Download - PPE Programme Specification 2013-14 Final

PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION FOR

BA IN PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

2013-14

PPE Programme Specification 2013-14

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1 AWARDING INSTITUTION/BODY University of Oxford

2 TEACHING INSTITUTION University of Oxford

3 PROGRAMME ACCREDITED BY n/a

4 FINAL AWARD BA (Hons)

5 PROGRAMME Philosophy, Politics and Economics

6 UCAS CODE L0V0 BA/PPE

7 RELEVANT SUBJECT BENCHMARK

STATEMENT

Philosophy, Politics and Economics

8 DATE OF PROGRAMME

SPECIFICATION PREPARATION

October 2013

9 EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE

PROGRAMME

The programme aims to enable its students to:

acquire a good knowledge and understanding of the academic disciplines of Philosophy,

Politics and Economics;

engage and enhance their critical and analytical skills, to look for underlying principles,

and to identify and analyse key concepts;

develop the skill of independent thinking, good writing skills, a facility for independent

learning and investigation and effective organisational skills;

develop their ability to present their own critical understanding of the issues studied to

tutors and peers, and to engage in dialogue with them;

develop the ability to analyse topics in Philosophy, Politics and Economics on the basis of

directed and independent reading, and to produce good quality essays and class

assignments to deadline;

promote skills of relevance to the continued professional development of philosophical

understanding, and political and economic analysis, and which are transferable to a wide

range of employment contexts and life experiences.


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10 PROGRAMME OUTCOMES

A Knowledge and understanding of: Related teaching/learning methods and

strategies

1 PHILOSOPHY: Selected philosophical texts

and basic philosophical issues, concepts,

theories and arguments, and the elementary

techniques of formal logic.

POLITICS: Key areas of the discipline,

including empirical politics and political

theory, as well as sociology and international

relations.

ECONOMICS: the basic principles of modern

Economics, including appropriate mathematical

techniques.

Knowledge and understanding in the three

branches of PPE is achieved by means of three

compulsory first year courses which provide a

broad and basic introduction to the main

concepts and theories of each discipline,

combined with the close study of a small number

of philosophical and political texts, a small

number of political systems, of introductory

maths for Economics and of Logic.

2 At least two of the following subjects

at a higher level

PHILOSOPHY: a higher-level knowledge

and understanding of central philosophical

texts of different ages and/or traditions, and of

the interpretative controversies that surround

them, and a deeper knowledge and

understanding of philosophical issues,

concepts, theories and arguments, and their

application to a wide variety of different

problems.

POLITICS: a higher-level knowledge and

understanding of the philosophical, theoretical,

institutional and issue-based approaches to

Politics and International Relations based on

comparative study of several societies, and

higher level knowledge of some of the

principal sub-areas of the discipline, and the

issues currently at the frontiers of debate and

research.

ECONOMICS: a higher-level knowledge and

understanding of the principles of modern

Economics, including appropriate mathematical

and statistical techniques, a knowledge and

appreciation of economic data and of the

applications of economic principles and

reasoning to a variety of applied topics.

Higher-level knowledge and understanding in

PPE is ensured by the provision of a prescribed

range of core subjects in each of the three

branches, in each of which students are

encouraged to employ and further develop the

concepts and skills acquired in the first year

course, and which in turn form a solid basis for

more specialised study of further subjects

covering all aspects of the three disciplines,

enabling students to reach an advanced

understanding of content and methodology in at

least two of the branches of the course.


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Assessment:

Most aspects of the required knowledge and understanding are tested through written examinations,

held during the course of the third and the ninth terms of the programme. Extensive preparation for the

organisation and communication of such knowledge and understanding is provided in both weekly

tutorials and practice examinations. Understanding is particularly assessed on a continuous formative

basis through the weekly tutorial.

B Intellectual skills: the ability to Teaching/learning methods and strategies

1 gather, organise and deploy evidence, data

and information from a wide variety of

secondary and some primary sources.

There is emphasis throughout the programme on

the skills relevant to the gathering, sifting,

synthesis and interpretation of data.

2 interpret such material with sensitivity to

context.

Developing the skills needed to interpret

material produced across very long historical

periods and in a wide variety of intellectual

settings is integral to the programme.

3 identify precisely the underlying issues in a

wide variety of academic debates, and to

distinguish relevant and irrelevant

considerations.

These skills are honed within the weekly tutorial

context, and in the classes associated with

several elements of the course.

4 recognise the logical structure of an

argument, and assess its validity, to assess

critically the arguments presented by others,

and by oneself, and to identify

methodological errors, rhetorical devices,

unexamined conventional wisdom, unnoticed

assumptions, vagueness and superficiality.

The tutorial system encourages students to

develop the exercise of independence of mind,

and a readiness to challenge and criticise

accepted opinion.

5 construct and articulate sound arguments

with clarity and precision.

All our learning strategies are designed to

inculcate these skills, most particularly the

rigorous argument that we seek to encourage in

our frequent tutorials.

6 engage in debate with others, to formulate

and consider the best arguments for

different views and to identify the weakest

elements of the most persuasive views.

These skills are honed within the weekly tutorial

context, and in the classes associated with

several elements of the course. Presentations

from students must demonstrate the ability to

identify issues, to formulate questions that are

susceptible to demonstration, and to marshal

evidence and analysis in a logical and coherent

way.

Assessment:

The formative assessment provided by weekly tutorials is critical to the development and monitoring of

the intellectual skills set out here. Students are subjected to weekly scrutiny on these skills through

presentation and defence of written essay or other material in front of an academic specialist and

(usually) one or more of the student’s peer group.


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C Practical skills: the ability to Teaching/learning methods and strategies

1 listen attentively to complex presentations

and identify the structure of the arguments

presented.

Lectures and other oral presentations form a

significant part of the teaching method for PPE

and encourage the development of these skills.

2 read with care a wide variety of written

academic literature, and reflect clearly and

critically on what is read.

The assignment of a structured programme of

reading for each topic, and the regular

requirement to report and assess the significance

of what has been read in tutorials and essays

encourages the development of these skills.

3 marshal a complex body of information in

the form of essays, and to write well for a

variety of audiences and in a variety of

contexts.

Continuous scrutiny of written work, whether

produced for weekly tutorial, class presentation

or for written examination, aims to promote

written work which is marked by well-structured

and coherent argument, in a prose that is clear,

fluent and elegant.

4 engage in oral discussion and argument with

others, in a way that advances

understanding of the problems at issue and

the appropriate approaches and solutions to

them.

The weekly tutorial and other classes or

seminars provide ample opportunity to develop

and refine high-level skills in oral discussion and

presentation.

Assessment:

Formative assessment through the weekly tutorial and other opportunities for class or seminar

presentation enables a continuous monitoring of the development of practical skills. Termly reports

identify both points of excellence and of concern, e.g. the ability to present and defend an argument or

thesis convincingly and cogently. College trial examinations (‘collections’), present opportunities for

more formal assessment and provide feedback on skills associated with timed written examinations.

D Transferable skills: the ability to Teaching/learning methods and strategies

1 find information, organise and deploy it. Emphasis is placed on showing a familiarity

with the variety of bibliographical resources –

library catalogues and electronic information

systems – and on demonstrating an ability to

identify and retrieve materials and commentary.

Students are also expected to consult a wide

variety of material, including monographs,

scholarly articles, statistical sources,

newspapers, and computer and internet sources.

2 draw on such information, and thinking

creatively, self-critically and independently,

to consider and solve complex problems.

These are the skills at the heart of our

programme. They are eminently transferable to

contexts beyond the university.

3 apply the techniques and skills of

philosophical argument to practical

questions, including those arising in ethics

and political life.

The study of Philosophy in particular enhances

these skills.


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4 apply concepts, theories and methods used

in the study of Politics to the analysis of

political ideas, institutions practices and

issues.

The study of Politics in particular enhances these

skills.

5 make strategic decisions with a sophisticated

appreciation of the importance of costs,

opportunities, expectations, outcomes,

information and motivation.

The study of Economics in particular enhances

these skills.

6 motivate oneself, to work well

independently, with a strong sense of

initiative and self-direction, and also with

the ability to work constructively in co-

operation with others.

Small-group teaching, and classes, organised by

the relevant Departments and within colleges,

encourage both independence and constructive

collaboration.

7 communicate effectively and fluently in

speech and writing.

The ability to present ideas effectively and to

respond to the ideas of others constructively is

integral to the nature and construction of the

programme.

8 plan and organise the use of time effectively. The ability to produce material within time

constraints and against tight deadlines, whether

within the framework of the written examination

or in the programme of weekly tutorials, is

essential.

9 where relevant, make appropriate use of

numerical, statistical and computing skills.

The ability to understand and manipulate data

presented in numerical form is provided for

especially in the Economics component of the

course. Computing skills are developed in the

Quantitative Economics Course and the use of

statistical techniques is examined in this course.

Assessment:

The transferable skills identified above are essential elements of the programme. Their presence or

absence is therefore the focus of much of the regular comment provided by tutors in their weekly

contacts with students; and in the varying modes of formal feed-back provided to students throughout

the course.

General teaching/learning methods and strategies

Note: The three PPE “Departments” are the Faculty of Philosophy (Division of Humanities), the

Department of Politics and International Relations, and the Department of Economics (Division of

Social Sciences). For convenience, they are referred to below as the Departments.

Each of the students’ units of assessment (see below) has a different teaching strategy. This depends in

part on the nature of the subject matter, in part on its place in the cumulative process of learning over the

three years. All involve the interweaving, in slightly different proportions, of three kinds of learning

experience: lectures, seminars and classes, and tutorials. There is also provision for a fourth kind of

learning experience: the writing of a substantial thesis or dissertation, under supervision.


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1 Lectures: these are associated with all first-year courses and with nearly all the courses taken in the

second and third years of the programme. Besides providing a basic knowledge of the subject and

of the main approaches, lectures also encourage the skills of intelligent listening, note-taking, and

the sifting of information. They can also provide examples of how complex materials can be

organised into intellectually persuasive patterns, and so enhance the development of intellectual

and practical skills.

2 Seminars and Classes: For all three branches of the subject, classes, organised either within

individual colleges or by the Departments, are important elements. They may involve the tackling

of a series of graded exercises, as in the study of Formal Logic or of Microeconomic Theory, or the

focussed discussion of issues and debates, or the advanced discussion of texts and other material.

While all learning outcomes can be enhanced by classes, they have a particular purpose in the

programme, since it is in making presentations to such classes or seminars, and in engaging in the

discussion generated by them, that students gain their most sustained and formal experience of

working co-operatively in groups.

3 Tutorials: The tutorial - usually a weekly meeting between one member of the academic staff,

expert in the subject matter of the course, with two students each of whom prepares an essay on an

agreed topic from within the course syllabus – is at the heart of the learning experience in this

programme. Essays are written after the provision of a reading list, provided by the individual tutor

and/or drawn from the Departmental bibliographies that are produced for each course. The essays

are criticised rigorously and constructively in terms of substance and style; the themes that they

raise are explored in an open, in-depth discussion. The tutorial is the major means by which the

learning outcomes of this programme are secured, both the students’ acquisition of knowledge and

the fostering of their intellectual qualities and their practical skills.

4 Thesis or Dissertation: Students may choose to prepare a thesis (in any branch) or supervised

dissertation (in Politics only) on a relevant topic. The writing of a thesis offers students the

opportunity to undertake primary research in a topic of their own choosing, guided by a member of

the academic staff, to develop practical and presentation techniques, and to demonstrate their

ability to marshal evidence and to sustain argument in an extended piece of writing. It also

demands a good deal of organisation and self-discipline.

11 PROGRAMME STRUCTURES AND FEATURES

Progression through this three-year programme is a process of interlinked consolidation and

development. The base line is provided by student performance at the highest level prior to admission

(see below).

On admission students will have demonstrated the ability:

to distinguish and assess different points of view;

to think critically;

to master the technical skills of essay-writing, including the clear presentation of relevant

material; and

to analyse the significance of such material in relation to a given problem.

Drawing on and reinforcing this foundation, the programme expands the students’ knowledge, and

cumulatively enhances their skills and intellectual qualities. Alongside a constant pattern of formative

assessment, formal assessment is provided by the Preliminary Examination at the end of the first year,

and the Final Examination at the end of the third year.


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A Learning in the first year

Students work on three courses during the year, for the Preliminary Examination at the end of it.

Course Comment

1 Introduction to Philosophy

This course introduces students to central

philosophical issues, concepts and ways of thinking. It

The course has three parts, I General Philosophy, a

topic-based introduction to key issues in epistemology

and metaphysics, II Moral Philosophy, studied in

connection with J. S. Mill: Utilitarianism, and III

Logic, studied in connection with a course designed

especially for Oxford students, based on a manual by

Prof Volker Halbach of New College, the Logic

Manual. In the preliminary examination you are

required to answer at least one question from each of

the three parts. Lectures are provided on all three parts

and you should be sure to attend them. In parts I and II

(usually taught in tutorials or small groups) students

are introduced to central issues in philosophy. General

Philosophy introduces students to key topics in

epistemology and metaphysics, including knowledge

and scepticism, induction, mind and body, personal

identity, free will, and God and evil. Moral Philosophy

is studied in conjunction with J. S. Mill’s

Utilitarianism and involves the study of an influential

but controversial moral theory, with discussions of

subjects such as happiness and pleasure, the criterion

of right action, the role and foundation of moral

principles, and justice. Students learn how to read and

to evaluate philosophical writings, how to identify the

author's arguments and conclusions, and are

encouraged to think critically and write lucidly about

the issues discussed. Part III (usually taught in

college classes) is the study of patterns of valid

inference, and involves some study of a formal system.

Students are required to do exercises and proofs in a

formal system, and also to understand the relation

between the elements of the formal system and the

kinds of inference and argument used in ordinary

language. Even if you do not plan to answer questions

from the Logic section of the examination paper, you

are likely to find it useful in further philosophical

study to have some familiarity with a formal logical

language and the ability to use it to investigate logical

relationships and to understand its use by others.


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2 Introduction to Politics The course introduces first-year students to the

empirical and theoretical study of Politics, to some of

the key concepts of the discipline and to its major

methods of contemporary analysis. The first section

aims to provide a foundation of empirical knowledge

of the recent political history, institutions, parties, and

political processes in a number of specific countries

(France, Germany, the UK, and the USA). For each

country studied, students will examine a range of

readings on a common set of issues: the constitution,

executive, legislature, party system, electoral system,

and centre-periphery relations. The course seeks to

provide both an understanding of the importance of

political and historical context in political analysis,

and a sound empirical base from which more

systematic and comparative work can be conducted in

second- and third-year courses. The second part of the

course provides the opportunity for detailed study of

one or more classic texts in political thought, and/or a

major topic in political theory, chosen from: liberty,

democracy, non-democratic politics, and political

ideology. The course introduces students to some of

the key concepts in analytical political theory, and/or

their origins in the political classics, and in this way

provides and introduction to second- and third-year

courses in Political Theory. The course is taught by a

combination of lectures, classes and tutorials.

3 Introduction to Economics

This course provides an introduction to economic

principles, equipping students with the concepts and

tools which will be developed further in the later years

of the course. The course covers both microeconomics

and macroeconomics, and includes the mathematical

techniques used in economics, mainly simple algebra

and calculus. The microeconomics part of the course

covers the functioning of the market economy: the

decisions of households, the behaviour of firms; and

the functioning of markets under competition and

monopoly. The macroeconomics part of the course

covers the determination of national income and

employment, monetary institutions and the money

supply, inflation, the balance of payments and

exchange rates, and considers issues in

macroeconomic policy relevant to the UK economy. It

is taught by a combination of lectures, classes, and

tutorials.

Assessment:

Students’ progress will be monitored continuously in the tutorial. The regularity and relative informality

of the weekly tutorials give students easy access to assistance if they encounter academic or personal

problems, or both together. At the beginning of the second and/or third terms students will sit a mock-

examination in their colleges on the work done in the preceding term and receive diagnostic feedback

from their tutors. The examination at the end of the year on all three papers provides a sound

assessment of the students’ achievements and progress in the first year in relation to the Learning

Outcomes set out above.


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B Learning in the second and third years

Students may choose to specialise in two of the three branches of PPE in their second and third

years. They are required to take eight subjects in all. In each branch taken, at least two core

subjects (papers) must be taken.

1 PHILOSOPHY:

1. Either Early Modern Philosophy)

Or Plato’s Republic or Aristotle’s

Nicomachean Ethics

Or Knowledge and Reality

2. Ethics

This core requires (in 1.) either study of an

important text or group of texts in the History of

Philosophy, or study of key topics in

contemporary metaphysics and epistemology,

and (in 2.) a study of central concepts and topics

in Ethics, providing both an understanding of

key areas of Philosophy and a foundation for

further study. They are taught by a combination

of lectures, tutorials and sometimes classes. The

emphasis is on a thorough and critical

consideration of selected authors and/or topics

rather than a comprehensive but shallow

coverage of the field.

2 POLITICS:

Any two of the following five ‘core’ papers:

1. Comparative Government

2. British Politics & Government since 1900

3. Theory of Politics

4. International Relations

5. Political Sociology

Each core subject enables students to develop

the conceptual understanding and the knowledge

acquired in the empirical and theory-based first-

year subjects, but within in a more focused and

specialised framework. Some papers cover

subject matter in greater depth than is possible in

first year survey courses of a joint-degree; others

(Comparative Government and Theory of

Politics) approach it in a different manner from

their first-year predecessors; others introduce

new material to which previously learned

techniques can be applied and through the study

of which they can be refined. The combination

of lecture- and tutorial-based teaching, driven by

an extensive course bibliography, gives students

access to a range of subjects which together

cover the whole discipline of Politics, but in

which each subject separately is sufficient to

ensure, through extensive essay-writing practice,

that students work through intellectual problems

that stretch and develop critical capacities, and

are not limited to volume learning.


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3 ECONOMICS:

All of the following core papers (except that

students following all three PPE branches may

choose to take only two of these).

1. Macroeconomics

2. Microeconomics

3. Quantitative Economics

Macroeconomics introduces the student to the

scope and tools of modern macroeconomic

analysis, and to the debates over alternative

macroeconomic theories and their policy

implications. The course also shows how these

tools can be applied to macroeconomic policy

issues, particularly in relation to the UK and the

EU.

Microeconomics introduces the student to the

scope and tools of modern microeconomic

analysis at intermediate level, and shows how

these tools can be applied to microeconomic

policy issues. Issues for discussion include

public policy, firm and market structures,

welfare economics and market failure,

uncertainty and information.

Quantitative Economics introduces the student to

mathematical and statistical techniques which

form the basis of applied econometric analysis in

both macro and microeconomics. The course

provides practical training in use of the

techniques, and includes applications relevant to

the core macro and microeconomics courses.

4 FURTHER SUBJECTS

The further subjects may be chosen freely from

those listed under Philosophy and under

Politics and under Economics, except that a

small number of combinations of subjects may

not be offered, and subjects are occasionally

withdrawn when teaching is unavailable. Some

subjects are named as 'normal prerequisites' for

the study of others. Students are told that it may

be inadvisable to study a subject if they have

not met the designated prerequisite. Details of

further subjects may be found in Appendix 1.

In allowing students the opportunity to specialise

in two of the three of the branches of PPE, or, if

they wish, to keep up all three, and in offering an

almost wholly free choice from a wide variety of

further subjects, the degree offers a choice at the

final stage between breadth of coverage and

specialisation. This flexibility is recognised as

appropriate for a joint degree in which the

balance between the three disciplines may vary

according to student preference. Some further

subjects enable students, through special class

work, to pursue focused topics to an advanced

level, in some cases working on documents, or

other case materials, and help develop

collaborative and group-working skills. The

range of options is extensive. Students can, after

discussion with their tutors, and within the limits

set by the Examination regulations, adjust the

balance within PPE more to the study of one

discipline. The system of ‘normal prerequisites’

ensures that students are well advised about the

advantages and disadvantages of different routes

of progression.


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5 THE THESIS, AND SUPERVISED

DISSERTATION IN POLITICS

Students may choose to prepare a thesis on a

topic from one of the three branches, which may

to be offered in place of one of the further

subjects. The writing of a thesis offers students

the opportunity to undertake primary research in

a topic of their own choosing, to develop

practical and presentation techniques, and to

demonstrate their ability to marshal evidence

and to sustain argument in an extended piece of

writing. It also demands a good deal of

organisation and self-discipline. The Supervised

Dissertation in Politics allows a group of

students to study a general theme under the

direction of a member of staff and approved by

the Department, but to write separate

dissertations on some aspect of it.

Assessment:

As in the First Year, the students’ progress will be monitored continuously in the tutorial. Students will

receive a great deal of commentary on their contributions, in relation both to their class-presentations

and their engagement in general discussion, from the tutors and class and seminar leaders. At the

beginning of each term students will typically sit mock-examinations in college on the work done in the

previous term and receive diagnostic feedback.

The examination at the end of the final year, consisting of eight unseen papers, or seven if a Thesis or

Dissertation is offered, provides a robust assessment of students’ achievements and progress through

the programme in relation to the Learning Outcomes discussed in Section 10. The highest Honours can

be obtained by excellence in a minority of subjects offered provided that adequate knowledge is shown

throughout the examination.


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12 SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR LEARNING

A Libraries

Reflecting the nature of Philosophy, Politics and Economics as primarily text-based disciplines, and

the essential requirement for adequate library resources, PPE students at Oxford have access to a

series of rich repositories. These include:

The major holdings of the Oxford University Library Service (which includes the Bodleian):

The Social Science Library: The SSL offers open-shelf central provision of both reference

holdings and lending copies of items on Politics and Economics bibliographies. It also

offers extensive seating including provision for laptop users, private study carrels and group

discussion rooms.

The Philosophy Reading Room in the Bodleian Lower Reading Room, which guarantees

reference copies of all items on Philosophy Faculty reading lists.

The Upper and Lower Reading Rooms, with a wide variety of specialist journals and

reference material in PPE and related subjects.

A large number of specialist libraries for those studying specialisms in Politics and

Economics, such as the Radcliffe Camera, with its large Political History holdings on open

shelves); the Queen Elizabeth House Library (International Development); the Indian

Institute Library (Indian and South Asian History); Rhodes House Library (British Empire

and Commonwealth); the Vere Harmsworth Library (USA) and the Nissan Institute

(Japanese Studies).

The Philosophy Centre Library offers borrowing facilities and multiple copies of essential

titles. Students also have access to the Libraries of other Faculties and Departments, whose

holdings are relevant to particular options that they are studying. The OLIS cataloguing

system incorporates the holdings of all major and most college libraries.

Students’ individual college libraries provide a selection of reading for all three of the

disciplines, often holding multiple copies of core texts. Most college libraries also provide

access to the OLIS online cataloguing system.

The range of general and specialised library resources, and the quality of holdings and

accessibility support the breadth of the core papers and the range of advanced subjects in

the syllabus.


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B IT resources

There is an extensive network of IT resources and support within Oxford.

Colleges provide good IT resources and Support Officers prepared to train and assist students.

The Oxford University Computing Services also provides facilities for undergraduates, and a

variety of training programmes, several of which are specifically geared to students in the

Humanities and Social Sciences.

The use of IT within the undergraduate degree course is significant and growing. Course

bibliographies are on the web. A number of courses make substantial use of learning materials that

are to be downloaded from the web; other courses direct students to such resources as alternatives to

library provision. Essays for class discussion are sometimes circulated as attachments to e-mail.

An on-line introduction to Logic is available through the Faculty web-site. The Department of

Politics and International Relations maintains a terminal server allowing access to a wide range of

specialist social sciences research software from any PC within Oxford. In Economics, computer-

based work is an integral part of the Quantitative Economics course, using data and software

available from the Department website.

Among the networked resources available within the University domain are OLIS (the university’s

union library catalogue), databases such as the Philosophers’ Index, the Routledge Encyclopedia of

Philosophy, EconLit, on-line journals, and full-text CDs-ROM of relevant writings.

C Academic Support

Guidance to the range of options available to students in this course is readily available. Details of

the structure of the course, and short descriptions of its various elements, are available in the PPE

Course Handbook, which is also available on the web.

Guidance concerning questions of the syllabus and choices within it is primarily provided in a more

personal forum, by the student’s college tutors. The tasks that fall to the tutors are wide-ranging,

and include offering and arranging tutorials, and monitoring, testing and providing feedback on

each student’s academic progress. All these activities involve easy access and informal but

informed discussion. Tutors’ key responsibility is to realise the student’s full intellectual potential

within the course. To this end, they monitor their students’ progress through the syllabus, they help

them in the choice of courses, and they arrange the teaching for the courses that they have selected.


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D Pastoral, Welfare and Financial Support

There are multiple sources of support and guidance on pastoral, welfare and financial matters. The

bulk of this is provided through the colleges, which provide each student with a “personal tutor” or

its equivalent, whose role it is to guide students toward the appropriate source of advice on pastoral,

welfare and financial matters, and give advice when students have academic or personal difficulties.

Tutors will also refer to and liaise with other officers and/or support services. These include at

college level, the head of the college, the Senior Tutor, Tutor for Graduates, JCR Welfare Officers,

the Chaplain, nurse, doctor, Tutor for Women, the Dean (and Assistant or Sub-Dean). Tutors may

also advise on future employment. All colleges have harassment advisers. The University and

colleges have in place policies relating to equal opportunities, harassment and disability which are

kept under review.

In addition to the University Counselling Service there is a student-organised help-line. The

colleges also provide essential admissions and induction arrangements for new students. Written

guidance on pastoral, welfare and financial matters is given in the PPE Course Handbook, and in

college handbooks. Further advice about examinations, discipline, pastoral, health, harassment and

disabilities matters is contained in the Proctors’ Office publication Essential Information for

Students, distributed to each student.

13 CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION

A School/College leavers

Applications are made to the colleges of the University, not to the Departments themselves.

Applicants who are offered places will usually be required to attain minimum grades of AAA at A-

level, or equivalent marks on the Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers, or the IB. Applications

are judged on the basis of students’ academic record, the recommendations of their teachers, and

their performance in the pre-interview test and interviews. The pre-interview test is an aptitude test

of critical thinking, problem solving, and writing, normally taken in applicants’ own schools in late

October or early November. Applicants are invited for interview only if they have a realistic chance

of success; the purpose of the interviews is to determine those students, from an excellent cadre of

applicants, who might best benefit from study of the component disciplines at a high level, and from

the intensive, tutorially based learning methods employed in the University. There are procedures

to ensure that good candidates whose first-choice college is over-subscribed are interviewed by

another college or colleges.

B Mature and overseas students

Criteria are the same as for school leavers. The pre-interview test may be taken in a local test centre

rather than a school. Overseas students in some countries may apply to be interviewed in one of the

international interview centres, rather than in Oxford.

14 Methods for evaluating and improving the quality and standards of teaching and

learning

Note: The administration of PPE is one of the duties of the Social Sciences Division, one of five divisions

which encompass the range of academic faculties and Departments across the University. The Social Sciences

Division includes the Departments of Politics and International Relations, of Economics, of Sociology, and of

Social Policy. The Faculty of Philosophy is part of the Humanities Division but is equally represented on the

Joint Standing Committee for PPE (the “PPE Committee”), which meets once or twice termly to consider

issues affecting the course. The PPE committee has student representatives from all three branches.


16

Student feedback on lectures and seminars is requested, and their comments are reviewed by the lecturer

or by the course co-ordinator or lectures secretary, who report to the relevant subject Panel for Politics,

and to the directors of undergraduate studies. Student comment on tutorial provision is requested by their

colleges and is reviewed by the Heads or Senior Tutors of the colleges. Students are also invited to

comment, with full anonymity if they wish, on any aspects of the course for consideration by the

appropriate committee of the relevant Department. Student concerns are also discussed in the termly

meetings of the three Joint Consultative Committees, one for each branch of the subject, which are

formed by student representatives, and attended by Departmental officers. Students’ opinions on new

course proposals, suggested changes to the curriculum, lecture arrangements, library provision and IT are

solicited and given serious consideration. It is the policy of the Departments responsible for the teaching

of PPE to deal with all complaints from individuals fairly, promptly, and in confidence.

In Philosophy all undergraduate courses are kept under review by the Undergraduate Studies Committee,

which meets at least twice a term, and regularly considers the feedback from all sources. It considers

proposals for change made by those who teach the courses (usually via meetings of the Faculty of

Philosophy), by undergraduates who are taking the courses (usually via the Joint Consultative

Committee), by examiners who have examined the courses, or indeed from any other source (including

its own members). It will also consult the PPE Committee where appropriate. Changes are constantly

being made, which lead to revisions in the Course Handbook and in the University’s Examination

Regulations. These revisions go via the Faculty Board to the Board of the Humanities Division, and

thence to the Education Committee for final approval. In Politics, the structure of all degrees, and the

content of individual courses, is kept under regular review by the Undergraduate Studies Committee and

a range of subject Panels, each covering a sub-branch of the discipline. These meet termly. In

Economics the structure of degrees and content of individual courses is kept under review by the

Undergraduate Studies Committee, in consultation with Course Convenors; proposals for change are

discussed at termly Department meetings. A similar procedure is used by the Department of Politics.

Courses for new academic staff train them how to teach; these are organised by the Oxford Learning

Institute, which has been set up within the University to carry out research into the training of university

teachers as well as to implement that research by employing the most effective methods of training. The

Institute also runs courses to train graduate students who undertake some undergraduate teaching. More

information about it can be found at http://www.learning.ox.ac.uk/

Each new member of staff is assigned a mentor, who is responsible for giving advice and guidance in the

first few years. Formal staff appraisal of all academic staff by a nominated peer appraiser takes place

annually, with a five-yearly interview (or more frequently if requested by appraiser or appraisee). The

emphasis of the University’s appraisal scheme is on reflection and self-assessment.

Six-yearly subject reviews are also undertaken in turn by the Divisional Board and the Education

Committee on a rotating basis, generating a triennial internal accountability exercise. Suggestions for

changes to the content of the programme are discussed among the interested parties in a wide range of

forums. Major changes to the curriculum are also widely discussed. Any changes to the programme

have to be reviewed and approved by the Humanities Board, the Social Sciences Divisional Board, and

by the Education Committee of the University. PPE was reviewed in 2005 and the recommendations of

the review board were considered and where appropriate implemented by the PPE Committee.


17

15 REGULATION OF ASSESSMENT

Assessment in PPE Preliminary Examination

To pass the PPE Prelim students must pass all three subjects. If they fail one or more subjects in June (or

miss any examinations through illness), they are allowed (subject to any college academic disciplinary

procedures) to retake in September any paper failed (or missed). Papers are marked on the scale 0-100

and the marking scheme is as follows:

100-70: work displaying analytical and argumentational power, with good command of the facts and/or

arguments relevant to the questions and evidence of ability to organise them with clarity, insight and

efficiency.

69-60: work displaying analytical power and argumentational power, but with less comprehensive and

thorough command of evidence; or work showing considerable thoroughness but less analytical skill or

less clarity in organisation.

59-50: competent work with no major defects, but giving an incomplete account of the question, or

marred by inaccuracies; or work which demonstrates lapses in (but does not lack) analytical and

argumentational skills.

49-40: work that is generally weak with muddled argumentation, but containing some evidence of

knowledge of facts and analytical skill; or work that, while competent and knowledgeable in itself, does

not address the question asked by the examiners.

39 and below: very poor quality work, showing little if any evidence of effective study.

Distinctions are awarded to candidates scoring a total of 200 or more. For a pass candidates usually have

to get 40, but compensation is usually allowed for fail marks in the range 37-39 on one paper, if marks on

the others were 58 or better. Over the past three years (2010-2012) the average outcome of the June PPE

Prelim has been: Distinction20.6%; Pass76.0%; Fail in one or more subjects 3.4.0%.


18

Assessment in PPE Final Honour School

The full details of the assessment process are laid out in the Examination Conventions, which are vetted

and approved by the PPE Committee each year. All scripts, theses and supervised dissertations are

double marked. Any wide discrepancies, or discrepancies that might affect a candidate’s class, are either

re-read by the two original markers or given an adjudicating mark by a third marker. The External

Examiners play a special role in adjudication. Classification is determined through a combination of an

average mark (set slightly below the class boundary) and the requirement to achieve at least three papers

in the relevant class (or two for a first), except that ‘the highest Honours can be obtained by excellence in

a minority of subjects offered provided that adequate knowledge is shown throughout the examination’

(Examination Regulations), and a Fail mark in one or more subjects may disqualify for Honours or even,

in extreme circumstances, for a Pass degree. Candidates who miss a paper are governed by the general

regulations in Examination Regulations, which allow for classification in some circumstances. The PPE

Committee is responsible for overseeing and monitoring the administration of examinations and

considers any matters arising from the process every Michaelmas Term.

The mark scale is divided by classes:

Class I 100-70

II (1) 69-60

II (2) 59-50

III 49-40

Pass 39-30

Fail below 30

Outright Fail 0-9

The boundary for each degree class is an average mark which is in most cases set a little below the

minimum mark associated with that class (e.g. it is not necessary to score an average of 70 for a First).

Candidates must also achieve ‘preponderance’ to be awarded a certain classification, i.e. a certain

number of their scripts must be judged to be within the relevant class. There are penalties for a missing or

negligible answer, and for ignoring instructions on the question paper (such as ‘show knowledge of both

authors’), which vary according to the seriousness of the omission.

Guidance concerning the marking standards to be employed by PPE examiners is as follows:

Exceptional First Class script: Work displaying First Class qualities (see below) throughout, and also

displaying original thought of a standard that might form the basis of a publishable paper. (It is not

required that the expression of that thought – under examination conditions – should approach

publishable standard.) The mark should be from 90-100.

Excellent First Class script: Work displaying First Class qualities (see below) throughout. The mark

should be from 80-89.

Standard First Class script: Work displaying (in substantial parts) analytical and argumentational

power with good command of the facts and/or arguments relevant to the questions, and evidence of

ability to organise them with clarity, insight and efficiency. The mark should be from 70-79.

Upper Second Class script: work displaying analytical power and argumentation of the quality

associated with a First, but with less comprehensive and thorough command of evidence; or work

showing considerable thoroughness but less analytical skill or less clarity in organisation.

Lower Second Class script: competent work with no major defects, but giving an incomplete account of

the question, or marred by inaccuracies; or work which demonstrates lapses in (but does not lack)

analytical and argumentational skills.

Pass Degree script: very poor quality work, showing only slight evidence of effective study.


19

Third Class script: work that is generally weak with muddled argumentation, but containing some

evidence of knowledge of facts and analytical skill; or work that, while competent and knowledgeable in

itself, does not address the question asked by the examiners.

Fail script: work of still lower standard, but not so poor that it should prevent the candidate from being

awarded a degree if able to show better ability in enough other subjects.

Outright Fail script: work of such a dismal standard that the candidate should not be awarded a Pass

degree irrespective of performance in other subjects, unless the examining board finds exceptional

mitigating circumstances. Over the past three years (2010-2012) the average division by outcome of PPE

Finals has been: I, 22.3%; II 1, 72.8%; II 2, 4.7%; III, 0%; Pass, 0.1%; Fail, 0.1%.

Regulation of Assessment

Each Department has a nominating committee to nominate its examiners for the PPE degree. Each year a

board of six or seven ‘moderators’ is appointed to examine PPE Prelims, and a board of up to nineteen

examiners, including three external examiners, is appointed to examine PPE Finals. Boards of

Examiners, under their Chairs, are responsible for setting all papers, and marking the scripts of the

examinees. They may appoint Assessors to assist in both the marking of core papers and the setting and

marking of the more specialist papers, where the subject matter is not within the expertise of two of the

examiners. The papers are often set by a different person from the one that originally taught or lectured

the students taking the examination. This encourages free thinking on the students’ part. Each script is

marked by two examiners or assessors; after submitting their marks independently, they are asked to

consult with each other and agree a mark for the script. If the two markers are unable to agree, a third

examiner will be asked to mark the script. After scripts have been marked, the Board of Examiners meets

to classify the students in accordance with the rules established by the PPE Committee. Candidate

anonymity is achieved through all scripts being identified only by a unique candidate number throughout

the examination process. A key role in this process is played by the External Examiners. They act as

impartial advisors, providing the PPE Departments with informed comment on two major issues.

1. To verify that standards are appropriate to the award, in part by comparison with the standards of

comparable institutions, and to ensure that the assessment procedures and the regulations governing

them are fair and otherwise appropriate.

2. To ensure that the conduct of the examination and the determination of awards has been fairly

conducted, and that individual student performance has been judged in accordance with the

regulations and conventions of the Examining Board. This will entail signing the Class List as an

endorsement that the processes of examination and classification have been fairly conducted.

External Examiners are expected to report to the Vice-Chancellor in each year in which they act. Their

reports are expected to cover all the following points:

the standards demonstrated by the students

the extent to which standards are appropriate for the award

the design, structure and marking of assessments

the procedures for assessment and examinations

whether or not external examiners have had sufficient access to, and the power to call upon, any

material necessary to make the required judgments

students’ performance in relation to their peers in comparable courses

the coherence of the policies and procedures relating to external examiners and their consonance

with the roles explicitly required of them


20

the basis and rationale for any comparisons made

the strengths and weaknesses of the students as a cohort

the quality of teaching and learning which may be indicated by student performance.

The report is addressed to the Vice-Chancellor, and will be considered by the Divisional Boards of

Humanities and of Social Sciences, and by the Education Committee of the University.

The report will also be scrutinized by the PPE Committee, by the three constituent Departments, and

their various committees or constituent groups. It will also be discussed by the Departmental members

either meeting as a whole, or in the Department’s constituent groups. The scrutiny process in Politics

proceeds from initial consideration by the subject Panels, then by a general meeting of the Politics Sub-

Faculty, and finally by the Departmental General Purposes Committee. Specific issues may also be

considered by the Department’s Undergraduate Studies Committee. In Philosophy the report will be

considered at a general meeting of the Faculty of Philosophy, and by the Undergraduate Studies

Committee, which will initiate any action required. In Economics the report is discussed at the

Michaelmas term meetings of the Undergraduate Studies Committee and the Sub-Faculty.

The report is also considered by the academic committee of the Divisional Board.

Where an External Examiner’s report contains particular suggestions or criticisms, it is the responsibility

of the Heads of each Department, and the PPE Committee, to ensure that full consideration is given to

these, to institute further discussion or action, and to inform the External Examiner within a reasonable

time of what is done.

16 INDICATORS OF QUALITY AND STANDARDS

All three of the constituent Departments’ course provision, including the PPE School, were ‘approved’

by the QAA in November 2000, with a score of 24/24 (Philosophy and Politics) and 23/24 (Economics).

In the latest Research Assessment Exercise, Philosophy, Politics and Economics were awarded an

average ranking of 3.05*.

Reports from external examiners are also used to address issues relating to quality and standards. Recent

reports have consistently reported high levels of satisfaction with students’ abilities and achievements,

and the structures in place for their assessment.

PPE graduates make successful entry into a number of careers, some of the most popular being finance,

law, media and management. A substantial number also go on to graduate study at Oxford and other

higher education institutions.


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Appendix 1: Details of Subjects

101. Early Modern Philosophy: The purpose of this subject is to enable you to gain a critical understanding of

some of the metaphysical and epistemological ideas of some of the most important philosophers of the early

modern period, between the 1630s and the 1780s.

This period saw a great flowering of philosophy in Europe. Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz, often collectively

referred to as "the rationalists", placed the new "corpuscularian" science within grand metaphysical systems

which certified our God-given capacity to reason our way to the laws of nature (as well as to many other, often

astonishing conclusions about the world). Locke wrote in a different, empiricist tradition. He argued that, since

our concepts all ultimately derive from experience, our knowledge is necessarily limited. Berkeley and Hume

developed this empiricism in the direction of a kind of idealism, according to which the world studied by

science is in some sense mind-dependent and mind-constructed. Kant subsequently sought to arbitrate between

the rationalists and the empiricists, by rooting out some assumptions common to them and trying thereby to

salvage and to reconcile some of their apparently irreconcilable insights. Reading the primary texts is of great

importance.

With effect from Trinity term 2007, the examination paper will be divided into three sections and students will

be required to answer at least one question from Section A (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) and at least one from

Section B (Locke, Berkeley, Hume). Section C will contain questions on Kant; students taking paper 112 may

not attempt questions from this section. NB: previously this paper was known as “History of Philosophy

from Descartes to Kant” and further allowed for the study of Kant (who remains available for study in

paper 112 below).

R.S.Woolhouse, The Empiricists

J.Cottingham, The Rationalists (both O.U.P. Opus series).

102. Knowledge and Reality: The purpose of this subject is to enable you to examine some central questions

about the nature of the world and the extent to which we can have knowledge of it. In considering knowledge

you will examine whether it is possible to attain knowledge of what the world is really like. Is our knowledge of

the world necessarily limited to what we can observe to be the case? Indeed, are even our observational beliefs

about the world around us justified? Can we have knowledge of what will happen based on what has happened?

Is our understanding of the world necessarily limited to what we can prove to be the case? Or can we understand

claims about the remote past or distant future which we cannot in principle prove to be true? In considering

reality you will focus on questions such as the following. Does the world really contain the three-dimensional

objects and their properties - such as red buses or black horses – which we appear to encounter in everyday life?

Or is it made up rather of the somewhat different entities studied by science, such as colourless atoms or four-

dimensional space-time worms? What is the relation between the common-sense picture of the world and that

provided by contemporary science? Is it correct to think of the objects and their properties that make up the

world as being what they are independently of our preferred ways of dividing up reality? These issues are

discussed with reference to a variety of specific questions such as 'What is time?', 'What is the nature of

causation?', and 'What are substances?' The examination paper also contains a number of optional questions in

Philosophy of Science concerning the nature of scientific explanation and scientific method. There is an

opportunity in this subject to study such topics as reference, truth and definition, but candidates taking 102 and

108 should avoid repetition of material across examinations. However, if your answers are well-crafted and

relevant to the specific question set, this is unlikely to be a problem.

Jonathan Dancy. Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (Oxford), chess. 1-3; Michael J. Loux,

Metaphysics (Routledge).

103. Ethics: The purpose of this subject is to enable you to come to grips with some questions which exercise

many people, philosophers and non-philosophers alike. How should we decide what is best to do, and how best

to lead our lives? Are our value judgments on these and other matters objective or do they merely reflect our

subjective preferences and viewpoints? Are we in fact free to make these choices, or have our decisions already

been determined by antecedent features of our environment and genetic endowment? In considering these issues

you will examine a variety of ethical concepts, such as those of justice, rights, equality, virtue, and happiness,

which are widely used in moral and political argument. There is also opportunity to discuss some applied ethical

issues. Knowledge of major historical thinkers, e.g. Aristotle, Hume and Kant, will be encouraged, but not

required in the examination.

J.L. Mackie, Ethics (Penguin), chs. 1-2.


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104. Philosophy of Mind (NP 101 or 102): The purpose of this subject is to enable you to examine a variety of

questions about the nature of persons and their psychological states, including such general questions as: what is

the relation between persons and their minds? Could robots or automata be persons? What is the relation

between our minds and our brains? If we understood everything about the brain, would we understand

everything about consciousness and rational thought? If not, why not? Several of these issues focus on the

relation between our common-sense understanding of ourselves and others, and the view of the mind developed

in scientific psychology and neuroscience. Are the two accounts compatible? Should one be regarded as better

than the other? Should our common-sense understanding of the mind be jettisoned in favour of the scientific

picture? Or does the latter leave out something essential to a proper understanding of ourselves and others?

Other more specific questions concern memory, thought, belief, emotion, and perception.

Paul Churchland, Matter and Consciousness (Cambridge) chs. 1-3.

106. Philosophy of Science and Social Science (NP 101 or 102): The purpose of this subject is to enable you

to study topics in the philosophy of science in general, and topics in the philosophy of social science in

particular.

In the broadest sense the philosophy of science is concerned with the theory of knowledge and with associated

questions in metaphysics. What is distinctive about the field is its focus on “scientific” knowledge, and the

metaphysical questions - concerning space, time, causation, probability, possibility, necessity, realism and

idealism - prompted by such a focus. This branch of philosophy is therefore concerned with distinctive traits of

science: testability, objectivity, scientific explanation, and the nature of scientific theories.

Whether economics, sociology, and political science are .really sciences is a question that lay people as well as

philosophers have often asked. The technology spawned by the physical sciences is more impressive than that

based on the social sciences: bridges do not collapse and aeroplanes do not fall from the sky, but no government

can reliably control crime, divorce, or unemployment, or make its citizens happy at will. Human behaviour often

seems less predictable, and less explicable than that of inanimate nature and non-human animals, even though

most of us believe that we know what we are doing and why. So philosophers of social science have asked

whether human action is to be explained causally or non-causally, whether predictions are self-refuting, whether

we can only explain behaviour that is in some sense rational - and if so, what that sense is. Other central issues

include social relativism, the role of ideology, value-neutrality, and the relationship between the particular social

sciences, in particular whether economics provides a model for other social science. Finally, some critics have

asked whether a technological view of 'social control' does not threaten democratic politics as usually

understood.

Martin Hollis, The Philosophy of Social Science (Cambridge); Alexander Rosenberg, Philosophy of Social

Science (Westview).

107. Philosophy of Religion (NP 101 or 102): The purpose of this subject is to enable you to examine claims

about the existence of God and God's relationship to the world. What, if anything, is meant by them? Could they

be true? What justification, if any, can or needs to be provided for them? The paper is concerned primarily with

the claims of Western religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam), and with the central claim of those religions,

that there is a God. God is said to be omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good, a source of moral

obligation and so on. But what does it mean to say that God has these properties, and are they consistent with

each other? Could God change the past, or choose to do evil? Does it make sense to say that God is outside

time? You will have the opportunity to study arguments for the existence of God - for example, the teleological

argument from the fact that the universe is governed by scientific laws, and the argument from people's religious

experiences. Other issues are whether the fact of pain and suffering counts strongly, or even conclusively,

against the existence of God, whether there could be evidence for miracles, whether it could be shown that

prayer works, whether there could be life after death, and what philosophical problems are raised by the

existence of different religions. There may also be an optional question in the exam paper about some

specifically Christian doctrine - does it make sense to say that the life and death of Jesus atoned for the sins of

the world, and could one know this? There is abundant scope for deploying all the knowledge and techniques

which you have acquired in other areas of philosophy. Among the major philosophers whose contributions to

the philosophy of religion you will need to study are Aquinas, Hume and Kant.

M. Peterson and other authors, Reason and Religious Belief, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

(Oxford University Press).

108. The Philosophy of Logic and Language (NP Prelims/Mods Logic): The purpose of this subject is to

enable you to examine some fundamental questions relating to reasoning and language. The philosophy of logic

is not itself a symbolic or mathematical subject, but examines concepts of interest to the logician. If you want to

know the answer to the question 'What is truth?', this is a subject for you. Central also are questions about the

status of basic logical laws and the nature of logical necessity. What, if anything, makes it true that nothing can

be at the same time both green and not green all over? Is that necessity the result of our conventions or

stipulations, or the reflection of how things have to be independently of us? Philosophy of language is closely


23

related. It covers the very general question how language can describe reality at all: what makes our sentences

meaningful and, on occasion, true? How do parts of our language refer to objects in the world? What is involved

in understanding speech (or the written word)? You may also investigate more specific issues concerning the

correct analysis of particular linguistic expressions such as names, descriptions, pronouns, or adverbs, and

aspects of linguistics and grammatical theory. Candidates taking 102 as well as 108 should avoid repetition of

material across examinations. However, if your answers are well-crafted and relevant to the specific question

set, this is unlikely to be a problem.

Mark Sainsbury, 'Philosophical Logic', in Philosophy, a Guide through the Subject, edited by A. C. Grayling

(Oxford).

109. Aesthetics (NP 101 or 102 or 103 or 104 or 115): The purpose of this subject is to enable you to study a

number of questions about the nature and value of beauty and of the arts. For example, do we enjoy sights and

sounds because they are beautiful, or are they beautiful because we enjoy them? Does the enjoyment of beauty

involve a particular sort of experience, and if so, how should we define it and what psychological capacities

does it presuppose? Is a work of art a physical object, an abstract object, or what? Does the value of a work of

art depend only upon its long- or short-term effects on our minds or characters? If not, what sorts of reasons can

we give for admiring a work of art? Do reasons for admiring paintings, pieces of music and poems have enough

in common with one another, and little enough in common with reasons for admiring other kinds of things, to

support the idea that there is a distinctive sort of value which good art of every sort, and only art, possesses? As

well as general questions such as these, the subject also addresses questions raised by particular art forms. For

example, what is the difference between a picture and a description in words? Can fiction embody truths about

its subject-matter? How does music express emotions? All of these questions, and others, are addressed directly,

and also by examining classic texts, including Plato's Republic, Aristotle's Poetics, Hume's essay ‘Of the

Standard of Taste’ and Kant's Critique of Aesthetic Judgement.

Malcolm Budd, Values of Art (Penguin).

110. Medieval Philosophy: Aquinas: The purpose of this subject is to introduce you to many of Aquinas’s

central ideas and arguments on a wide variety of theological and philosophical topics. These include the proofs

of the existence of God (the famous “five ways”), the concept of the simplicity of God (including the

controversial issue of the identity of being and essence in God), the concept of the soul in general and of the

human soul in particular, the proof of the immortality of the human soul, the nature of perception and of

intellectual knowledge, the notion of free will and of happiness, the theory of human actions. These are studied

in translation rather than in the Latin original, though a glance at Aquinas's remarkably readable Latin can often

be useful. Candidates are encouraged to carefully read and analyse Aquinas’s texts and to focus on the

philosophical questions they raise. Papers 134 Aristotle, Physics, and 133 Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics are a

good background for this option.

The subject will be studied in one of two sets of texts (The fathers of the English Dominican Province edition,

1911, rev. 1920):

Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Ia, 2-11, 75-89, which will cover the following topics: arguments for the existence

of God; God’s essence and existence; God and goodness; God and time; the soul in relation to the body;

individual intellects; perception and knowledge; free will; the soul and knowledge.

Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Ia IIae 1-10, 90-97, which will cover the following topics: natural and

supernatural happiness; voluntary action; the will; natural and universal law; human law.

Anthony Kenny, Aquinas; F.C. Copleston, Aquinas; B. Davies, The Thought of Thomas Aquinas (O.U.P.)

This paper will include an optional question containing passages for comment. This subject may not be

combined with subject 111.

111. Medieval Philosophy: Duns Scotus and Ockham (NP 101 or 108) : Duns Scotus and Ockham are,

together with Aquinas, the most significant and influential thinkers of the Middle Ages. The purpose of this

subject is to make you familiar with some fundamental aspects of their theological and philosophical thought.

As to Scotus, these include the proof of the existence and of the unicity of God (the most sophisticated one in

the Middle Ages) and the issues about causality that it raises, the theory of the existence of concepts common to

God and creatures (the univocity theory of religious language), the discussion about the immateriality and the

immortality of the human soul, and the reply to scepticism. As to Ockham, they include nominalism about

universals and the refutation of realism (including the realism of Duns Scotus), some issues in logic and

especially the theory of “suppositio” and its application in the debate about universals, the theory of intellectual

knowledge of singulars and the question of whether we can have evidence about contingent properties of


24

singulars, the nature of efficient causality and the problem of whether we can prove the existence of a first

efficient cause. These are studied in translation rather than in the Latin original, though a glance at the Latin can

often be useful. Candidates are encouraged to carefully read and analyse Scotus’s and Ockham’s texts and to

focus on the philosophical questions they raise. Paper 134 Aristotle, Physics is a good background for this

option.

Texts: Scotus: Philosophical Writings, tr. Wolter (Hackett), chapters II-IV, pp. 13-95 (man’s natural knowledge

of God; the existence of God; the unicity of God); Five texts on the Mediaeval Problem of Universals, tr. Spade

(Hackett), pp. 57-113 (universals, individuation).

Ockham: Philosophical Writings, tr. Boehner (Hackett), pp. 18-27 (intuitive and abstractive cognition); pp. 97-

126 (the possibility of natural theology, the existence of God); Five texts on the Mediaeval Problem of

Universals, tr. Spade (Hackett), pp. 114-231 (universals).

R. Cross, Duns Scotus; M. McCord Adams, William Ockham, vol. 1.

This subject may not be combined with subject 110.

112. The Philosophy of Kant (NP 101): The purpose of this paper is to enable you to make a critical study of

some of the ideas of one of the greatest of all philosophers. Immanuel Kant lived from 1724 to 1804. He

published the Critique of Pure Reason in 1781 and the Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals in 1785. The

Critique is his greatest work and, without question, the most influential work of modern philosophy. It is a

difficult but enormously rewarding work. This is largely because Kant, perhaps uniquely, combines in the

highest measure the cautious qualities of care, rigour and tenacity with the bolder quality of philosophical

imagination. Its concern is to give an account of human knowledge that will steer a path between the dogmatism

of traditional metaphysics and the scepticism that, Kant believes, is the inevitable result of the empiricist

criticism of metaphysics. Kant's approach, he claims in a famous metaphor, amounts to a .Copernican

revolution. in philosophy. Instead of looking at human knowledge by starting from what is known, we should

start from ourselves as knowing subjects and ask how the world must be for us to have the kind of knowledge

and experience that we have. Kant thinks that his Copernican revolution also enables him to reconcile traditional

Christian morality and modern science, in the face of their apparently irreconcilable demands (in the one case,

that we should be free agents, and in the other case, that the world should be governed by inexorable mechanical

laws). In the Groundwork Kant develops his very distinctive and highly influential moral philosophy. He argues

that morality is grounded in reason. What we ought to do is what we would do if we acted in a way that was

purely rational. To act in a way that is purely rational is to act in accordance with the famous ‘categorical

imperative’, which Kant expresses as follows: ‘Act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time

will that it should become a universal law’.

Texts: Critique of Pure Reason, P. Guyer and A. Wood (CUP);

Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, M. Gregor (CUP).

Roger Scruton, Kant.

113. Post-Kantian Philosophy (NP 101 or 102 or 103 or 112): Many of the questions raised by German and

French philosophers of the 19th and early 20th centuries were thought to arise directly out of Kant's

metaphysics, epistemology and ethics: hence the title of this subject, the purpose of which is to enable you to

explore some of the developments of (and departures from) Kantian themes in the work of Hegel,

Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty. Students typically focus their study on

only two chosen authors. Hegel and Schopenhauer delineate global, metaphysical systems out of which each

develops his own distinctive vision of ethical and (especially in the case of Hegel) political life. Nietzsche's

writings less obviously constitute a ‘system’, but they too develop certain ethical and existential implications of

our epistemological and metaphysical commitments. Husserl will interest those pupils attracted to problems in

ontology and epistemology such as feature in the Cartesian tradition; his work also serves to introduce one to

phenomenology, the philosophical method later developed and refined by Heidegger, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty.

In Heidegger and Sartre, that method is brought to bear on such fundamental aspects of human existence as

authenticity, social understanding, bad faith, art and freedom. Merleau-Ponty (who trained as a psychologist)

presents a novel and important account of the genesis of perception, cognition and feeling, and relates these to

themes in aesthetics and political philosophy. While this is very much a text-based paper, many of the questions

addressed are directly relevant to contemporary treatments of problems in epistemology and metaphysics, in

aesthetics, political theory and the philosophy of mind.

Robert C. Solomon, Continental Philosophy since 1750: The Rise and Fall of the Self (O.U.P.).

114. Theory of Politics (NP 103): In order to understand the world of politics, we also need to know which

views of politics and society people have when they make political decisions, and why we recommend certain

courses of action rather than others. The purpose of this subject is to enable you to look at the main ideas we use


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when we think about politics: why do we have competing views of social justice and what makes a particular

view persuasive, possibly even right? What happens when a concept such as freedom has different meanings, so

that those who argue that we must maximise freedom of choice are confronted with those who claim that some

choices will actually restrict your freedom? Is power desirable or harmful? Would feminists or nationalists give

a different answer to that question? Political theory is concerned with developing good responses to problems

such as: when should we obey, and when should we disobey, the state? But it is also concerned with mapping

the ways in which we approach questions such as: how does one argue in favour of human rights? In addition,

you will explore the main ideologies, such as liberalism, conservatism and socialism, in order to understand

their main arguments and why each of them will direct us to different political solutions and arrangements.

Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction (O.U.P.)

115. Plato, Republic: Plato’s influence on the history of philosophy is enormous. The purpose of this subject is

to enable you to make a critical study of the Republic, which is perhaps his most important and most influential

work. Written as a dialogue between Socrates and others including the outspoken immoralist Thrasymachus, it

is primarily concerned with questions of the nature of justice and of what is the best kind of life to lead. These

questions prompt discussions of the ideal city –which Karl Popper criticised as totalitarian - of education and

art, of the nature of knowledge, the Theory of Forms and the immortality of the soul. In studying it you will

encounter a work of philosophy of unusual literary merit, one in which philosophy is presented through debates,

through analogies and images, including the famous simile of the Cave, as well as rigorous argument, and you

will encounter some of Plato’s important contributions to ethics, political theory, metaphysics, philosophyof

mind and aesthetics. You are expected to study the work in detail; the examination contains a question requiring

comments on chosen passages, as well as a choice of essay questions.

Julia Annas, An Introduction to Plato's Republic, Introduction and ch. 1. Set translation: Plato: Republic,

tr. Grube, revised Reeve (Hackett).

116. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics: The purpose of this subject is to give you the opportunity to make a

critical study of one of the most important works in the history of philosophy. Like Plato in the Republic,

Aristotle is concerned with the question, what is the best possible sort of life? Whereas this leads Plato to pose

grand questions in metaphysics and political theory, it leads Aristotle to offer close analyses of the structure of

human action, responsibility, the virtues, the nature of moral knowledge, weakness of will, pleasure, friendship,

and other related issues. Much of what Aristotle has to say on these is ground-breaking, highly perceptive, and

still of importance in contemporary debate in ethics and moral psychology. You are expected to study the work

in detail; the examination contains a question requiring comments on chosen passages, as well as a choice of

essay questions.

J. L. Ackrill, Aristotle the Philosopher, ch. 10. Set translation: Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics translated and

with notes by T.H. Irwin (Hackett) (2nd edn, 1999).

117. Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein (NP Prelims/Mods Logic): The purpose of this subject is to enable you

to study some classic texts from which emerged modern logic and philosophy of language. Frege invented and

explained the logic of multiple generality (quantification theory) and applied this apparatus to the analysis of

arithmetic. Russell continued this programme, adding some refinements (the theory of types, the theory of

descriptions), and he applied logic to many traditional problems in epistemology. Wittgenstein's Tractatus

outlined an ambitious project for giving a logical account of truths of logic (as tautologies). The texts are dense

and sophisticated, but they are elegant and full of challenging ideas. Ability to understand logical symbolism is

important, and previous work in philosophical logic would be advantageous.

Anthony Kenny, Frege (Penguin) and Wittgenstein (Penguin); J. O. Urmson, Philosophical Analysis.

118. The Later Philosophy of Wittgenstein (NP 101 or 102 or 108 or 117): The purpose of this subject is to

enable you to study some of the most influential ideas of the 20th century. The main texts are Wittgenstein’s

posthumously-published Philosophical Investigations and The Blue and Brown Books. These writings are

famous not just for their content but also for their distinctive style and conception of philosophy. There is much

critical discussion about the relation between those aspects of Wittgenstein's work. Wittgenstein covers a great

range of issues, principally in philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. In philosophy of language, one

key topic is the nature of rules and rule-following. What is involved in grasping a rule; and how can I tell, in a

new case, what I have to do to apply the rule correctly? Indeed, what makes it the case that a particular move at

this stage is the correct way of applying the rule; is there any standard of correctness other than the agreement of

our fellows? Other topics include: whether language is systematic; the relation between linguistic meaning and

non-linguistic activities; whether concepts can be illuminatingly analysed. In the philosophy of mind,

Wittgenstein is especially famous for the so-called ‘private language argument’, which tries to show that words

for sensations cannot get their meanings by being attached to purely internal, introspective, ‘private objects’.

Other, equally important, topics include the nature of the self, of introspection and of visual experience, and the

intentionality (the representative quality) of mental states. Most generally, can we (as Wittgenstein thought)

avoid Cartesianism without lapsing into behaviourism?


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The texts: try Philosophical Investigations paras 1-80; Blue Book pp. 1-17; Saul Kripke, Wittgenstein on

Rules and Private Language (Blackwell); Marie McGinn, Wittgenstein and the Philosophical Investigations

(Routledge, 1997, in the Routledge Philosophy Guidebooks series).

This subject may not be combined with subject 117.

119. Formal Logic (NP Prelims/Mods Logic): This subject is precisely what its name suggests, an extension of

the symbolic logic covered in the Prelims/Mods logic course. Only in highly exceptional circumstances would it

be appropriate to do this subject without first having done Prelims/Mods logic, indeed without first having done

it very well. Formal Logic is an extremely demanding and rigorous subject, even for those who have

Mathematics A Level. If you lose your way in it, there is liable to be no way of avoiding disaster. But granted

these caveats, the subject is a delight to those who enjoy formal work and who are good at it. Its purpose is to

introduce you to some of the deepest and most beautiful results in logic, many of which have fascinating

implications for other areas of philosophy. There are three sections. The first, Propositional and Predicate Logic

is the most closely related to the material covered in the Prelims/Mods course. The other two sections are: Set

Theory, which includes the rudimentary arithmetic of infinite numbers; and Metamathematics, which includes

some computability theory and various results concerning the limitations of formalization, such as Gödel's

theorem. Candidates will be permitted to select questions from any of the three sections, and will be required to

answer three questions in all. NB: this paper will last be offered for an examination in 2014. After this time,

other options will be available for students wishing to undertake formal work in logic.

George S. Boolos and Richard C. Jeffrey, Computability and Logic (Cambridge, 3rd

edn.)

120. Intermediate Philosophy of Physics: The purpose of this subject is to enable you to come to grips with

conceptual problems in special relativity and quantum mechanics. Only those with a substantial knowledge of

physics should offer this subject, which is normally available only to candidates reading Physics and

Philosophy.

122. Philosophy of Mathematics (NP 101 or 102 or 108 or 117 or 119 or 120): What is the relation of

mathematical knowledge to other kinds of knowledge? Is it of a special kind, concerning objects of a special

kind? If so, what is the nature of those objects and how do we come to know anything about them? If not, how

do we explain the seeming difference between proving a theorem in mathematics and establishing something

about the physical world? The purpose of this subject is to enable you to examine questions such as these.

Understanding the nature of mathematics has been important to many philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle,

and Kant, as a test or as an exemplar of their overall position, and has also played a role in the development of

mathematics at certain points. While no specific knowledge of mathematics is required for study of this subject,

it will be helpful to have studied mathematics at A-level, or similar, and to have done Logic in Prelims/ Mods.

Stephen F. Barker, Philosophy of Mathematics (Prentice-Hall).

125. Philosophy of Cognitive Science (NP 102 or 104): This paper covers some of key questions about the

nature of the mind dealt with by a variety of cognitive scientific disciplines: experimental psychology, cognitive

neuroscience, linguistics and computational modelling of the mind. Studying this paper will provide insight into

the ways that contemporary scientific advances have improved our understanding of aspects of the mind that

have long been the focus of philosophical reflection. It will also introduce you to a range of theoretical issues

generated by current research in the behavioural and brain sciences. The core topics are:

Levels of description and explanation (e.g. personal vs. subpersonal, functional vs. mechanistic, mind vs.

brain)

Cognitive architecture, modularity, homuncular functionalism

Conceptual foundations of information processing: rules and algorithms, tacit knowledge (e.g. of

grammar), competence vs. performance

Nature and format of representations: representationalism vs. behaviourism, the computational theory of

mind and language of thought, connectionist alternatives

The scientific study of consciousness, including the role of subjects’ reports, non-verbal and direct

measures; neural and computational correlates of consciousness; and the problem of distinguishing

phenomenal and access consciousness empirically

The lectures will also cover philosophical issues raised by some areas of cutting-edge research, such as: agency

and its phenomenology; attention and neglect; cognitive neuropsychology; concepts; delusions; dual-process

theories; dynamical systems, embodied and embedded cognition; evolutionary psychology and massive

modularity; forward models and predictive coding; imagery; implicit processing (e.g. blindsight,

prosopagnosia); innateness (e.g. concept nativism); language processing and knowledge of language; perception

and action (e.g. dorsal vs. ventral visual systems); spatial representation; theory of mind / mindreading; unity of

consciousness. Lectures may also cover some historical background (e.g. the cognitive revolution).


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For those studying psychology, neuroscience, linguistics or computation, the paper is a crucial bridge to

philosophy. But you do not need to be studying a scientific subject to take this paper, as long as you enjoy

reading about scientific discoveries about the mind and brain. The paper will be of great interest to philosophers

without a scientific background who want to understand the benefits and limitations of bringing scientific data

to bear on deep issues in the philosophy of mind.

Background reading:

Martin Davies, ‘An approach to philosophy of cognitive science’, in F. Jackson & M. Smith (eds.) The Oxford

Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy (Oxford: O.U.P., 2005). An expanded version is available online at the

Philosophy Faculty Weblearn (Undergraduate\Reading Lists)

Clark, A. (2001), Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science (Oxford, OUP).

126. The Philosophy and Economics of the Environment: As specified for 321 below.

150. Jurisprudence: This paper, from the Final Honour School of Jurisprudence, may be taken by PPE FHS

students as a subject in Philosophy. The subject can be taken either as one of the PPE candidate’s (three to five)

Philosophy papers, or as the one Philosophy subject which Politics/Economics students can elect to take.

Candidates offering the Jurisprudence subject are prohibited from combining it with Theory of Politics (i.e.,

with either subject 114 or 203). Tutorial provision will be subject to the availability of Law tutors and will be

organised on the normal college basis; tutorials will be given at the same time as they are normally given to Law

students (in either Hilary or Trinity terms); and PPE students will normally be included in tutorial groups of 2 or

3 with Law students.

198. Special subjects: See 'Philosophy in All Honour Schools including Philosophy' in the current Examination

Regulations.

199. Thesis: See Examination Regulations.

201. Comparative Government: This course is a comparative study of the main political institutions through

which contemporary societies are governed. These include constitutional frameworks, executives, legislatures,

bureaucracies, constitutional courts, systems of devolved power, electoral systems, political parties, and party

systems. The course also considers some of the main political processes that affect governance and regime

stability, such as styles of leadership, processes of regime transition and democratisation, and patterns of policy-

making. Through reference to the distinct methodological approach used by different scholars in studying these

phenomena - socio-cultural and behavioural approaches, the various 'institutional' schools, and rational-choice

analysis - students acquire an understanding of the utility and limits of these individual schools of analysis. The

course builds on the country-based institutional knowledge introduced in the first-year course (Introduction to

Politics). In the first year, the focus is on single-country analysis of broad themes in the recent historical

development of specific countries. In Comparative Government, the approach is explicitly comparative. It

provides students with an understanding of key concepts and tools of empirical political analysis, and in this

way also prepares them for the more specialised study of specific regions or single countries that follow as

options later in the PPE syllabus. While the main instruction is via the usual mixture of lectures and tutorials,

students should note that the range of knowledge covered makes the lectures even more vital than they might be

for some courses. The lecture course has been increased to twenty lectures, and students are therefore expected

to treat it as a commitment running right through the academic year. The course also involves two compulsory

Department run classes to assist students in dealing with some of the broader comparative and theoretical

themes, and some optional classes in the third year to help students who have done the tutorials integrate the

methodological and theoretical aspects with their substantive information base.

202. British Politics and Government since 1900: This course consists of the close study of political

developments in Britain since 1900 and the major academic debates surrounding them. It allows students to

study a single political system in depth, over a period long enough both to make visible long-run processes of

social, economic and political change, and to permit comparisons and contrasts to be drawn between the

situations of political actors at different times. It is also a period with an extraordinarily rich and rewarding

academic literature, which encourages students to explore problems of evidence and interpretation, and to

consider a range of explanations, based on different scholarly traditions, for the same events. These include


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techniques and methods as diverse as archivally-based historical analysis, political biography and political

science modelling. Among the topics covered are the decline of the Liberal Party and the rise of the Labour

Party; the political effects of the two world wars and the widening franchise; the development of the institutions

and procedures of modern government; the changing party system under mass democracy; the challenges and

failures of political extremism; the domestic impact of foreign policies such as appeasement, decolonisation and

European integration; the challenges posed to modern governments by relative economic decline, and efforts to

transform the system such as tariff reform, social democracy and Thatcherism.

203. Theory of Politics:* The course is designed to acquaint students with the political concepts central to the

theoretical, normative and interpretative analysis of politics. The study of concepts such as liberty, justice,

authority or power provides the foundation for understanding the nature of political thought. These concepts

underpin the study of politics in general and are therefore crucial to enhancing the awareness of the relation

between political thought and action. Students are also directed towards discursive ideologies displaying

complex conceptual arrangements such as liberalism or socialism. The course is devised so as to develop a

manifold range of skills necessary for constructing critical arguments in political theory, for working with

problems of consistency and justification, for analysing the complexities of the usage of political language, for

understanding the principal forms through which political thought presents itself, both as theory and as

ideology, and for appreciating the main current and recent debates that command attention in the field. To those

ends philosophical, ideological and historical analyses are all appropriate, and the merits of each type may be

assessed and contrasted. Students are therefore encouraged to explore different ways of approaching these

issues, though they are also enabled, if they so wish, to choose a specific strategy from among these approaches.

Students are also invited, in consultation with their tutors, to balance a broad appreciation of the field with a

development of their own interests within the wide choice of available concepts and ideologies. The literature to

which they are directed is therefore diverse, encompassing classical texts, seminal philosophers and theorists,

significant journal articles, and typical examples of ideological debate. Both substantive arguments and

methodological issues are consequently aired. By extending the initial understanding of political thought gained

by students in the first year introduction to politics, or by building on other related introductory lectures and

subjects, the course provides the basis for specialization in political theory, as well as tools that other

specializations may draw upon. It will enable students to reflect on the principles underlying politics, to make

reasoned assessments of political discourse, and to develop their own arguments at a requisite degree of

sophistication.

* May be offered alternatively as a further subject in Philosophy as 114.

204. Modern British Government and Politics: The course aims to provide a specialist knowledge of

contemporary British government and politics. It provides candidates with both an awareness of the most

significant debates in the academic literature and of different methodological approaches to the subject and a

thorough understanding of the issues and controversies surrounding the operation of British government. This

involves the study of the UK electoral system, political parties and voting behaviour; of the organisation and

political activities of the executive, legislature, judiciary and civil service; of the powers of Parliament and local

government; of the devolution of power to regions of the UK; and of the political influence of the media and

pressure groups. The interaction of these political institutions with the European Union is also studied. Current

and recent proposals for reforming the constitution are a particular focus of attention. The course includes the

examination of a wide range of primary documents, including parliamentary papers and government reports. It

aims to provide candidates with the ability to retrieve and analyse official information and other primary

documents and to place them in historical and political context. On completion of the course candidates will be

familiar with the detailed workings of British governmental institutions, with decision-making processes in

government and the evolution of strategies for managing the public sector, and with the political dynamics of

the system.

205. Government and Politics of the United States: This subject seeks to provide students with a basic

understanding of American exceptionalism, of the United States’ political institutions, and of selected areas of

public policy, and a good knowledge and understanding of the scholarly literature in the field. It covers the

constitution; federalism and separation of powers; the presidency; congress; the federal courts; the federal

bureaucracy; parties and the party system; electoral politics; political culture; mass media; interest groups; state

and local politics; processes of policy formation and implementation, especially as related to urban policy,

economic policy, race, and civil rights. It enables students to use data drawn from the large resources available

(inter alia) in the Harmsworth Library (in the Rothermere American Institute) and the Law Library to form their

own interpretations of governmental processes, to refine the skill of thinking rigorously and critically for

themselves, and thus to contribute more fully to tutorials and classes held in other subjects in Politics.


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206. Politics in Europe: This paper is a comparative study of the national party and institutional systems of

Europe, and of comparative issues in European politics, including democratisation, institutional relations,

political economy and party politics. Candidates are expected to show a broad knowledge of European politics,

and may where appropriate include reference to the UK in answers, but should not answer any questions mainly

or exclusively with reference to the UK.

207. Politics in Russia and the Former Soviet Union: Candidates will be required to show knowledge of the

transformation of the Soviet system from 1985, and an understanding of the politics of countries of the former

Soviet Union with respect to their formation, post-Soviet transitions, regime types, institutional arrangements,

party systems, electoral processes, ethnic and clan composition, political economy, corruption, and the influence

of external factors.

208. Politics in Sub-Saharan Africa: This course will enable students to acquire a knowledge and

understanding of the recent history and contemporary politics of particular African countries; to analyse their

political processes and institutions, to situate them in their social and economic context; and to examine the

political conditions and consequences of economic policies. Students will be expected to study the politics of at

least three African countries in some detail. These should include one or both of South Africa and Nigeria. They

will also be expected to read material on other countries relevant to the study of specific themes and topics dealt

with in tutorials and in a weekly class. These include the politics of democratization, structural adjustment,

labour and unions, agricultural policy, gender, class and ethnicity. The course will allow students to extend their

understanding of comparative politics, and particularly of issues common to Africa and other regions they may

be studying, of political theory, of political sociology and of international relations by raising relevant questions

in African circumstances. Students will acquire a more informed and critical understanding of African countries,

which often appear to be far-away places of which we know little. Students may use this course as a foundation

for further work in and about Africa in journalism, business, government, NGOs and academic research. It will

contribute to their wider education as informed citizens.

209. Politics in Latin America:. The course aims to introduce students to the main features of Latin American

politics within a comparative perspective. By the end of the course students will be able to identify the main

issues in the contemporary democratic politics of Latin America and use comparative methods to clarify and

analyse them. This course focuses on the politics of the major states of Latin America and the current challenges

– economic, social and political - to their democratic governments. It is organized around key concepts and

categories from mainstream comparative politics, and comparative methods will be used throughout to analyse

the main issues. Yet the course also demonstrates the continuing relevance of the historical and cultural contexts

of Latin American politics, and the main issues are placed in context by reference to the politics of particular

countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. In this way topical

questions can be studied with reference to the enduring characteristics of the politics of the region.

210. Politics in South Asia: This course introduces students to the nature of political change in the major South

Asian countries (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) in the period after independence from colonial rule.

The subject is intended to educate students in the most significant themes and issues in contemporary South

Asian politics, through the study of illustrative cases taken from the various countries of the region. The subject

also seeks to enable students to develop a critical engagement with the analytical literature on South Asia, in

particular, and on the ‘Third World’ or ‘developing countries’, more generally. While each of the major South

Asian countries is studied separately, students are, at the same time, encouraged to analyse political

developments comparatively. The course examines the nature of the post-colonial state and the evolution of

political institutions and party politics, with a focus on the functioning of democracy and the tendencies towards

authoritarianism or martial rule. The interface of democratic politics with the political economy of the

‘developmental’ state is also addressed. The course also explores the development of ‘movement’ politics or

social movements as an important element of the democratic process. The course gives attention to social

organisation, culture and identities as they bear on politics. In particular, the politics of gender, class, caste,

religion and ethnicity are emphasised. The course engages with the evolution of political ideologies, especially

those of nationalism and ‘development’, which have played significant roles in the political history of post-

colonial states. The course is expected to enable second and third year students to develop the ability to

construct rigorous arguments on South Asian politics, based on empirical knowledge and informed by a critical

awareness of the scholarly literature on the subject. This course will prepare students to undertake post graduate

studies on South Asia and the ‘Third World’, and for careers in journalism, diplomacy, national and

international ‘development’ organisations, NGOs and ‘Think Tank’ or consultancy organisations, which

specialise on the ‘Third World’ and the field of ‘development’.


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211. Politics in the Middle East: The course aims to give the student a wide-ranging and sophisticated

introduction to the domestic political dynamics of the contemporary Middle East and its wider social relations.

The course is organised thematically, with weekly topics including the nature of the state, political economy, the

military, democratisation, succession and gender. The thematic emphasis gives the student maximum flexibility

to concentrate on whichever countries most interest him/her. The geographical scope of the course is inclusive,

covering North Africa, Turkey and Iran, as well as the core countries of region. It is expected that the student

will complete the course knowing six or seven countries in some depth. The course is designed to relate to the

discipline of politics in general, eschewing the notion that the Middle East is somehow unique and mysterious;

students are encouraged to bring their knowledge of political concepts to bear in the course. Inter-regional

comparisons are also encouraged, with students who have studied other parts of the developing world especially

welcome. The course has been designed both for the generalist, who may go on to work in business,

government, journalism or the professions, and for the budding specialist who may then proceed to a Masters in

Middle Eastern studies.

212. International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars: This course is the study of central issues in the

international history of a period (1914 – 45) which had a profound influence on the subject of international

relations. Students are introduced through the study of historical topics to the major debates and different

theoretical approaches. These include Realist, Liberal, and Marxist views of the international system, levels of

analysis, decision making processes and the role of individual leaders, the concepts of the balance of power,

collective security, and détente and the concert of powers, isolationism and appeasement. The course also

considers the impact of total war on the international system, causes of regional instability (nationalism,

imperialism), the inter-action of different regional theatres in an evolving global international system, the role of

financial and economic factors, revolutionary ideologies (Communism and Fascism), and the ‘learning process’

as it affected policy-making in and immediately after the Second World War. The course enables students to

consider the major theories and concepts of international relations critically in relation to the historical evidence,

on which several of the theories were based, and to draw on a rich academic literature. It develops the skill of

analysing empirical material in a way which is both informed by theory and sensitive to the complexity of the

evidence. The course is closely related to the core subject International Relations and to the option International

Relations in the Era of the Cold War.

213. International Relations in the Era of the Cold War: The course covers the international relations of a

period (1945-91) crucial for the evolution of today’s world. These have always generated much writing of high

quality, which is now further enlivened by the progressive release and assimilation of archive material; and the

period now appears sufficiently self-contained for scholars to be able to step back and gain perspective by

viewing it as a whole. The course links strongly with the Politics ‘core’ ‘International Relations’ course,

providing factual context and tests for many of that subject’s theoretical approaches to international relations,

and also valuable background for its treatment of the post-1990 ‘contemporary’ scene. The ‘Cold War’ subject

also links back to the Further Subject ‘International Relations in the Era of Two World Wars’, especially as

many post-war statesmen were avowedly seeking to avoid the mistakes of that earlier period, and it provides

case studies useful for the ‘Government and Politics of the United States’ Further Subject.

214. International Relations: The aim of this core subject is to introduce PPE students to the academic study

of International Relations and to develop a broad knowledge and understanding of the major issues in

international relations, concentrating on the period since 1990. The subject seeks to strike a balance between

empirical knowledge and theoretical understanding. Those taking the subject will have the opportunity to study

some of the major questions in contemporary international relations (e.g. the role of the United Nations and of

alliances such as NATO; the impact on international relations of globalization and of democratization; the

development of European integration; the international impact of civil wars and humanitarian disasters; and

problems that arise from national self-determination and attempts to promote human rights). But they will also

develop a broad knowledge of the most important analytical and theoretical tools that are needed to make sense

of these questions. This knowledge of the principal theories and concepts is intended to tie in closely with work

for the Further Subjects in International Relations (International Relations in the Era of the Cold War [subject

213] and International Relations in the Era of the Two World Wars [subject 212].

215. Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau: The objective of this subject is to introduce students to some of the

canonical texts in political thought and to help them to develop an appreciation of their significance for their

own time and for contemporary political theory. The subject is designed to enhance students’ skills in reading

and interpreting texts and to develop their appreciation of the richness of the traditions of political thought in the

West which will contribute to their broader understanding of the discipline. The subject allows students to

choose from a range of classical texts in the history of political thought and also offers a number of


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supplementary topics which encourage students to examine issues raised by these texts in the context of related

discussions in the wider cannon of political thought. In both cases, the subject encourages students to develop

skills in reading and critically reflecting on the arguments of complex works of political philosophy. It offers

students the opportunity to develop an appreciation of the intellectual context in which the texts were written

and/or to discuss the arguments of the texts in relation to issues in contemporary political theory. Students, in

consultation with their tutors, may follow one or other of these options exclusively so long as they are able to

demonstrate a sound grasp of the arguments of the texts on which they answer questions. The subject permits

students to take either a narrow focus, concentrating on a few thinkers in depth, or aiming for a wide coverage

of many. Either approach, however, relies on developing the capacity to grasp both the way particular texts

work as arguments, and to gain some independent critical purchase on the arguments themselves. Students are

also encouraged to examine different methods of interpretation in the History of Political Thought.

216. Political Thought: Bentham to Weber: This subject is designed to acquaint students with the transition

from classical political philosophy to modern social theory --- that is, to introduce them to major theories

developed from the late eighteenth century to the early twenty century, theories which (a) explored the nature

and direction of social and economic change in Europe and (b) grappled with the moral and political issues

raised by social and economic change. The subject enables students to study in depth a range of important texts,

helping them to develop the skills required to identify and comment critically on the principal arguments

contained in those texts. Students are also encouraged to appreciate the intellectual and historical context in

which the texts were written. Students may, in consultation with their tutors, choose between a number of

approaches to this subject. They may concentrate on a smaller number of named theorists in greater depth or

aim for a broader coverage of many theorists by way of topics. Thus, they may approach the subject by

choosing a number of clusters of thinkers (e.g. Bentham and Mill, Hegel and Marx, Weber and Durkheim,

Saint-Simon and Tocqueville). Or they may focus on topics such as individualism and community,

centralisation, the idea of progress, science and religion, by reading further primary texts in addition to those

specified in the reading list. These further texts can include both additional works by the named thinkers and

works by other relevant writers, for instance those who pre-date the named thinker and who were particularly

influential for him, contemporary writers whose work was pertinent and, in some cases, later writers. In any

event, students will be expected to demonstrate detailed and critical acquaintance with the major texts, and to

analyse some of the main issues of contention, or agreement, in the period covered by the subject. This subject

will enable students to read complex texts with discrimination and attune themselves to the variety and depth of

modern social and political debates in an historical perspective.

217. Marx and Marxism: The course, unusual in being devoted to a single intellectual and political tradition,

gives students the opportunity to develop a deep and systematic understanding of Marxist theory and practice.

Depending on their interests, and reflecting the interdisciplinary breadth of the Marxist tradition, students are

able (in consultation with their tutors) to concentrate on one or more of Marxist philosophy, politics, sociology

and economics. (Students primarily interested in Marxist economics may consider taking the Economics course

Classical Economic Thought: Smith, Ricardo, Marx (312)). Similarly, although all students are required to cover

the essentials of Marxist theory with reference to the key writings of Marx and Engels, the course permits

students to strike their own balance between concentrating on these texts - and their interpretation and

evaluation - and considering the theoretical contributions of later Marxists. While most attention is devoted to

issues in Marxist theory, students are also expected to approach Marxism as a practical, political ideology, with

concrete political consequences. In all cases, the course teaches students to be able critically to evaluate, not just

to show knowledge of, the Marxist tradition.

218. Sociological Theory: The course permits students to specialise in and develop their understanding of

theoretical perspectives, some of which will have been introduced by the core course in Political Sociology.

Although it includes the ideas of some of the ‘Founding Fathers’ of sociology - Marx, Weber, and Durkheim -

the course is not primarily focussed on the history of sociological thought or on any particular texts.

(Foundations of Modern Social and Political Thought (216) is an author- and text-based subject covering these

and others). It rather attempts to encourage critical and analytical engagement with live issues in the assessment

of a range of theoretical perspectives such as: rational choice; social exchange; functionalism; Marxism;

symbolic interactionism; ethnomethodology; feminism. These are studied in relation to a number of substantive

explananda such as: social order and integration (what holds society together?); social norms and roles (where

do informal rules come from and why do people comply with them?); social change (is there an underlying

dynamic to the historical process?); class and stratification (what generates systematic social inequality and

what are its consequences?); deviance (in what circumstances and why do people contravene laws or less formal

social rules?) The course also allows students to study more abstract or methodological issues such as: the

relation between social structure and individual agency; strategies for integrating macro- and micro-sociology;

the merits and limitations of different research methods; the nature and aims of sociological theorising.


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(Students particularly interested in these more abstract issues might consider Philosophy of Science and Social

Science (106)). The course is devoted exclusively to the understanding and evaluation of sociological theories.

Since this depends on considering such theories in relation to the empirical facts, processes or institutions that

they seek to explain or illuminate, the course requires students to be familiar with relevant empirical studies.

(Students interested in a course essentially devoted to empirical rather than theoretical sociology might consider

taking Sociology of Industrial Societies (219)).

219. The Sociology of Post-Industrial Societies: The aims of the course are to introduce students to the major

contemporary theories and central concepts relevant to the study of industrial societies, to show how such

theories can be tested against the empirical data, and to give students some knowledge of the relevant

comparative literature and thus place the study of contemporary British society within a broader cross-national

perspective. One focus of the course is on the study of social stratification, with a particular emphasis on the

debates over stratification by social class, gender, ethnicity and national identity. The second focus is on social

change, especially with regard to debates over the withering away of social class, the growth of individualism,

the process of secularisation, and the changing nature of the contemporary family. By the end of the course

students should have gained a good knowledge of the scholarly literature and debates in the fields of

stratification and mobility, gender and so on; they will have gained some empirically-based knowledge of the

ways in which British society is similar to or different from other contemporary advanced societies; and they

should understand how to test theories of industrial society against the empirical evidence.

220. Political Sociology: The course builds on some of the concepts, theories and knowledge introduced in the

Politics Prelims syllabus - notably the study of electorates, parties and interest groups, and the study of the

interaction of political ideas such as democracy with political processes. In this Final Honour School subject

students will study in more detail the major theoretical approaches to social class, race and ethnicity, gender,

religion, nationality, states, interest groups including unions, parties, movements and single issue campaigns,

and the interrelationships between culture, economy, social structure, and political processes and institutions.

The theoretical approaches will be critically assessed in the light of empirical evidence from a range of

countries, and also put in the context of the philosophically rigorous analysis of power and change. To aid

students in attaining a comprehensive grasp of the field of study, they will have the opportunity to look at

‘approaches’ such as structuralism, rational choice theory, political culture theory, and the historical and

comparative perspective as such, as well as studying the application of these to the specific topics mentioned.

Thus by the end of the course students should have an understanding of recent sociological explanations of

political processes and events, a grasp of the competing approaches in the field, an understanding of the main

methods of data collection and analysis, and an appreciation of the role of models and theories in sociological

knowledge.

222. Labour Economics and Industrial Relations: As specified for 307 below.

223. The Government and Politics of Japan: This course provides a study one of the very few nations outside

the Western world whose politics appears to be stably based on democratic principles and a democratic

constitution. It introduces students to Japanese political history since 1945 and the social context of Japanese

institutions and policy-making, enabling them to understand the vicissitudes of Japanese experience in the last

twenty years: from the 1980s, when Japanese exports were seen as threateningly ultra-competitive in Europe,

North America and elsewhere, through the more difficult 1990s and 2000s which have precipitated a

concentrated debate on “restructuring” both of the economy and of the political system. The course covers the

constitutional framework and structure of government; parliamentary and local politics; the electoral and party

systems; the role of corporate interests and pressure groups; the bureaucracy; foreign policy. It aims to provide

an understanding of the major debates on the nature of Japanese liberal democracy, and to some of the main

interpretive models: “bureaucratic polity”, “developmental state”, “iron-triangle dominance by bureaucrats,

business leaders and politicians”, “patterned pluralism” etc. The underlying principle of the course is that

Japanese politics is just as capable of being understood empirically as is any other political system, so long as

preconceptions are not allowed to get in the way of understanding. No previous knowledge of Japan is required.

224. Social Policy: The course enables students to develop a critical understanding of welfare states, different

approaches to social policy, and definitions and explanations of problems such as poverty, deprivation, and

social exclusion. It permits students to draw on different perspectives in their previous study of, for example,

public economics or political theory. Students are expected to read widely in the empirical research literature on

policy formulation and implementation and to make themselves familiar with current statistics and reports. The

course encourages students to engage with both theoretical principles and empirical evidence across a range of

issues and policy areas such as: the development and problems of welfare states; voluntary effort and the


33

informal sector; the mixed economy of welfare; citizenship, rights, markets and welfare; the impact of

demography on social policy; poverty, inequality, deprivation and social exclusion; urban policy and inner

cities; underclass and welfare dependency; income maintenance; family policy; health policy; housing policy

and homelessness; education policy; ageing societies. Principles, concepts and institutions are analysed on a

cross-national basis. Where specific policy areas are examined, the focus is on contemporary Britain. However,

the policies of EU member states and other countries are considered when these have a bearing on British

arrangements.

225. Comparative Demographic Systems: As specified for 315 below.

226. Quantitative Methods in Politics and Sociology: Candidates will be expected to show an understanding

of applications of quantitative methods in politics and sociology including the following: the principles of

research design in social science: data collection, the logic of causal inference, and comparative method; major

statistical methods and concepts: types of random variables, independence, correlation and association,

sampling theory, hypothesis testing, linear and non-linear regression models, event-history analysis, and time-

series. Candidates will also be expected to interpret information and show familiarity with major

methodological debates in Politics and Sociology.

227. Politics in China: This course will enable students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of the recent

history and contemporary politics of China. China has been in transition from the long rule of Mao Zedong

since 1978, and its politics and society have transformed radically during that period. Students will gain an

understanding of the Chinese Communist party (the most powerful Communist party left in the world), looking

at its historical background before analysing its current strategy to remain in control of China in the post-Cold

War era. The reform era under Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin will be analysed through a variety of themes,

including elite politics and the Tian’anmen crisis of 1989, rural reforms, urban culture, and gender. China’s new

status as a regional power in international relations will also be examined, as well as its relations with Taiwan

and Hong Kong, two very different Chinese societies. This course will allow students to develop a strong

knowledge of one of the world’s most important countries, and could serve as stimulation for further work in

and about China in journalism, business, government, NGOs and academic research.

297. Special Subject in Politics:* Special Subjects are examined like most other papers in Politics: by three

hour unseen examination, in which three questions must be answered. What is distinctive about them is that

their subject matter is likely to be more narrowly defined than is the case with other papers, and may be closely

linked to the specialist research areas of the members of staff who teach them. What they offer therefore is the

opportunity, hitherto only available to those writing theses or supervised dissertations, to study an area of

political studies in greater depth. Special Subjects will only be available to undergraduates in Michaelmas Term

of their third year. Any Special Subject available will be announced at the beginning of the fourth week of

Hilary Term via the website and circulated to Politics tutors at colleges admitting undergraduates..The teaching

provided for a Special Subject will be equivalent to the teaching provided for a normal Politics paper. Some

special rules apply to the Special Subject and these are set out in full in the Examination Decrees. No candidate

may offer more than one Special Subject. A Special Subject may not be offered by candidates also offering a

thesis (199, 299, 399) or Supervised dissertation (298). Any further restrictions will be announced at the same

time as the Special Subject’s introduction. There may also be restrictions on the numbers of students permitted

to take a given Special Subject. These restrictions would also be announced in advance, and a fair means of

deciding who could take the Special Subject (e.g. a ballot) would be used in the event of excessive numbers.

* This option may not be available every year.

298. Supervised dissertation:* With the approval or the Politics sub-faculty, members of staff willing to

supervise a research topic shall through the Administrator of the Department of Politics and International

Relations place on the notice board of that Department not later than Friday of Fourth Week of Hilary Term a

short description of an area of politics (including international relations and sociology) in which they have a

special interest, a list of possible dissertation topics lying within that area, an introductory reading list, and a

time and place at which they will meet those interested in writing a dissertation under their supervision for

assessment in the following year's examination. Members of staff agreeing to supervise an undergraduate shall

provide him or her with tutorials or intercollegiate classes equivalent to a term's teaching for a normal paper, the

cost of such tutorials or classes to be met by the college. They shall notify the colleges of the undergraduates

involved and the Administrator of the Department of Politics and International Relations. Candidates offering a

thesis (199, 299, or 399) may not also offer a supervised dissertation. The regulations governing the length, the


34

format, and the time, date and place of submission of a supervised dissertation shall be the same as those for the

thesis. Every candidate who wishes to submit a supervised dissertation shall give notice of his or her intention to

do so to the Registrar on his or her examination entry form. Every candidate shall sign a certificate to the effect

that the supervised dissertation is his or her own work and that it has not already been submitted, wholly or

substantially, for another Honour School of this University or for a degree of any other institution. The

supervisor(s) shall countersign the certificate confirming that to the best of his, her or their knowledge and belief

these statements are true, and shall also submit a short statement of the supervision provided, together with the

original specification of the research topic and any other course material provided. The candidate's certificate

and the supervisor's or supervisors' statements shall be presented together with the supervised dissertation.

Candidates are warned that they should avoid repetition in papers of material in their supervised dissertation and

that substantial repetition may be penalized. Every candidate who wishes to have his or her supervised

dissertation returned is required to enclose with the thesis, in an envelope bearing only his or her candidate

number, a self-addressed sticky label.

* This option may not be available every year.

299. Thesis: As specified for 399 below.

300. Quantitative Economics: Unconditional Modelling: Descriptive statistics, basic statistical distributions

and applications to economic data, sampling and hypothesis testing. Conditional Modelling: Binary data with

regressors, regression analysis with two and three variables, testing and interpretation of regression results.

Time series Modelling: introduction to issues of temporal correlation and regression analysis. Empirical

applications in micro and macroeconomics: Interpretation of current literature in two areas of microeconomics

and two areas of macroeconomics. Topics will be announced at the beginning of Michaelmas Term for

examination in Trinity Term two years later. The examination will include questions covering theoretical issues

and interpretation of econometric results.

301. Macroeconomics: Macroeconomic theories and their policy implications; macroeconomic shocks and

fluctuations; unemployment and inflation; exchange rates; interest rates and the current account; intertemporal

adjustment, growth theory; monetary and fiscal policy. The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be

required to answer questions from both parts. Part A will consist of short questions and Part B will consist of

longer questions.

302. Microeconomics: Risk, expected utility theory; welfare economics and general equilibrium, public goods

and externalities; game theory and industrial organisation; information economics; applications of

microeconomics. The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be required to answer questions from both

parts. Part A will consist of short questions and Part B will consist of longer questions.

303. Microeconomic Theory: Rigorous study of core elements of microeconomic theory. Topics may (but not

necessarily) include: decision making under risk and uncertainty; theory of search under uncertainty; models of

contracting under asymmetric information; theory of general economic equilibrium; theory of social choice. A

descriptive list of the topics will be published on the Economics website before the beginning of the year in

which the course is taught and examined. Questions will be set requiring candidates to solve problems and

demonstrate conceptual understanding of core elements of microeconomic theory.

304. Money and Banking: The role of money in general equilibrium models. Aggregate models of price and

output fluctuations. The role of banks and other financial intermediaries. Models of monetary policy. Inflation

targeting and other policy regimes. Money and public finance. The transmission of monetary policy to asset

prices and exchange rates. The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be required to show knowledge on

both parts of the paper. Part A will comprise questions requiring analysis of specific models. Part B will

comprise essay questions requiring discussion of the theoretical and empirical literature.

305. Public Economics: Welfare measurement and cost-benefit analysis, with applications to healthcare and the

environment; taxes and transfers; optimal income and commodity taxation, and intertemporal public finance

including pensions provision; government expenditure, including healthcare and education; political economics.

306. Economics of Industry: Market structures, costs and scale economies, oligopoly and the theory of games,

entry, empirical studies of pricing and profitability, advertising, product differentiation managerial theories of


35

the firm, investment and finance. mergers and vertical integration, innovation, public policy towards market

structure and conduct, public enterprises. Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of empirical studies

relating to one or more of the advanced industrial economies, but questions relating to specific industrial

economies will not be set.

307. Labour Economics and Industrial Relations:* The analysis of labour markets from both microeconomic

and macroeconomic perspectives; collective bargaining and trade unions; personnel economics; the economics

of education and human capital; wage determination and inequality. * May be offered alternatively as a subject

in Politics as 222.

308. International Economics: Theories of international trade and factor movements, positive and normative,

and their application to economic policy and current problems. Theory and practice of economic integration.

Current problems of the international trading system. Methods of balance of payments adjustment and

financing., policies for attaining internal and external balance. Behaviour of floating exchange rates: theory and

evidence. Optimum Currency Areas and Exchange Rate Regimes. International Policy Co-ordination and the

International Monetary System.

309. Command and Transitional Economies: This paper covers the traditional command economy, attempts

to reform it in the direction of market socialism, and transition to a market economy. Candidates will be

expected first to be familiar with the evolution of the command economy in the pre-war USSR (War

Communism, New Economic Policy, Stalinist central planning) and in the post-war period in the USSR, Eastern

Europe and China. But emphasis is placed on knowledge of the features and policies of the main variants of the

command system (e.g. central planning, performance of state enterprises, fiscal and monetary policies, foreign

trade), rather than of the details of economic history or experiences of countries. The second area includes the

1965 reform and perestroika in the USSR, the New Economic Mechanism in Hungary, self-management in

Yugoslavia, and post-1978 reforms in China. The third area comprises the theory of the transition from

command to market s stems, as well as policies and economic developments in the major countries after 1989.

Although most questions will deal with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, at least two will relate fully or

partially to the economy of China.

310. Economics of Developing Countries: Theories of growth and development. Poverty and income

distribution. Human resources. Labour markets and employment. Industrialisation and technology. Agriculture

and rural development. Monetary and fiscal issues; inflation. Foreign trade and payments. Foreign and domestic

capital; economic aid. The role of government in development; the operation of markets. Where appropriate,

candidates will be expected to illustrate their answers with knowledge of actual situations.

311. British Economic History since 1870: Trends and cycles in national income, factor supplies, and

productivity; changes in the structure of output, employment, and capital; management and entrepreneurship;

the location of industries, industrial concentration, and the growth of large firms: prices, interest rates, money,

and public finance; wages, unemployment, trade unions, and the working of the labour market; the distribution

of incomes, poverty, and living standards; foreign trade, tariffs, international capital movements, and sterling;

Government economic policy in peace and war. Questions concerned exclusively with the periods before 1900

or after 1973 will not be set.

314. Econometrics: The paper will be set in two parts. Candidates will be required to show knowledge of both

parts.

I Multiple regression: interpretation, estimation, inference, prediction. Both cross-sectional and time series

implementations will be discussed. A variety of econometric topics will be considered drawn from the following

list: maximum likelihood, endogeneity and instrumental variables, unit roots and cointegration, limited

dependent variable models, duration models and panel data models.

II Application of the introduced econometric methods to economic problems.

A descriptive list of the topics will be published on the Economics website before the beginning of the year in

which the course is taught and examined.

315. Comparative Demographic Systems:* Candidates will be expected to show knowledge of controversies

in demographic theory (Malthus and his critics, Easterlin, Caldwell, the New Home Economics school and

others) and to illustrate their answers with varied and specific examples. The paper will contain essay questions


36

and questions involving computation. Candidates will be required to answer three questions, two of the former

and one of the latter.

I Demographic analysis and techniques: data sources. adequacy and remedies. Statistical analysis of fertility,

mortality, and other demographic phenomena. The life table, stable population, and other models of population

structure and growth. Population dynamics, projections and simulations.

II Limits to fertility and the lifespan. Contrasts between stable and transitional population systems in historical

European and current non-European societies: the decline of mortality, fertility patterns in relation to systems of

household formation, kin organization and risk environments, marital fertility decline and the current status of

transition theory. Social, economic, and political consequences of rapid population growth at the national level

and the local level.

Demographic systems in post-transitional societies (modern Europe and other industrial areas): low fertility,

trends in health and survival, and age structure change; their economic and social causes and consequences.

New patterns of marriage and family, women in the workforce, labour migration and the demography of ethnic

minorities, population policies.

* May be offered alternatively as a subject in Politics as 225.

316. Economics of OECD Countries:(Currently Suspended).

317. Economic decisions within the firm: (Currently Suspended)

318. Finance:(Currently suspended)

319. Game Theory: Strategic-form games and extensive-form games. Solution concepts. Games with

incomplete information. Applications and topics which may (but not necessarily) include bargaining, auctions,

global games, evolutionary games, co-operative games, learning, games in political science. The paper will be

set in two parts. Candidates will be required to show knowledge on both parts of the paper.

1. Part A. Questions will be set requiring candidates to solve problems involving the core elements of

game theory.

2. Part B. Questions will be set requiring candidates to solve problems in and show knowledge of specific

applications and topics in game theory.

320. Mathematical Methods: The paper will cover mathematical tools such as Calculus, Linear Algebra,

Differential and Difference Equations, Probability and Statistical Inference and their applications to Economics.

Applications will not require knowledge of material covered in other optional papers but will assume knowledge

of the core first and second year papers. A detailed syllabus will be published every year.

321. The Philosophy and Economics of the Environment: [NB: This paper may not be taken by bipartite

Politics and Philosophy candidates.] Philosophical foundations: justice and goodness, theories of value;

decision-making under uncertainty. Economics foundations: externalities, public goods, international

environmental agreements. Politics and the environment. Inter-generational ethics, discounting. The choice of

instruments: taxes, permits and command-and-control; environmental instruments in practice. Valuing human

life. Valuing nature. Cost-benefit analysis: foundations and critiques; valuation methods.

399. Thesis

(a) Subject

The subject of every thesis should fall within the scope of the Honour School. The subject may but need not

overlap any subject on which the candidate offers papers. Candidates are warned that they should avoid

repetition in papers of material used in their theses and that substantial repetition may be penalized.


37

Every candidate shall submit through his or her college for approval to the appropriate Director of

Undergraduate Studies for Philosophy, Politics and International Relations or Economics, the title he or she

proposes together with

(i) an indication as to the branch of the school in which the subject falls, e.g. Economics;

(ii) an explanation of the subject in about 100 words;

(iii) a letter of approval from his or her thesis tutor;

not earlier than the first day of the Trinity Full Term of the year before that in which he or she is to be examined

and not later than the date prescribed for entry to the examination. The relevant Director of Undergraduate

Studies shall decide as soon as possible whether or not to approve the title and shall advise the candidate

immediately. No decision shall be deferred beyond the end of the fifth week of Michaelmas Full Term.

Proposals to change the title of the thesis may be made through the college via the Administrator, Department of

Politics and International Relations, Manor Road Building, and will be considered by the Chair of the relevant

sub-faculty until the first day of the Hilary Full Term of the year in which the student is to be examined, and by

the Chair of the examiners thereafter.

(b) Authorship and origin

Every thesis shall be the candidate's own work. His or her thesis tutor may, however, discuss with him or her the

field of study, the sources available and the method of presentation; the tutor may also read and comment on a

first draft. The amount of assistance that may be given is equivalent to the teaching of a normal paper. Theses

previously submitted for the Honour School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics may be resubmitted. No

thesis will be accepted if it has already been submitted, wholly or substantially, for another Honour School or

degree of this University or for a degree of any other institution. Every candidate shall sign a certificate to the

effect that the thesis is his or her own work and that it has not already been submitted, wholly or substantially,

for another Honour School or degree of this University, or for a degree of any other institution. This certificate

shall be presented together with the thesis. No thesis shall, however, be ineligible because it has been or is being

submitted for any prize of this University.

(c) Length and format

No thesis shall exceed 15,000 words, the limit to include all notes and appendices, but not bibliographies; no

person or body shall have authority to permit any excess. There shall be a select bibliography or a list of

sources. All theses must be typed in double spacing on one side of quarto or A4 paper. Any notes and references

may be placed either at the bottom of the relevant pages or all together at the end of the thesis, but in the latter

case two loose copies of the notes and references must be supplied. The thesis must be bound or held firmly in a

stiff cover. Two hard copies and one electronic copy shall be submitted to the examiners; they shall be returned

to the candidate's college after the examination.

(d) Notice to Registrar and submission of thesis

Every candidate who wishes to submit a thesis shall give notice of his or her intention to do so to the Registrar

on his or her examination entry form (in addition to seeking approval of the subject from the relevant Chair of

the Sub-Faculty or Head of Department under (a) above); and shall submit his or her thesis not later than noon

on Friday of the week before the Trinity Full Term of the examination to the Chair of the Examiners, Honour

School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Examination Schools, Oxford. Every candidate who wishes to

have his or her thesis returned is required to enclose with the thesis, in an envelope bearing only his or her

candidate number, a self-addressed sticky label.

Download - PPE Programme Specification 2013-14 Final

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