Philosophy, Politics and Economics

The minor Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) teaches students to approach big questions of society (e.g. concerning democracy, markets and inequality) from an interdisciplinary perspective. The combination of economics, history and philosophy contributes to a more nuanced and critical understanding of social issues and their complexities.

Content

Should political decisions be made by the people, by elected representatives, or by experts? To what extent should we leave the distribution of important goods to the market? And what, if anything, should be done about the rising inequality of wealth in industrialised nations?

Answering big societal questions like these requires an interdisciplinary approach. After all, society is a complex system. It is made up of many different agents (individuals, households, corporations, etc.) and institutions (legal systems, markets, moral norms, etc.). A small change to the system can set off a chain reaction, the end result of which is hard to predict.

So, when it comes to answering the big questions of society, not only do we need to reflect on the meaning of abstract ideals such as freedom, equality, justice and well-being. These ideals tell us what social institutions are for, and when decisions are worth making. But we also need to understand historical developments such as the emergence of democracy, nations and welfare states. Only in this way can we appreciate how social systems change over time, and how contingent our current institutions are. Finally, it’s crucial to consider which institutional designs are economically viable, lest our policies lead to waste, corruption, or other undesirable consequences.

In addition to two courses that introduce you to basic methods and key insights from the disciplines of history and philosophy on the one hand, and economics on the other, the minor includes two fully interdisciplinary courses. In these courses, all three disciplines are combined to yield a more holistic approach. We encourage you to take the full minor in order to get a taste of the complete PPE experience. 

Curriculum

In order to complete the minor you’ll have to take:

• Two thematic courses, “Democracy: Historical Perspectives and Philosophical Arguments” and “Economics and Social Justice”, which explore the workings of governments, markets, and resource allocations from the disciplinary perspectives of (political) history, (political) philosophy, and economics.
• Two interdisciplinary courses, “PPE Perspectives” and “PPE in Practice”, which integrate the whole palette of approaches studied on the Minor.

Since the thematic courses introduce each PPE discipline for the first time, these courses are designed to be taken before the interdisciplinary courses. Knowledge of the different PPE disciplines will be taken for granted in the interdisciplinary courses.

Note: In order to take the whole minor, you must register for both the minor programme and the individual courses.

Thematic courses

The goal of the thematic courses is twofold:

1. To introduce you to different disciplinary perspectives on the PPE themes.
2. To provide you with background knowledge about the different PPE disciplines.

Both thematic courses already adopt a multi-disciplinary approach, covering contributions from more than one PPE discipline.

“Democracy: Historical Perspectives and Philosophical Arguments” explores the historical emergence and philosophical merits of the key ideas, such as freedom, equality and self-government, that underpin democratic societies. It kicks off the PPE Minor by introducing students to the core methods and assumptions of the disciplines of (political) history and (political) philosophy.

“Economics and Social Justice” introduces the core methods and assumptions of the discipline of economics by considering how various theories of social justice that have been proposed by political philosophers might be operationalised through economic models.

Interdisciplinary courses

In the two interdisciplinary courses, all PPE disciplines are taught together and integrated, to distil insights that go beyond their singular perspectives.  

The first of these, “PPE Perspectives” focuses on the very idea of PPE. It spotlights fundamental concepts and methods from the three disciplines, and reflects on the ways in which they all contribute to our understanding of markets, politics and society. 

In the second, “PPE in Practice”, you’ll apply these concepts and methods to a complex social problem of your choice. You’ll finish the minor by completing your very own PPE research project, integrating insights from all three disciplines.

Register

First, check whether you meet the entry requirements. How you register next depends on whether you are already a student at Utrecht University or not.

Contact

With questions or for more information about the registration procedure, please contact the Humanities Student Information Desk.