Each week the students will be set an issue that is a problem or problem in politics, philosophy or economics.  The precise topics will vary from year to year; and many topics will be split into component parts and split over several weeks. 

By the end of this course you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate a working knowledge of key terms, concepts and ideas in the study of PPE
2. Demonstrate an ability to think about and discuss puzzles in the social sciences. 
3. Demonstrate an ability to apply the skills learned on the course to new areas.
4. Prepare materials on a topic relevant to PPE and present them in a focused manner to the group
5. Think, write and argue about issues demonstrating a full understanding of the issue.

Formative assessment will be conducted by giving the students some of the problems we have studied and they will be asked to describe them and potential solutions midway through the course, plus a 2000 word essay set after 4 sessions

Marked presentation (10%) (LO 1-2, 4)  For group presentations those involved in the presentation will mark each others contribution and individual marks will be assigned by the course convener taking those marks into consideration as appropriate. 

Assessed essay 40% (LO1-3, 5).  Examination 50% (LO 1-3, 5) The examination is sit down.

All students will be expected to prepare for each seminar having read the set reading for that session.  Each session a group will present the problem or puzzle to be addressed and all students will be expected to join in the discussion.  The contact will be equivalent to two hours per session (12 sessions) over the semester.  Students will be expected to spend eight hours per session on average preparing for seminars and preparing their presentation.   

Only for students on the PPE degree.

None.

Brams, Steven J. and Taylor. Aland D. 1996. Fair Division: From Cake-Cutting to Dispute Resolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dowding, Keith. 2009. "What is Welfare and How Can We Measure It." Pp. 511-539 in The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics, edited by H. Kincaid and D. Ross. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Grofman, Bernard, Guillermo Owen, and Scott A. Feld. 1983. "Thirteen Theorems in Search of the Truth." Theory and Decision 15:261-278.

List, Christian and Philip Pettit. 2002. "Aggregating Sets of Judgements: An Impossibility Result." Economics and Philosophy 18:89-110.

Nurmi, Hannu. 1999. Voting Paradoxes and How to Deal with Them. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

Olson, Mancur. 1965/1971. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

Parfit, Derek. 1984. Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Riker, William H. and Peter C. Ordeshook. 1968. "A Theory of the Calculus of Voting." American Political Science Review 62:25-43

Access to computer and internet