare of groups.

Thursdays will be taught by Dr Tim Crowley (Philosophy). The best possible introduction to philosophy as a subject is through engagement with Ancient Greek Philosophy; for philosophy began in Greece, and it remains true to say that the greatest philosophers were the Greeks Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. It is also in a way the easiest introduction to Philosophy, because there is a directness, an immediacy, an urgency and virility about Greek philosophy that is missing from the more abstract, dry, technical and frankly often tedious nature of later, especially recent, philosophy. This is because the central issue for the Greeks always comes back to the most important question of all: how should one live?

In this part of the module we will look at some of Plato's writings about his friend and mentor Socrates, in particular those writings that bear on the trial and death of Socrates. These include Plato's 'Apology', 'Euthyphro', and 'Crito', a series of short, lively dialogues that offer excellent introductions not only to Socrates, but to the practice of philosophy itself.