Economics and Philosophy (BA)

The 17th and 18th centuries, a period of great intellectual and social upheaval, saw the rise of Modern Philosophy. In continental Europe, the 'Rationalism' of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz argued for the capacity of reason to arrive at knowledge and und...

The module shows microeconomic analysis at work in a number of areas of policy concern, and develops simple models that help us both to understand central problems of microeconomic policy analysis and evaluate alternative policy options. Pre-requisite ...

The aim of this module is to equip you with some analytical and professional skills that will be useful in your economics degree and future careers. The module will also provide information about employability opportunities in your discipline, such as int...

The main objective of this module is to provide analytical understanding of how economic policy affects macroeconomic outcomes. The main macroeconomic outcome that we will look at is output (what we usually measure as GDP). We will approach the study of t...

You might watch a stunning film, hear a delightful song, enjoy a beautiful sunset, read a dreadful poem, attend an elegant dance, or see a garish building. Experiences like this can stimulate thoughts and feelings of great depth, and provide pleasure or d...

The module will introduce students to the economics of development.

Epistemology is dedicated to questions about the nature and structure of knowledge and justified belief. Some central questions in epistemology include: - What is knowledge? Why is it valuable? - To gain knowledge from a reliable source, does one n...

Ethics of Global Poverty examines the duties of affluent people towards those living in poverty around the world. Among the questions we will examine are: What obligations do we have to help strangers in need? What bases might such obligations have? Are s...

This module involves the ethical evaluation of public policies. Note that it is not primarily concerned with how public policies are made and implemented, nor with non-ethical assessment of them, such as how effective they are in achieving their aims. The...

In this module we study the working of imperfectly competitive markets, the behaviour of firms in these markets, welfare implications and competition policy.

The module examines the specification of econometric models and their estimation and testing using available data. It considers the nature of economic data, the methods by which they are compiled and the problems they may present for the econometrician. ...

Among philosophers in the modern era, Immanuel Kant is widely acknowledged as the most important, original and influential. His challenging book, Critique of Pure Reason, asks what we can know about the nature of reality at the most fundamental level. Can...

Ever since Aristotle, philosophers have been interested in developing formal systems of logic to refine our ability to distinguish valid from invalid arguments and to further our understanding of the nature of logic and validity. The aim of this module is...

We all make moral judgments and think about moral questions. For instance, you might think that torture is typically wrong but wonder whether it may sometimes be right. Whereas normative ethics tries to answer these questions, metaethics is concerned with...

Metaphysics is the study of what kinds of things there and what they are like in the most general terms. We have both a common sense picture of the world and a scientific picture of the world, and sometimes these two appear to conflict. Part of the job of...

The module will enable you to apply statistical techniques to the estimation and testing of economic models and thereby provide you with the skills necessary both to undertake your own empirical studies and to evaluate empirical work in the published lite...

This module develops the basic models of non-competitive behaviour in modern microeconomics. It builds a framework for the analysis in markets where traditional price theory fails. Central elements in the development of this framework are choice in stra...

Moral philosophy is concerned with questions of right and wrong, good and bad, virtue and vice. Such questions are familiar: can it be right to lie to someone to avoid hurting their feelings? Is it okay to favour my friends and family, or should I be impa...

Can there be a proof that God exists? Or might phenomena such as suffering serve to show that an omniscient, omnipotent and omnibenevolent being cannot exist? Such questions are central to the philosophy of religion; attempting to answer them leads us to ...

We build our world on scientific knowledge, in fact we stake our lives on it. Every time we board a train, send an email or take a medical drug we reaffirm our trust in the products of science. But what, if anything, gives science the authority it seems t...

Philosophy of mind explores questions about the nature of the mind and mental states – states such as perceptual experiences, beliefs, desires, and emotions. What is the mind? Is it an immaterial substance? Is it the brain? Is it something like a computer...

The aims of the module are to develop a simple dynamic framework in order to: (b) give microeconomic foundation to macroeconomic analysis, (a) learn to approach macroeconomic problems from a general equilibrium perspective, (c) enable students to eva...

The module shows economic analysis at work in a number of areas of policy concern and develops simple and more advance models and empirical methodologies that help us both to understand central problems of economic policy analysis and evaluate alternative...

This module forms the first part of a dissertation in Economics. You will undertake a substantive piece of independent work in composing a literature review on your chosen research topic. You will motivate the research topic, survey and review the relevan...

The aim of this module is to equip you with professional skills and knowledge that will be useful in your future careers, as well as when applying for graduate jobs. The module consists of up to three timetabled lectures per semester plus independent stud...

This module provides a short course in international macroeconomics. We begin by studying exchange rates before turning to wider issues in international macro, such as the costs and benefits of participation in global capital markets; sovereign debt and c...

Students taking this module undertake research on a philosophical topic of their choice (subject to approval by the Department), and write a dissertation of 8,000 words on that topic.

To take the principles developed in second year statistical theory and econometrics modules and show their wider application in econometric estimation and model-building.

This module familiarises students with central concepts and findings in decision theory. It will explore in detail how decisions should be made, introducing normative benchmarks such as rationality and consistency, and will present how decisions are made,...

Philosophy flourished in classical India for well over a millennium, with figures in this tradition producing works that are on a par with those of figures in ancient Greece and late antique and medieval Europe. In fact, figures in classical India contri...

The aim of this module is to familiarise you with several important, but competing, theories of justice. Such theories give guidance on important questions of distributive justice (who ought to get what, when and why?), and provide, to varying degrees, gr...

This module forms the second part of a dissertation in Economics. You will undertake a substantive piece of independent work in form of composing a piece of economic research on your chosen topic. This is designed to demonstrate your ability to manage you...

This module forms the second part of a dissertation in Economics. You will undertake a substantive piece of independent work in form of composing two reports addressing specific economic questions. This is designed to demonstrate your ability to manage yo...

Specifically the module aims to provide a bridge to the more theoretical articles in finance theory, by offering a simple framework of conceptual knowledge that enables thinking while making financial decisions. As such the module gives an appreciation of...

We are all familiar with fictions from Romeo and Juliet to Jaws, from The Hobbit to Harry Potter. Despite this familiarity, the nature of fiction and of our engagement with it appears puzzling. On the one hand, fictional characters do not exist. On the ot...

It seems clear that people’s lives can go well or badly. But what is it for one’s life to go well? Does it consist in feeling good more often than feeling bad? Or getting most of what you want? Or does it consist in achievement, friendship, knowledge and ...

This module explores key questions in the area of international trade. Should countries trade freely with each other? What are the gains/losses from free trade and are they distributed evenly within the population? What are free trade agreements and what ...

The module will introduce students to key theories in the analysis of labour markets and to develop knowledge of the relevant institutional framework. The module aims to relate both theory and evidence to key policy issues.

Reading the works of Friedrich Nietzsche is both exciting and troubling. He sets out to undermine the basis of many of our beliefs about values. Christianity, he believed, has had a powerfully negative effect on the potential of human beings. His method o...

The science of psychology and the project of artificial intelligence raise profound philosophical issues as they attempt to understand, simulate and even go beyond human thought. Some concern the kind of explanation that these ventures seek: If we underst...

In this module you will explore some major philosophical questions related to sex. We will begin by considering the nature of sex, discussing a range of theories of sex including the traditional view of sex as essentially connected to reproduction and “pl...

Specifically the module aims to provide a bridge to the more theoretical articles in finance theory, by offering a simple framework of conceptual knowledge that enables thinking while making financial decisions. As such the module gives an appreciation of...

The objectives of this module are to introduce students to the major themes of public economics and to develop their skills in using microeconomic tools to analyse public policy.

Socrates wants to cross a river and comes to a bridge guarded by Plato, who says: “Socrates, if you say something true, I will permit you to cross. But if you speak falsely, I shall throw you into the water.” Socrates answers: “You will throw me into the ...

The aims of this module are to explore some central issues about the relationship between action, reason, and ethics. Questions we shall consider may include: What is an action? What is it to act intentionally? What are reasons for action? Do all, some, o...

We seem to know our own minds - our beliefs, desires, intentions, thoughts, feelings and sensations - in a distinctively secure and immediate way, without having to rely on observation of our own behaviour. Such self-knowledge seems different from knowled...

The climate crisis is one of the most urgent issues facing humanity. Climate change is having an increasing impact on individual lives, and on social and political relations and institutions. This module examines the moral and political philosophical issu...

The main objective of this module is to expose students to the state-of-the-art discussion in a range of macroeconomic topics: growth, unemployment, taxation, and monetary policy. The approach is to study a simplified version of some widely used models in...

It is commonplace to hear people say such things as, ‘You shouldn’t believe that God exists—look at all the evil in the world’, or ‘You ought to believe that there is life on other planets—it’s entirely probable’, and the like. These judgements concerning...

Wittgenstein is the most important philosopher of the twentieth century. He offers a sustained critique of many of the most common assumptions underlying much contemporary philosophy of mind and language. He explores, among other things, the questions of ...