Philosophy, Politics & Economics - Lancaster University · Philosophy, Politics and Economics...

Philosophy,Politics &Economics

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There are many good reasons to studyPhilosophy, Politics and Economics(PPE), at Lancaster University: thefascinating and challenging content of the degree itself; the flexible degreestructure that allows you to choose yourmodules and to change your degree if you wish; the excellence in teachingand student satisfaction with the course(PPE at Lancaster University is ratedhigher for overall course satisfactionthan PPE at Warwick, Sussex, Essex, Hull, Royal Holloway and Swansea, in theNational Student Survey 2013). There is also award-winning accommodationguaranteed on a safe campus in acollegiate university in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK.

Although not many universities offer PPE, they all differ in terms of the course content and structure. This short brochure is designed to give youan introduction to PPE at Lancaster.

The Philosophy, Politics andEconomics brochure is arranged in three sections.

Section 1 is a brief introduction to the three subject areas.

Section 2 outlines the course content and course structure

Section 3 gives some briefinformation about life in Lancaster.

There are many more details aboutspecific course modules on theDepartment and University website.www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/ppr/

If you can’t find answers to your queries,or want to talk to someone in person, doget in touch with us – the contact detailsare at the end of the brochure.

Section 1: Introducing Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) is a classic joint degree – manypoliticians, journalists, civil servants,authors and broadcasters studied PPEas undergraduates. The three subjectscomplement each other well and overlapand connect in a variety of ways. Youmay already be studying one or more of these subjects, but there is norequirement that you have done so. The only set requirement is that you have a B’ or above in GCSE Maths (or the equivalent). This section gives a briefintroduction to the three subjects. If youare already studying all three subjectsthen you may want to move ahead toSection 2 about course content andstructure.

What is Philosophy?

The philosopher Bertrand Russell oncesuggested that the person who doesn’tthink philosophically...

“goes through lifeimprisoned in theprejudices derived fromcommon sense, from thehabitual beliefs of his ageor his nation, and fromconvictions which havegrown up in his mindwithout the cooperation or consent of hisdeliberate reason.”

This may be a little bit strong, but it does capture something important about philosophy. Philosophy calls into question and often challenges our opinions, dogmas, prejudices andassumptions. Philosophy requires you to be able to take up a critical attitudethat includes your own views (after all,anyone with a strong conviction believesthat they are in the right, but it does not mean that they are right: why should your conviction be an exception?).

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Introducing Philosophy, Politics and Economics


For example, take the question: areinheritance taxes fair? How do weanswer this? One problem here is that people differ in what they think the answer is. For example, some thinkthat is plainly and clearly obvious thatinheritance tax is fair. Why on earthshould a person be entitled to receivemassive wealth, without having workedfor it, in such a way that societies end up unequal? Another person might beequally convinced that of course suchtaxes are always unfair: why shouldn’t a person be allowed to pass on theirproperty to others that they love and care for?

However, if we don’t want to be‘imprisoned in the prejudices derivedfrom common sense’ we need to dosomething more. We need to try to findout whether inheritance taxes really arefair or not. But how do we answer thisquestion? It’s not a question like “Iswater H20?” or “What is water made of?”We cannot answer is inheritance tax fair?by observing the world. We can’t find out about the true nature of fairness bylooking through a microscope or anyother instrument.

Do free markets lead to inequality? If they do, what obligations do the wealthy have to assist the poor?

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But, you might object, can’t we look atthe world and ‘see’ examples of fairnessand unfairness? The problem here is that different people ‘see’ the world in different ways. Someone who thinksthat inheritance tax is unfair may see atrust-fund layabout quaffing champagneand think: “Look, you can see how unfairthat is: he hasn’t worked for that money,and others are starving!” But anotherperson might look at the same situationand ‘see’ otherwise: “here is a persondoing no wrong, exercising his rights to live his life as he pleases. What rightdoes the state or anyone else have to interfere here?”

What if we did a survey and found outwhat most people think? But this won’thelp either. A social science surveywouldn’t tell us if the tax is fair, it wouldonly tell us whether (certain) people think it is fair. For example, back in theEighteenth Century the majority ofpeople in the UK may well have held thatslavery was permissible, but that doesn’tmeant that it is, or was, permissible.


If we can’t answer these questions byasking other people their views, how dowe go about answering them? In order to answer philosophical questions you have to do philosophy. This doesn’tmean that you have to be a professionalphilosopher. What it does mean is thatyou have to think critically, carefully, and creatively. One thing that is alwaysimportant in philosophy – especially as a first step – is being clear about what wemean (you will often hear philosophers,and philosophy students, starting theirresponse to a question with “It dependswhat you mean by ...” . So, we might begin by trying to clarify what we meanby fairness. For example, consider thefollowing three claims about fairness:

“It’s only fair that people arerewarded if they work hard”

“A fair society is one withouthuge inequalities in wealth”

“It’s only fair that criminalsshould have their ill-gottenwealth taken away”

If you think about these for a moment it isnot hard to see that these are in tension(for example, think about the fairtreatment of a hard working criminalwhose wealth is many times more thanaverage). At this point we might clarifythings by distinguishing different sensesof ‘fair’. For example, in the first claimfairness is to do with desert (what peopledeserve in return for work), whilst in thesecond claim it is do with justice, with thejust allocation of resources. Being clear is a useful start, and an important part of philosophical reasoning, but this stillwouldn’t answer our initial question aboutwhether inheritance tax is fair. In order to do that our critical discussion wouldhave to expand to include broaderphilosophical debates about how weought to live (e.g., is the freedom to give your money to your children moreimportant than issues of justice anddesert? Which values are the reallyimportant ones? How can we tell?).

Philosophy involves an attempt tocritically engage with questions thatmatter to us and to bring about a better,more sophisticated and well-grounded,understanding of the world. This involves‘going beyond’ common-sense opinionsand beliefs.

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Studying philosophy involves learning to do certain things. You already have thepower to reason, and to reason critically.What the study of philosophy involves is you applying and developing yourpowers of critical reasoning.

Some of our philosophy modules atLancaster are historical, where we study some of the great thinkers from the history of philosophy. Other modulesare topic based (e.g., Philosophy of Mind, or Philosophy of Science). Topic-basedmodules may make use of argumentsand discussions by philosophers fromthe past. But when we introduce work by Mill, or Hume, or Kant, or Plato, orNietzsche or Wittgenstein, whether it is inthe historical modules or the topic-basedones, we want you to engage with thequestions and problems that theyaddress, we don’t want you to simplyreport their thoughts.

This focus on learning to do philosophy,and in developing your skills and viewsmay be something very different to your school or college experience of philosophy. Indeed, some A-levelstudents feel frustrated preciselybecause they are learning aboutphilosophy rather than being encouragedto develop their own critical skills and philosophical understanding. AtLancaster we value critical originality,provided, of course, that it is well argued,well informed, and communicated in a clear, relevant, way.

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What is Politics?Some people think of Politics as a veryspecialised activity, confined to placeslike Westminster and Town Halls, and to elected representatives and theiradvisors. Others see Politics everywhere– it's something that all of us 'do', not just when voting or signing petitions buteven when making everyday decisionslike choosing to buy certain products in particular shops.

Nowadays teachers of Politics tend totake the latter, much broader view of theirsubject: viewing politics as a means ofresolving dilemmas and disputes whicharise within (and between) all humancommunities. It would be silly to say thatthere was Politics in every human activity– there isn’t any Politics in the way weclean our teeth, for example – but there is certainly Politics in every workplace,every school classroom, and evenamong university teachers of Politics and their students.

Politics helps us to understand ourselvesand our relationships with others, as well as the events which dominate theheadlines of serious newspapers andtrigger earnest internet discussions. As such, it is no surprise that althoughprofessional politicians might be widelydistrusted in most Western societies, the subject of Politics is as popular as ever among undergraduate andpostgraduate students.

Clearly, there are many points ofconnection between philosophy and politics. Political philosophy hasalways been a core part of philosophy as philosophers recognised the fact thatPolitics is a central aspect of human life.Take our sample philosophical questionabout the fairness of inheritance tax. It would be very hard to address thisquestion without having some grasp ofPolitics, both in the broad sense (abouthow humans resolve differences andorganise societies) and in the narrowersense (one that focuses on politicalinstitutions and political decision making).

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As a PPE student studying Politics, you will focus on the institutions andpractices of certain political systems – Britain, the US, China and the EU, forexample. However, these states and their institutions cannot be understoodwithout reference to the global context. In introducing you to key concepts anddevelopments in International Relations.PPE at Lancaster University offers theopportunity to understand the both thepolitical and economic aspects of thephenomenon known as ‘globalisation’, andother issues in global political economy.

Another key aspect of Politics is politicaltheory, which allows you to develop yourown ideas as well as understanding thework of great political thinkers of thepast and present.

We do not require any previousqualifications in the subject – the key to success is an enthusiasm to learnmore about the developments andtrends which shape the fast-changingcontemporary world.

Our question about whether inheritancetax is fair has philosophical and politicalaspects. Questions about taxationclearly have an economic side to themtoo. In the abstract we might assumethat increasing taxation would makemore revenue available to the state (with further political questions aboutwhat the state does with that revenueand why, and philosophical questionsabout what it ought to do with it).

But, as Russell noted, we cannot simply take our assumptions for granted.Inheritance taxes may have actuallydecrease revenue (if rich people aremotivated to leave the country, forexample). What we need here is to draw upon a discipline that can tell us something about the precise ways inwhich wealth and other scarce resourcesget to be exchanged and distributed: that discipline is economics.

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What is Economics? Economic matters are in the news a lot. But if you watch or read the news it might seem that Economics is justabout inflation, unemployment, balanceof payments, exchange rates, and theeconomic crisis. But these phenomenaare just one part of Economics:macroeconomics. Macroeconomicscritically focuses on the interaction oflarge-scale phenomena (such as inflation)to better understand the nature andfunctioning of whole economies (at a national or international level). But there is another part of economics,microeconomics – in its original Greek(oikonomikos) the literal meaning of‘economics’ is the management of ahousehold. Think for a moment about the many different things a ‘household’does. Members of the household have to work, they have to buy food and otherresources. Throughout human historyeveryday economic transactions haveplayed a central part in our lives: buying,selling or exchanging goods, buying,selling or exchanging labour.

These transactions involve making certainkinds of decisions, especially in the light of the fact that wealth, labour, and otherresources are limited, or scarce. If youhave enough wealth to buy a pound ofwheat you cannot use that wealth to buy a pound of carrots, you have to make aneconomic decision. If you have enoughtime to build a wall for your neighbour you cannot use that time to dig a well forsomeone else. Suppose you have a fieldof wheat, what determines the price youwill be paid for the wheat: after all, it is toyour advantage if you can sell it for a hugesum, but what if nobody wants to pay that sum? What if there are other farmersselling different crops, or the same crop at lower prices? What if you were the onlyperson with wheat to sell and there is noother source of food? We may all havesome rough and ready ideas about whatto say here, but microeconomics allows usto make sense of, and better understand,these economic transactions, andpatterns in economic behaviour, in a much more rigorous and systematic way.


What is Economics? continuedThe idea of a market is central tomicroeconomics. Markets are socialsystems which allow prices to beestablished. Competitive markets bringmutual advantages to traders, whatevertheir individual objectives happen to be.Where sellers compete with one another,there are advantages for buyers. Wherebuyers compete with one another, thereare advantages for sellers. Free marketsallow buyers and sellers to achieve mutualsatisfaction. Within a liberal market order,each individual is permitted to apply hislimited (but unique) knowledge however he sees fit. Hence, Adam Smith’s ‘invisiblehand’: ‘it is not from the benevolence of thebutcher, the brewer or the baker that weexpect our dinner, but from their regard to their self-interest.’ Microeconomicsallows you, amongst other things, to betterunderstand how different kinds of market,and the various elements of markets, work.Understanding the functioning of marketsis a very useful for better understandingnational and global politics and for a widerange of careers (try to think of a careerthat doesn’t involve market mechanismsof some kind or other).

Studying Economics also includescritically theorizing about characteristicsof rational economic behaviour; howindividual property rights are assigned;and practical options for organisingeconomic activity. Robert Solow (1996Nobel economics prize-winner) hassuggested that the remit of economicsis ‘to aid the organisation of incompleteperceptions about the economy, to seeconnections that an untutored eye wouldmiss, and to tell plausible stories basedupon a few simple principles’. As such, theapplication of economic principles candeliver insights into many real world phenomena, where the tools ofeconomics are used to understand manyaspects of human behaviour; for example,health, crime, fertility and gambling.

At Lancaster University, the study of Economics includes a wide range of topics within macroeconomics andmicroeconomics. The PPE course isdesigned for students who may not havetaken Economics before, and who may not have a higher-level maths qualification(A-level). There are some parts of thecourse that do require some statistical and analytical skills, but these aredesigned to be accessible without a mathsbackground. Single honours Economicsstudents spend a third of their first year on the course Quantitative Methods forEconomics. This means that PPE studentsdo not normally take the mathematicaleconomics modules in the third year.

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Studying economics allows students togain a sophisticated grasp of centrallyimportant activities and institutions – rational decision making, markets, price mechanisms. An understanding of economics is directly relevant to aproper understanding of many topics and practices of importance. But PPE offers something more than justeconomic understanding. As we havenoted already, there are many importantinterconnections between the threesubjects. One cannot really study, or understand, the decisions made by politicians and states without anunderstanding of economics. But onecannot really understand economictransactions, or macroeconomicphenomena (like exchange rates, orunemployment) in the abstract, without a grasp of their political dimension. In both politics and economics there are philosophical questions, questionsthat cannot be answered within thedisciplines themselves, but which requirea distinctive kind of ‘standing back’ in order to engage with fundamentals.Economists may argue about whichparticular model of inflation is the bestone, economically speaking, but suchdebates may not address the question of why inflation matters to us, in terms of human flourishing and well-being.

Economists may be able to establish that certain kinds of market are the mostefficient way for allocating resources, but this does not tell us whether marketefficiency ought to be valued aboveother values (such as equality orfreedom). To properly address thesequestions we need to turn to philosophy.

Overall, the three subject areas in PPEweave together, and mutually supporteach other, in a wide variety of ways. Buthow exactly do they fit together in termsof your university degree? That is thetopic for the next section.

Section 2: The PPE Degree: Content and Structure

As you probably know, only a fewuniversities in the UK offer PPE degrees.One reason for this is that it can becomplicated to co-ordinate threedifferent subject areas, over three years,for large numbers of students. But theLancaster University undergraduatesystem is ready-made for PPE: it is a ‘modular’ system for all students,whether or not they are doing jointhonours. The degree that a studentcomes out with is determined by themodules that they take, and, as we willsee, there is a great deal of flexibility inthis kind of system.

In the case of PPE the requirement is to take a sufficient number of modules in each of the three subject areas,though there are some additional minor restrictions in the case of theEconomics part of PPE. For example,PPE are not usually able to takemathematical economics modules in their third year.

The PPE degree programme involves teaching in three subject areas in different departments. Politicsand Philosophy are taught by theDepartment of Politics, Philosophy and Religion (PPR), whilst Economics istaught by the Department of Economics(within the Lancaster UniversityManagement School (LUMS)). PPRadministers the degree, which meansthat your University registration is withinPPR. PPR is based in County SouthCollege, at the North end of campus, on‘B’ floor (conveniently situated above theNorthern Oak Bar, the County Café andnext to the ReFuel Café and lounge).

Politics and Philosophy lectures and seminars tend to be held at the northern end of campus, whilstEconomics lectures and seminars areheld in the Management School andSouthern end of campus (don’t worry,there is time allocated to allow you to get from one lecture to another!).

The Lancaster degree programme isdivided into two parts: Part I and Part II.Part I is the first year, Part II the secondand third years. Part I and Part II work indifferent ways.

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The PPE Degree: Content and Structure


Part IPart I is an introductory year. You have to pass Part I to proceed to Part II. Yourmarks from Part I do not count towardsyour final degree classification. In Part I all students – including single honoursstudents – take three modules. The factthat PPE students take three modules indifferent subjects is not unusual. A singlehonours Politics student might studyPolitics, History, and Sociology, orPolitics, Philosophy and ReligiousStudies. Indeed, a single honours studentmight study the same modules as a PPE student! The difference is that thePPE student is pre-enrolled onto themodules. This is important in the case of Economics, as there is a quota system where pre-enrolled students areguaranteed a place on the Economicsfirst year module ECON100, whilst thosetaking the subject as a ‘minor’ may notget a place (depending on demand).

For each of the three Part I courses thereare two one-hour lectures a week in alarge lecture theatre. Lectures are meantto introduce you to topics, to give youguidance and direction, and, hopefully,inspire your interest in the topic inquestion. For each module, students areallocated to small discussion groups(seminars). There are usually set readingsor other tasks for each seminar.Seminars meet for an hour once a weekwith a tutor to discuss the topic in moredetail, and to allow you to discuss andclarify any difficulties you have in thatweek’s tasks or readings. At University(unlike school or college) most of yourlearning is down to you: to the time spent on reading, working on your notes, preparing for essays and otherassignments.

PHIL 100 Introduction to PhilosophyThis first-year module provides anintroduction to some key areas inphilosophy and provides the background in knowledge and critical skills necessaryto study philosophical topics in more detailin Part II. The module begins by introducingphilosophy as a subject and as a distinctiveset of methods. It then covers five topicsover the year.

1. Knowledge and Reality:looks at the limits of our knowledge andthe relationship between philosophicaltheories and our ‘common-sense’ viewsof the world.;

2. Critical Thinking: introduces students to key concepts and methods in informal logic (there areno symbols to learn at this stage, thoughstudents with an interest in symboliclogic can take Logic and Language in the third year).

3. Ethics:introduces key ideas in ethical theory, in2013 the focus was on JS Mill’s ethicalviews and problems with them;

4. Free Will:looks at the question whether we really are free, and wether scientificdiscoveries, in neuroscience, for example,could ever show that we are not free.;

5. Political Philosophy:covers different material from that covered in POLI 100, in 2013 thefocus was on philosophical and ethicalproblems to do with capitalism (this is ofparticular relevance for PPE students).

The course is designed to be accessible to those who have not done philosophybefore, without duplicating material studied at A-level, with a particular stresson developing your own skills in critical,reasoned, argument, rather than merelylearning key facts from the history of philosophy.

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Could science ever show us that we don’thave free will?


The aim of this Part I core course is to introduce students to some of the key areas of the fields of Politics andInternational Relations. The course isdesigned both for students who are new to Politics and for those who havestudied Politics before. This courseexplores some of the main themes and issues in Politics and Governance in contemporary times. It does so by building up a story about ‘liberaldemocracy’ and ‘the state’. These ideas have come to both dominate our political landscape – but now face serious challenges and threats. The course is divided into three mainsections. In the first term we start by looking at the principles of liberaldemocracy (democracy liberalism, andproperty) before looking at two stateswhich exemplify those principles (the UK and USA).

We then survey some of the institutionsof liberal democracy which work withinand beyond the state level (such as theEuropean Union and the United Nations).The second term concentrates on the historical development of theinternational system of states focusingon the events surrounding the Cold Warto our present situation; an examinationof how governance is organised andglobalised through the realms of politicsand economics; and the development of structure, institutions, and ideas which have lead to the possibility ofglobal governance. Finally, in the thirdterm, we explore of the complex andchallenging role that the USA has on the current world political stage, and takea survey of some contemporary issues in politics.

POLI 100 Understanding Politics and Governance

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ECON 100 Principles of EconomicsThis course is in two parts. The first part covers microeconomic analysis,including the theory of demand, costsand pricing under various forms ofindustrial organisation, and welfareeconomics. Many applications oftheoretical models are examined. Thesecond part covers macroeconomicanalysis, including national incomeanalysis, monetary theory, businesscycles, inflation, unemployment, and the great macroeconomic debates. This provides a solid grounding in coreeconomic principles and theories and isaccessible to those without a backgroundin mathematics or economics.


AssessmentFor PHIL 100 and POLI 100 there are four coursework assignments in eachmodule, plus a three-hour exam in theSummer term. Coursework is worth 40% of the overall mark, the exam isworth 60%. For ECON 100, there are four coursework assignments but if youachieve an overall average of 55% orbetter in your coursework you will beexempt from the three-hour finalexamination and your courseworkaverage will stand as your final mark. If you do not gain exemption from the three-hour final examination, your final mark will be calculated as 40% coursework and 60% examination.

PreparationIf you have not studied the PPE subjects before, it may help to read some introductory books before Part I.

For Philosophy: Julian Baggini, The Duckthat Won the Lottery and 99 other BadArguments (Granta 2008); Edward Craig,Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction(Oxford University Press, 2002); SimonBlackburn, Think: A CompellingIntroduction to Philosophy (OxfordUniversity Press, 2001); Nigel WarburtonPhilosophy: The Basics (fourth edition)(Routledge, 2010).

A bit harder, but worth reading. ThomasNagel, What does it all mean? A VeryShort Introduction to Philosophy. (OxfordUniversity Press, 1987); Peter Singer,Practical Ethics (Cambridge universitypress, 1982); Bernard Williams, Morality:An Introduction to Ethics (Penguin, 1973).

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For preparation for Politics, JonathanWolff’s Introduction to Political Philosophy,and J Bayliss, S Smith and P Owens (eds)The Globalisation of World Politics (fifthedition). It’s important (though not vital) toget the newest (fifth) edition. The campusbookshop does a discount deal on our key books – so it could be worth waiting to get here before you part with your cash.However, it’s possible that your locallibrary will have one or even both of the books. The Wolff book is the moreimportant of the two for preliminaryreading, since it’s directly relevant to the first six or seven lectures.

For Economics, the main text for Part 1 Economics is Mankiw and Taylor,Economics, (second edition Cengage,2011) (NOTE second edition). One short introduction that is worth a look is:Economics: A Very Short Introduction byPartha Dasgupta (Oxford University PressVery Short Introductions series).


Part IIIn Part I you don’t choose which parts of Philosophy, Politics, or Economics, to study. Everyone studies the samemodules. In Part II you have lots of choice. All students at Lancaster studythe equivalent of 16 single term units(some courses are two-term and count astwo units). PPE students have to study atleast four single term units in each of theirthree subject areas. The remaining fourunits can be shared out amongst thethree subjects (most PPE students try to maintain a fairly even split).

We have not got space here to givedetails of the content of each module. For details about specific module contentsee the PPR and Economics websites.

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Second Year

Philosophy (two-term modules)

Students must take at least one module from:

PPR.201 History of Philosophy

PPR.202 Ethics: Theory and Practice

PPR.203 Philosophy of Science

PPR.204 Philosophy of Mind

PPR.205 Knowledge and Reality

PPR.244 Western Philosophy and Religious Thought

Politics (two-term modules)

Students must take at least one module from:

PPR.220 Modern Political Thought

PPR.222 Politics of Development

PPR.223 The United Kingdom: State, Politics and Policy

PPR.224 Politics of the European Union

PPR.225 Introduction to Peace Studies

PPR.226 Comparative Politics of the Asia Pacific and the Middle East

PPR.227 Foreign Policy of Contending Powers

PPR.239 Indian Politics, Society and Religion

Economics (single-term modules)

Students must take at least twomodules, including:

Either ECON.220 and ECON.222; orECON.207 and ECON.208

ECON.207 Managerial Economics

ECON.208 Business and InternationalMacroeconomics

ECON.209 Applied BusinessEconomics

ECON.210 Introduction to StatisticalMethods for Economists

ECON.212 Introduction toEconometrics

ECON.220 IntermediateMicroeconomics 1

ECON.221 IntermediateMicroeconomics 2

ECON.222 IntermediateMacroeconomics 1

ECON.223 IntermediateMacroeconomics 2

ECON.227 Applied Macroeconomics


Third Year

Philosophy (single-term modules)

Students must take at least twomodules from:

PPR.302 Continental Philosophy

PPR.304 Themes in the Philosophy of the Sciences

PPR.305 Logic and Language

PPR.307 History of Twentieth CenturyPhilosophy

PPR.309 Practical Philosophy

PPR.391c Special Subject: Philosophy of Medicine

PPR.392a Special Subject: Future Generations

PPR.392b Special Subject: Ethics and Genetics

PPR.392c Special Subject: Ethics of Communication

PPR392d Special Subject: Ethics of the Financial Crisis

Politics (single-term modules)

Students must take at least twomodules from:

PPR.320 Political Ideas: LiberalThought

PPR.321 Reading Political Theory

PPR.322 Liberals andCommunitarians

PPR.328 Understanding ExternalIntervention in ViolentConflicts

PPR.330 Britain in the World

PPR.333 Contemporary Issues in the Middle East

PPR.336 Africa and Global Politics

PPR.339 Elections, Voters and Political Parties

PPR.340 Islamic Politics

PPR.341 Contemporary Issues in Human Rights

PPR.342 Global Political Economy and the World Today

PPR.343 Corporations, Global PoliticalEconomy and the Law

PPR.345 Exploring the Persian Gulf

PPR.349 Politics and Ethics in Indian Philosophy

PPR.357 Religion and Politics

PPR.362 Religion and Violence

PPR.363 Media, Religion and Politics

PPR.390 PPR in Education

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Economics (single-term modules)

Students must take at least twomodules, including:

ECON.324 Advanced Macroeconomics

ECON.325 Advanced Microeconomics

ECON.326 Monetary Macroeconomics

ECON.327 Human Resource Economics

ECON.328 Economics of Advertising

ECON.329 Mathematical Economics

ECON.330 Econometrics

ECON.331 Industrial Organisation

ECON.332 Development Economics

ECON.333 International Economics

ECON.334 International Business

Dissertation

In the third year, PPE students have the option of taking a dissertation. The dissertation module gives students the chance to have individual supervisionfrom a member of academic staff, to work in more detail on a relevant topic. The dissertation is usually 10,000 wordsand is worked on for two terms.

Many students find that this is a greatopportunity to look at a topic in moredetail, or to work on a topic that was not covered in any of the taught modules.For students considering going on topostgraduate study, the dissertationprovides excellent initial training in the discipline and rigour of academicresearch.

AssessmentAssessment criteria vary from module to module. For most modules there is a coursework element and an exam, with greater weighting given to the exammark. Marks from the second and thirdyear count towards the overall degreeclassification.

The dissertation modulegives you the chance to research a topic in more detail


If you’ve read this far you should be a bitclearer about how the different parts ofthe PPE degree fit together. At this pointyou might be wondering: “What happens if I don’t like part of the course, can Ichange?” The simple answer is “usually,yes”. The Lancaster University modulardegree system is complicated, but this isfor a good reason: to give you flexibility inyour studying. First of all it gives you theflexibility to combine three subjects (or do two, or just one). Second, the modularsystem gives you the flexibility to changeyour degree after you have tried thingsout at university.

For example, suppose you apply to doPPE. If, by the time you arrive you havechanged your mind and want to studyjust two, or one of the subjects, it isnormally possible to change, providedyou have the grades that would havegained you entry to the relevant course.The same point applies at the end of thefirst year. Suppose you haven’t studiedEconomics at school. It doesn’t turn outquite like you had hoped. So long as youpass the first year course with asufficiently high mark (roughly, a 2.2)there is normally no problem at all inchanging your registration to jointhonours Politics and Philosophy, or evento single honours Politics, or singlehonours Philosophy. Matters are a littlebit more complicated for studentswishing to increase the amount ofEconomics (e.g., switching to singlehonours) as they will not have done theQuantitative course in the first year, butthe change may be possible provided theappropriate amount of non-quantitativemodules are taken.

So, rather than being stuck with thedecision you made before you went toUniversity, Lancaster University allowsyou try out undergraduate study in thethree PPE subjects and then see whatsuits you best. This flexibility contributesto Lancaster’s very low dropout rate (ifstudents don’t like their major subject, orfind it doesn’t meet their expectations,they have options other than droppingout and starting again).

Changing your mind? The advantage of flexible degrees

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Study AbroadMost of our students study with us for allthree years. But there is the opportunityto study abroad without having to extendthe length of your degree. This standardlyinvolves a full year abroad in your second year, usually to a North American(USA, Canada) university. In recent yearsPPE students have spent a year at Santu Cruz, and Illinois (USA), Carleton,and Trent (Canada).

Study abroad is something that you need to apply for in the first term of yourfirst year, but please note that making anapplication at this stage does not commityou to going. There may be other studyabroad and exchange options availableof varying lengths, and to differentcountries (e.g., Australia, India, CzechRepublic). These vary from year to year.For further details about fees (it is usuallycheaper than spending your second yearin the UK!) see:www.lancs.ac.uk/study/international-students/study-abroad/outgoing

Santa Cruz, California


Academic supportIn PPR we are keen to ensure thatstudents do well academically. Allacademic staff have weekly officehours (in addition to lecture andseminar times) where you can discussyour work, or raise queries, or seekadvice. Each student also has anacademic tutor for the whole threeyears. This person – normally the same person over the three years – can keep an eye on how things aregoing across all your modules, keepyou informed about what to expect inthe forthcoming term, or year, and alsooffer advice on how to improve yourstudying, if necessary. The Universityoffers also various forms of academicsupport, study skills training andadvice over and above that offered by the department.

Typical entry requirementsThis brochure is written well in advanceof the following year’s UCAS admissionscycle. Because entry grades and otherrequirements may change, and becausethey vary for different joint honourscourses, you should consult theLancaster University website for themost up to date information about thespecific course you are interested in. Or,you can contact us using the details atthe end of the brochure.

Student numbersApplicants sometimes ask: “How manystudents apply to do PPE?” and “Howmany students do you take?”. We haveabout 250 – 300 applicants a year andtake 40 – 45 students. But this is notbecause we have rejected the majorityof applicants. Most applicants will applyto five universities.

Our application process is not aselective one, and we do not interview. It is based primarily on our estimation ofyour academic suitability for the course,so, school qualifications, includingpredicted grades are the key here.

Applications and open days

Admission to Undergraduate degreeschemes is via UCAS www.ucas.ac.ukThe Department organises a number of UCAS open days during the year, normally on selected Saturdayafternoons, and Wednesday during mostschools half-term break, in Lent (Spring)term. These are intended for applicantsto undergraduate degree schemes whohave received a UCAS offer. Dates for the current year are detailed in the offerletter (alternatively, you can check thePPR website www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/ppr

Admissions MentorsAll UCAS applicants are allocated acurrent student as their ‘admissionsmentor’. If you apply via UCAS and are made an offer, your admissionsmentor will contact you giving you his or her contact details. This is a greatopportunity to get a current student’sview of the course, the department and life in Lancaster. You can meet your admissions mentor in person on UCAS open days.

Campus accommodation – guaranteedLancaster University guarantees campus accommodation for all incoming undergraduates who make Lancaster their firm UCAS choice.Lancaster University’s accommodationhas won, for the third year running, theNational Student Housing Survey’sAccommodation Award for BestUniversity Halls. Lancaster has also theawards for Best Moving-In Experienceand Best Booking Experience. Lancasteris one of only five UK institutions to be awarded the International StudentAccommodation Quality Mark.

Being on campus in the first year is agreat way to meet lots of people andmake friends quickly and easily. Moststudents live off campus in their secondyear – there is plenty of affordable, safeand attractive housing in Lancaster (rentsin the city are relatively low because theUniversity has built lots of new studentaccommodation over the past five yearsor so). Many students choose to return to campus accommodation in their thirdyear, whilst others choose to stay living instudent houses with their friends. Furtherdetails are available on the Universitywebsite:www.lancs.ac.uk/sbs/accommodation

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Financial support, bursaries and scholarshipsLancaster University offers variouskinds of financial support includingacademic scholarships for those with exceptional qualifications, andbursaries for students whose familyincome falls below certain thresholds.For details of the current Universityfinancial support packages please view the scholarships and bursariessection of the University website:www.lancs.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/fees-andfunding/scholarships-and-bursaries/

Special needs and student support servicesLancaster University has a well-established and highly experiencedstudent support service providingservices including: disability support;dyslexia tuition and study support;solving accessibility issues; studentcounselling; disabled student allowancesand other funding; adapted exams. For further details follow the relevantlinks at: www.lancs.ac.uk/sbs/

Thanks to a very generous donation by a former student,the department is able to offer a number of scholarshipsand bursaries. For details of the awards currently available,please view the Department website.

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After PPE: Postgraduate Study?

Many of our students go on to furtherpostgraduate study either at Lancaster or elsewhere. PPR offers a wide range of taught Masters degrees in Politics and Philosophy.

The Management School offers an MSccourse that allows you to carry on withsomething close to the PPE subject mix:Politics, Philosophy and Management. Theprogramme is ideal for those who aspireto careers in the corporate sector, in majorpublic-sector and political institutions or in international bodies involved in trans-national governance – such as NGOs, theUnited Nations or the European Union. Italso provides a firm foundation for thoselooking to pursue academic careers.

Masters courses involve a combination of advanced level taught courses, self-directed supervised study, and asubstantial dissertation. They are usuallytaken full-time over one year, but may also be taken on a part-time basis over two years. Entry to the MA degreescheme normally requires at least anupper second class honours degree (or the equivalent) in a subject related to the field of study for the MA.


CareersPPE is not a vocational degree (likedentistry or architecture). Most PPEstudents do not go on to becomeprofessional philosophers, politicians oreconomists. But over 40% of vacanciesadvertised for graduates are open tograduates of any discipline. Employersare less interested in the knowledge you have acquired than in the intellectualskills your degree has taught you. It is your trained mind that will be in demand. A PPE degree provides you with knowledge and skills that are relevant to a wide range of careers. All three subjects lay a great deal ofstress on developing critical analyticalskills. These skills and qualities are verymuch at a premium in the employmentmarket after you finish your degree.

Employers look for clear thinking, broad vision, independence, the capacityto locate and analyse problems andexercise judgement in their solution. It is also very useful to be able to present information lucidly and argueeffectively for favoured courses ofaction. Economics graduates – includingjoint honours students – are keenlysought by employers, both in the private and public sector, and in terms ofearnings tend to outperform many othersocial science graduates. They have a reputation for precise and analyticalthinking – and the ability to evaluatearguments and decisions and assess the reliability of information.

Our graduates find that their analyticaland organisational skills, plus their ability to achieve insights into problems,are greatly valued by employers in many areas, including the financialsector, the civil service, journalism, and corporate planning.

At the time of writing, Unistats indicatesthat 88% of our PPE graduates are in a job or further study within six monthsfrom graduating. This is a higher figurethan, for example, PPE graduates from Oxford, Warwick, Sussex, Essex, Royal Holloway, UEA, and Swansea).

The University offers a wide range of support and advice to help you insecuring a good job, and developing yourcareer after you leave LancasterUniversity. The Centre for Enterprise,Employability and Careers (CEEC) offers advice on CVs, and a range of events and activities to help you. For further information see:www.lancs.ac.uk/sbs/ceec/students/

Within the department the RichardsonInstitute has a number of internships for3rd year students to gain experience ofworking on research projects in Politicsand International Relations.

Lancaster University also offers theLancaster Award. A number of graduateemployers have indicated that would like official confirmation of students’ non-academic activities that are relevantto employability – things like voluntarywork, training undertaken, careerworkshops attended, and so on. The Lancaster Award is a programme of activities and tasks which, whencompleted, give the student an additionalcertificate of their achievements. Forfurther details see:www.lancs.ac.uk/careers/award/

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Lancaster is a historic,attractive, and vibrantuniversity city.

Section 3: Life in Lancaster

As we saw right at the start of thisbrochure, there are many good reasons to study PPE at Lancaster: the flexible degree the excellence inteaching and research, the award-winning accommodation, and so on. But there is also the high quality of life in Lancaster, whether on campus, in the City, or enjoying the beautiful coastand countryside.

Lancaster University is renowned for its safe and friendly campus, and, campus accommodation regularly winsthe Best University Halls award in theNational Student Survey.

There are over 11,000 students at theUniversity. This may seem like a largenumber compared to your school orcollege (and it probably is!) but it is a small number for a university. Many city universities have 70,000 students or more. Because Lancaster is a smaller,campus-based, university, it is very easyto make lots of friends and to feel involved.In addition, Lancaster avoids the problemof students feeling lost in a large studentbody because it is a collegiate University.All students and staff are members of oneof the nine colleges (eight undergraduateplus one graduate). Each college hasaccommodation, its own bar and socialfacilities and the members run a widevariety of activities and events.

The college system allows students tomake friends outside their own subject (so you have two routes to makingfriends!) and provides support – over and above that provided by departmentsand by the University student supportservices – in the form of college personaltutors (who are on hand to listen, and help out, should you run into problems).Colleges have their own sports teams andthere is enthusiastic inter-college rivalry in activities throughout the year.

Most undergraduates live on campus intheir first year. The campus is set in greenfields with views out to the sea and themountains of the Lake District and isabout three miles from Lancaster citycentre with regular buses, and a networkof cycle routes. Most undergraduates live off campus in their second year,though many return in their third year. The majority of students living off campuslive in Lancaster.

Lancaster is an attractive and vibrantuniversity city. It should be noted thatLancaster is not a large urban city but is,rather, in terms of its character and size,more like a historic market town (it wasonly granted ‘city’ status in 1937). The cityhas a population of 50,000 and adjoins thetraditional seaside town of Morecambewhich has a similar population. Lancasterthus avoids many of the social problemsthat face large cities.

Life in Lancaster

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There are plenty of student bars and pubs, a student-only nightclub – The Sugarhouse – and a thriving music scene

Students make up a large proportion of the city’s population, in term time at least. There are plenty of student barsand pubs, and a student-only nightclub:The Sugarhouse. There is always plentyto do. For those who want access to big city attractions – e.g., shops and big clubs,Manchester is about one hour away;London is only two hours twenty minutesaway; Edinburgh and Glasgow can bereached even more quickly. For thosetravelling by car, the M6 motorway passesclose to Lancaster and offers fast roadconnections to the rest of the country.

The city has a wide range of distinctiveshops, as well as the usual high streetstores, and both an outdoor market.Lancaster is an attractive (andreasonably priced) place to live: withhistoric buildings, riverside and canalsidewalks, and a beautiful park with stunningviews over Morecambe Bay and themountains beyond.

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Lancaster is situated in one of the mostattractive parts of England. One of themost striking features of the area is theLake District. The mountains, sweepingvalleys and wide lakes are easily reachedby road or rail. Closer to home are two‘Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ – Arnside and Silverdale, with woodlandsand wetlands, rare birds, and stunningviews; The Forest of Bowland, withunspoilt moors, rivers and woods (andonly a few minutes’ drive from campus).Lancaster has a great deal to offer thosewho enjoy outdoor pursuits and ma ny of various university student societiespay regular visits to the surrounding areafor backpacking, fell-walking, caving, pot-holing, rock-climbing, orienteeringand water sports. Cyclists can enjoy the network of cycle ways throughoutLancashire and into the Lake District and Yorkshire (the Ribble Valley is Bradley Wiggins’ favourite!).

Overall, Lancaster and its surroundingarea make it a very attractive prospect.We hope that you will join us for yourstudies in philosophy, and that you willfind life in the Department, the Universityand in Lancaster, as rewarding and asenjoyable as we do.

Please see our webpage for detailedcontact information or contact us directly at:

Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion

County South Building

Lancaster University

Lancaster

LA1 4YL

UK

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +44 (0)1524 65201

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Cover art/photograph by Neil Manson

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