Philosophy, Politics & Economics Seminar

Summer date coming soon... Central London

There was lots of discussion and debate.  I really enjoyed meeting so many like-minded people and being able to focus on each aspect of PPE. 

Robin, PPE

The Programme 

Philosophy

This session will get you talking about morals and metaphysics, and will show you that you can enjoy them! We’ll look at some moral philosophy and the problem of ‘moral luck’, including some famous philosophical scenarios, courtesy of Bernard Williams.  You’ll move on to look at an article by Dennett, who asked, ‘Where am I?’ – we’ll work through a few of the problems he puts forward and ask how these relate to our lives, and the possibility that these questions might be increasingly relevant in modern society. 

Politics

You’ll begin by drafting a constitution for a fictional country. We’ll talk about the Montesquieu’s classic distinction between the executive, judiciary and legislature and sketch out the differences between two systems which are likely to be familiar to you- you will then have the challenging task of drafting (in groups) a constitution for a country which has various social and economic problems and a history of a rather complicated relationship with democracy. We’ll then spend some time discussing the value of democracy and debate whether democracy’s theoretical merits are borne out in practice.

Economics

First, we’ll look at the concept of globalisation, and spend some time developing our understanding of how it’s developed over time. We’ll then have a look within our definition of globalisation – identifying subtypes of globalisation and differentiate between the development of each of them. Finally we shall cover the Eurozone and engage in a debate - you’ll be representing a different EU country and fighting their corner on some crucial economic questions.  

Course details...

Your day runs from 10am - 5.30pm in central London and is split into three sections, with breaks for lunch and well-earned snacks. As part of the day you'll receive a subject-specific workbook, a copy of our book So you want to go to Oxbridge? Tell me about a banana.., which gives you more challenging questions and suggestions as to how you can approach them, and a Course Report for the Oxbridge courses that might be right for you.

Come with an open mind, a thirsty brain and a tasty packed-lunch!