ppe handbook final honour school 2016-18 version
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PPE HANDBOOK
FINAL HONOUR SCHOOL
2016-18
Statement of Coverage This handbook applies to students starting PPE Final Honour School in Michaelmas term
2016. The information in this handbook may be different for students starting in other years.
Version Version Details Date
Version 1.0 2016 handbook published Friday 23 September 2016
Disclaimer The Examination Regulations relating to this course are available at
https://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/2016-17/hsop-poliandecon/studentview/. If there is a
conflict between information in this handbook and the Examination Regulations then you
should follow the Examination Regulations. If you have any concerns please contact the PPE
Administrator, Violet Brand ([email protected]).
The information in this handbook is accurate as at September 2016, however it may be
necessary for changes to be made in certain circumstances as explained at
www.ox.ac.uk/coursechanges. If such changes are made a new version of the handbook will
be published together with a list of the changes and students will be informed.
The handbook (and any later versions) can be downloaded at: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/por-
tal/hierarchy/socsci/xsocsci/ppe/page/home.
Welcome As outgoing Chair of the PPE Committee it falls to me to welcome you to the second and third
years of PPE at Oxford. I have been a PPE tutor (in Philosophy) here in Oxford for more than
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25 years. Over that period of time I have seen many changes. But the changes have taken place
against the background of a strong and successful degree that has been in existence in Oxford
for just short of 100 years. The course balances the empirical with the theoretical, and the
practical with the abstract. Many students are drawn to one of the subjects when they apply
only to find that it is another that ultimately interests them by the end of three years. PPE is
no doubt a challenging degree, but the end result is a well-rounded intellect ready to face the
future with an informed and questioning mind. I very much hope you enjoy the next two
years studying PPE.
Dr Anita Avramides Reader in Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy and
Southover Manor Trust Fellow in Philosophy at
St Hilda’s College, Oxford
Purpose of the Handbook This handbook covers the Final Examination in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, the sec-
ond and third years of the degree. The handbook contains essential information about the
Faculty of Philosophy, the Department of Politics and International Relations, and the Depart-
ment of Economics (hereafter ‘the Departments’), and about the course; you will need to refer
to it on a regular basis throughout the two years.
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Key Sources of Information
Source Information Where
Department Websites For information on the activi-
ties of the three Departments.
See ‘Important Information’
page.
PPE WebLearn and
Department Web-
Learn
For lecture lists, reading lists
and other course materials;
also for information about ex-
ams.
See ‘Important Information’ page.
Examination Regula-
tions
Contain the Regulations for
PPE Prelims (first year exams)
and Finals (final year exams)
as well as general regulations
on examinations.
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/ex-
amregs/
Examination Conven-
tions
The formal record of the spe-
cific assessment standards for
the course or courses to which
they apply. They set out how
examined work will be
marked and how the resulting
marks will be used to arrive at
a final result and classification
of an award.
To be published in Hilary Term of
the year of your examination.
Sample conventions from previ-
ous years in Appendix I.
Oxford Students’
Website
Provides access to infor-
mation, services and resources
to help you get the most out of
your university experience.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students
Student Handbook Provides general information
and guidance to help you to
make the most of the opportu-
nities on offer at the Univer-
sity of Oxford. It also gives
you formal notification and
explanation of the University’s
codes, regulations, policies
and procedures.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/stu-
dents/academic/student-hand-
book
College Handbooks College regulations and other
helpful information.
See your college website
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Important Information
Email: It is essential that you use email. It will be used to send you important information
about your course. Please check your email regularly, and do not exceed your user
allocation as this will prevent you from receiving new messages. The IT support staff in your
college will set up an email account for you.
Course Information: PPE WebLearn holds information about the course as a whole, includ-
ing the online version of this handbook and the current PPE Lecture List. PPE WebLearn is
at: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/socsci/xsocsci/ppe/page/home. You will need
to use your Single Sign On (SSO) username and password to obtain access. For more de-
tailed information about current teaching arrangements you will need to use the depart-
mental websites:
www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk
www.politics.ox.ac.uk
www.economics.ox.ac.uk
And the departmental WebLearn sites:
Philosophy https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:humdiv:philfac
Politics https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:socsci:politics:students:undergraduat
Economics https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:socsci:econ:curr_student:undergrad
Lecture lists are published on the websites before the start of each term. They may be
updated during term, so you should check them regularly.
Reading lists are available on the departmental WebLearn/web sites.
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Contents
Statement of Coverage ........................................................................................................................ 1
Version ................................................................................................................................................... 1
Disclaimer ............................................................................................................................................. 1
Welcome ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Purpose of the Handbook ................................................................................................................... 2
Key Sources of Information ................................................................................................................ 3
Important Information ........................................................................................................................ 4
Contents ................................................................................................................................................. 5
PART A - THE COURSE ...................................................................................................... 7
1. PPE ................................................................................................................................. 7
2. Teaching and Learning ................................................................................................ 14
3. Assessment and examinations ...................................................................................... 18
4. Changing your course .................................................................................................. 25
5. Departments and Facilities ........................................................................................... 26
6. Libraries and Computing ............................................................................................. 29
7. Data Protection............................................................................................................. 35
PART B - STUDENT ISSUES ............................................................................................ 40
8. Participation ................................................................................................................. 40
9. Student Support ............................................................................................................ 42
10. The Future .................................................................................................................. 46
APPENDICES ..................................................................................................................................... 49
APPENDIX A: Outline of Papers ........................................................................................ 49
APPENDIX B: Examination Regulations ........................................................................... 81
APPENDIX C: Complaints and Academic Appeals ........................................................... 81
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APPENDIX D: Key Contacts .............................................................................................. 82
APPENDIX E: Policies and Regulations ............................................................................. 83
APPENDIX F: Policy on the recording of lectures and other formal teaching sessions by
students ................................................................................................................................ 83
APPENDIX G: Fieldwork Safety and Training................................................................... 85
APPENDIX H: Declaration of Authorship .......................................................................... 86
APPENDIX I: Examination Conventions ............................................................................ 86
APPENDIX J: Advice on answering “gobbets” or commentary questions in Philosophy .. 91
APPENDIX K: Philosophy marking descriptors ................................................................. 92
APPENDIX L: Marking Criteria for Questions in Politics ................................................. 92
APPENDIX M: Marking Criteria for Economics ................................................................ 94
M.1 Marking Criteria for Problem-Solving Questions in Economics ............................. 94
M.2 Marking Criteria for Essay Questions in Economics ............................................... 95
M.3 Marking Criteria for a Thesis in Economics ............................................................ 98
APPENDIX N: Oxford Q-Step Centre ................................................................................ 99
APPENDIX O: Key dates .................................................................................................... 99
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PART A - THE COURSE
1. PPE
1.1 PPE: the degree PPE seeks to bring together some of the most important approaches to understanding the
social and human world. It fosters intellectual capacities that you can apply across all three
disciplines and develops skills that you will find useful for a wide range of careers and activ-
ities after graduation. The degree is constructed on the belief that the parallel study of related
disciplines significantly enhances your understanding of each discipline, bringing added di-
mensions of understanding and perspective. The study of Philosophy develops analytical rig-
our and the ability to criticise and reason logically. It allows you to apply these skills to many
contemporary and historical schools of philosophical thought and to questions concerning
how we acquire knowledge and how we make ethical recommendations. The study of Politics
gives you an understanding of the issues dividing societies and of the impact of political in-
stitutions on the form of social interest articulation and aggregation and on the character and
effects of government policies. Among the big issues considered in Politics is why democra-
cies emerge and may be consolidated or why states go to war or seek peace. The study of
Economics aims to give you an understanding of the workings of contemporary economies.
This includes the study of decisions of households, the behaviour of firms, and the functioning
of markets under competition and monopoly, as well as the role of government policies in
many areas. The course also looks at the determination of national income and employment,
monetary institutions, inflation, the balance of payments and exchange rates, and considers
issues in macroeconomic policy, focusing in part on the UK economy.
In addition to the above, you should note that the UK Quality Assurance Agency (the inde-
pendent body responsible for monitoring, and advising on, standards and quality in UK
higher education) publishes Subject Benchmark Statements which set out expectations about
standards of degrees in a range of subject areas. They describe what gives a discipline its co-
herence and identity, and define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of the abilities
and skills needed to develop understanding or competence in the subject. The relevant state-
ments for PPE can be found at:
Philosophy: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/SBS-philosophy-15.pdf
Politics: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/SBS-politics-15.pdf
Economics: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/SBS-Economics-15.pdf
After successfully completing the PPE programme, which lasts three years, you will be
awarded a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (FHEQ Level 6).
1.2 PPE: course aims
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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 tu-
tors 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 un-
derstanding, and political and economic analysis, and which are transferable to a wide range
of employment contexts and life experiences.
1.3 PPE: intended learning outcomes You will develop knowledge and understanding of:
- 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.
You will also develop knowledge and understanding, at a higher level, of at least two of the
following:
- 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, insti-
tutional, issue-based and methodological approaches to Politics and International Relations
based on comparative study of societies, and higher level knowledge of some of the principal
sub-areas of the discipline, different methods of data analysis, and the issues currently at the
frontiers of debate and research.
- Economics: a higher-level knowledge and understanding of the principles of modern Eco-
nomics, including appropriate mathematical and statistical techniques, a knowledge and ap-
preciation of economic data and of the applications of economic principles and reasoning to a
variety of applied topics.
In addition, you will acquire and develop a particular set of intellectual, practical and trans-
ferable skills:
- Intellectual skills: the ability to gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information
from a wide variety of secondary and some primary sources; interpret such material with
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sensitivity to context; identify precisely the underlying issues in a wide variety of academic
debates, and to distinguish relevant and irrelevant considerations; recognise the logical struc-
ture 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; construct and
articulate sound arguments with clarity and precision; engage in debate with others, to for-
mulate and consider the best arguments for different views and to identify the weakest ele-
ments of the most persuasive views.
- Practical skills: the ability to listen attentively to complex presentations and identify the
structure of the arguments presented; read with care a wide variety of written academic liter-
ature, and reflect clearly and critically on what is read; 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;
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.
- Transferable skills: the ability to find information, organise and deploy it; draw on such
information, and thinking creatively, self-critically and independently, to consider and solve
complex problems; apply the techniques and skills of philosophical argument to practical
questions, including those arising in ethics and political life; apply concepts, theories and
methods used in the study of Politics to the analysis of political ideas, institutions practices
and issues; make strategic decisions with a sophisticated appreciation of the importance of
costs, opportunities, expectations, outcomes, information and motivation; 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; communicate effectively and
fluently in speech and writing; plan and organise the use of time effectively; where relevant,
make appropriate use of numerical, statistical and computing skills.
1.4 PPE: the structure of the course The PPE degree is divided into two parts. The first year is designed to give you a foundation
in all three branches. In your second and third years, you may continue with all three or con-
centrate on just two. Whether or not your choice of subjects includes any of the specially de-
signed bridge papers, such as Theory of Politics, Labour Economics, or Philosophy of Science
and Social Science, your study in each subject will benefit from what you have learned and
the skills you have acquired in other parts of the degree.
Year 1
Introduction to Philosophy Introduction to the Theory
and Practice of Politics
Introductory Economics
Examination: PPE Prelims
Years 2 and 3
Philosophy and Pol-
itics
Philosophy and
Economics
Politics and Eco-
nomics
Philosophy, Politics
and Economics
Compulsory Core Compulsory Core Compulsory Core Compulsory Core
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Philosophy: 103
plus one of 101, 102,
115, 116
Politics: two of 201,
202, 203, 214, 220
Philosophy: 103
plus one of 101, 102,
115, 116
Economics: 300, 301,
302
Politics: two of 201,
202, 203, 214, 220
Economics: 300, 301,
302
Philosophy: 103
plus one of 101, 102,
115, 116
Politics: two of 201,
202, 203, 214, 220
Economics: two of
300, 301, 302
Optional
Four subjects cho-
sen from those
listed under Philos-
ophy and Politics.
At least one must be
a subject in Philoso-
phy; at least one
must be a subject in
Politics (other than
a thesis/supervised
dissertation); and
certain combina-
tions may not be of-
fered.
Optional
Three subjects cho-
sen from those
listed under Philos-
ophy and Econom-
ics. At least one
must be a subject in
Philosophy; one but
only one may be a
subject in Politics
(see permitted list in
Exam Regulations);
and certain combi-
nations may not be
offered.
Optional
Three subjects cho-
sen from those
listed under Politics
and Economics. At
least one must be a
further subject in
Politics (other than
a thesis/supervised
dissertation); one
but only one may be
a subject in Philoso-
phy; and certain
combinations of
subjects may not be
offered.
Optional
Two subjects (if any
subjects in Econom-
ics are chosen, you
must include the
third core subject)
Certain combina-
tions of subjects
may not be offered.
Examination: PPE Finals
Numbers in the above table refer to particular papers – see Appendix A.
The syllabus is set by the University, which grants degrees and therefore examines for them;
but most teaching, apart from lectures and some classes, is arranged by your college. The PPE
syllabus prescribes the subjects for two University examinations: the Preliminary Examination
for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE Prelims), normally taken at the end of your first
year; and the Final Honour School (FHS) of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE Finals),
normally taken at the end of your third year. Prelims consist of three subjects, Finals of eight.
Each subject is normally examined in one three-hour paper, except that one subject in Finals
may be a pre-submitted thesis, or a supervised dissertation in Politics. All syllabuses are pub-
lished annually in the University’s Examination Regulations, to which this handbook will fre-
quently refer. The Regulations that apply to you for Finals are those published when you enter
the second year. You will be notified of any subsequent changes of regulation which signifi-
cantly affect you, and if there are changes of syllabus which might affect you adversely, they
will not apply to you without your consent.
PPE Prelims is a part of the ‘First Public Examination’. Graduates of other universities can
apply through their colleges for Senior Status, which exempts them from taking the First
Public Examination. Everyone else must pass it in some form before entering for a Final
Honour School (or Pass School). Unless you are exempt, your college may require you to pass
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the First Public Examination before your fourth term from matriculating, as a condition of
continuing with your course. If you take PPE Finals more than twelve terms after
matriculating, you are ‘overstanding for honours’ and can receive only a pass degree (unless
your First Public Examination was Moderations in Classics, which allows you fifteen terms,
or you have been granted dispensation by the University). For further details please see the
General Regulations for the First and Second Public Examination in the Examination Regulations:
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/2016-17/grftfasecopublexam/.
1.5 PPE: choosing your options In PPE Prelims you must offer all the three papers prescribed, one each in Philosophy, Politics,
and Economics. In Philosophy the regulations require you to answer at least one question
from each of the three sections into which the paper is divided: that is, Logic, General Philos-
ophy, and Moral Philosophy. In Politics, they require you to answer questions both on the
empirical practice of Politics and Political Theory. The Economics paper has a range of ques-
tions covering Microeconomics and Macroeconomics some of which involve the application
of mathematical techniques to economic problems. In none of these cases are you forbidden
to range over the whole syllabus; and your tutors may expect you to study more than the
examination minimum. But if they do not, then you have early choices to make within the
Prelims syllabus, with the help of advice from your tutors.
After Prelims the choices are greater. First you must decide whether to select two branches
from Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, which will make you ‘bipartite’, or to keep going
with the third as well, making you ‘tripartite’. This choice may be easy for you, if you were
originally attracted to PPE for the sake of one or two of its branches and have not changed
your priorities during your first year; or it may be difficult. If it is difficult, go by what interests
you, provided that your tutors think you are suited to it; do not be too much affected by your
marks in Prelims - which can differ greatly from Finals marks. A few subjects are available
under more than one branch, and bipartite Politics and Economics candidates are allowed to
include one Philosophy subject: similarly bipartite Philosophy and Economics candidates are
allowed to include one Politics subjects - see the Examination Regulations. Further guidance on
the choice of individual subjects within the three disciplines is given in Appendix A. (Students
should be aware that they will have the opportunity to choose the Jurisprudence paper (Phi-
losophy of Law) as an option in Philosophy. Please see Appendix A for more details.)
Please note that not all options may be available to all students in any given year. You should also
plan your lecture attendance over your second and third years because of inevitable lecture clashes for
optional subjects, meaning you may need to attend one series in your second year and another in your
third.
1.6 PPE: thesis One of your eight Finals subjects may be a thesis: see 199, 299 and 399 in the Honour School
regulations in the Examination Regulations. A Philosophy thesis must be combined with at least
three other subjects in Philosophy. Bipartite candidates who offer a Politics or Economics the-
sis must combine it with at least three other subjects in the same branch.
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If you propose to offer a thesis, the latest date for seeking approval of its topic is Friday of
Fourth Week of the Michaelmas Term preceding the Finals examination, but the right time to
start working on it is much earlier. Begin planning no later than your penultimate Easter Va-
cation, and have a talk with a tutor no later than the beginning of Trinity Term. If your tutor
thinks that your proposal is manageable, get initial suggestions for reading and follow them
up, so that work can be done during the Long Vacation. Remember that tutors can only advise:
the decision to offer a thesis is your own, and so is the choice of topic. So of course is the work;
what makes a thesis worthwhile is that it is your own independent production.
The Criteria for Assessment for PPE theses are as follows:
cogency of analysis and argument
accuracy and solidity in the backing up of the analysis and argument
clarity of expression and presentation
knowledge of how the topic fits into the existing work in its field
awareness of relevant methodological issues
respect for the scholarly conventions regarding contents pages, introductions, con-
clusions, chapters, notes, bibliographies, etc
application of appropriate theoretical or empirical models (applicable to Economics the-
ses only)
Good undergraduate thesis topics can vary in character a great deal, but all have two things
in common: they are focused, so as to answer a question, or set of questions, or advance an
argument; and they are manageable, so that the time available is enough for your research
and reflection on it, and 15,000 words is enough for an interesting treatment. Titles of past
PPE theses are listed in the PPE Examiners’ Reports, which can be found on PPE WebLearn
at:
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:socsci:xsocsci:ppe/page/14e40209-0739-4ce5-9042-
186d7ba4a8a2
If you decide to go ahead, submit your title and a 100-word outline, in accordance with the
regulations for theses in Examination Regulations (for Philosophy theses, see Regulations for Phi-
losophy in all Honour Schools including Philosophy), for approval in Michaelmas Term. Thesis
outlines in Politics should be sent to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, care of the Un-
dergraduate Studies Coordinator at the Department of Politics and International Relations.
Thesis outlines for Economics should be sent to the Director of Undergraduate Studies for
Economics, care of the Undergraduate Administrative Officer at the Department of Econom-
ics. Thesis outlines for Philosophy should be sent to the Undergraduate Studies Administrator
at the Faculty of Philosophy, Radcliffe Humanities, Woodstock Road. Do not worry if your
outline is not in the end very closely adhered to; the point of it is to make clear the general
subject of the thesis and to show that you have some idea of how to go about tackling it.
The regulations state that you may discuss with your tutor ‘the field of study, the sources
available, and the method of presentation’. Before you start work, go over the plan of the
whole thesis very carefully with your tutor. The plan must be yours, but the tutor can help
13
you make sure it is clear, coherent and feasible. Get more advice on reading. But bear in mind
that much of your reading will be discovered by yourself; so arrange to be in Oxford, or near
a large library, for some weeks of the Long Vacation.
Avoid letting your topic expand, and focus your reading on the issue you intend to write
about; 15,000 words is the length of two articles, not a book. Your tutor ‘may also read and
comment on a first draft’ (in the case of Philosophy, ‘on drafts’), and ‘the amount of assistance
the tutor may give is equivalent to the teaching of a normal paper’; so tutorial sessions can be
used for trying out first drafts of parts of the thesis. However, you have to write the finished
version on your own; make sure you allow plenty of time – almost certainly more will be
needed than you first anticipated. You must not exceed the limit of 15,000 words, excluding
bibliography. That will probably, to your surprise, become a problem; but the exercise of
pruning is a valuable one, encouraging clarity and precision which you should be aiming for
in any case.
Some general advice: (i) the examiners cannot read your mind; explain in your introduction
just what you are going to do, and in what follows present the argument, step by step, in as
sharp a focus as you can achieve: (ii) examiners will notice if you try to fudge issues or sweep
difficulties aside; it is much better to be candid about them, and to show that you appreciate
the force of counter-arguments; (iii) take grammar and spelling seriously, and always aim at
a simple English style, avoiding convoluted sentences and preferring short words to long
(there is sound advice which may be relevant in George Orwell, ‘Politics and the English Lan-
guage’, in his Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters, (1946), volume 4). Your bibliography
should list all works to which you refer, plus any others you have used that bear on the final
version. The style for references can be modelled on any book or periodical in your field. The
rules for format and submission, and for change of title, are in the Examination Regulations.
Please note that for Politics and Economics you are required to submit an electronic copy
alongside two hardcopies, and that the deadline for submission of Philosophy theses is differ-
ent to that for Politics and Economics theses. You are also required to submit a declaration of
authorship alongside your thesis; see Appendix H.
If for any reason you expect to submit your thesis late, consult your college Senior Tutor in
good time. The Vice-Chancellor and Proctors may grant permission on payment of a late-
presentation fee which they determine; but they may at the same time give permission to the
examiners to reduce the mark on the thesis as detailed in the Examination Conventions.
The Department of Politics and International Relations issues more detailed ‘Notes of Guid-
ance’ on Politics theses, which you can find on the WebLearn site by clicking on ‘Course in-
formation for all Prelims and FHS papers’ and then ‘299 Thesis’ at https://web-
learn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/socsci/politics/students/undergraduat.
Please also note the advice on Fieldwork Safety and Training for Undergraduates included
as Appendix G to this Handbook.
1.7 PPE: supervised dissertations in Politics
14
If it is available in the appropriate year, one of your eight subjects may be a supervised disser-
tation in Politics, which is similar to a thesis except that there is a group of students, studying
a common theme, all writing separate dissertations on it. The dissertation may not be com-
bined with a thesis in any branch, or with fewer than three other politics subjects if you are a
bipartite candidate. The Examination Regulations state that ‘with the approval of the Under-
graduate Studies Committee, members of staff willing to supervise a research topic shall
through the Undergraduate Studies Coordinator / Courses Team of the Department of Politics
and International Relations circulate by e-mail not later than Friday of Fourth Week of Hilary
Term a short description of an area of Politics (including International Relations and Sociol-
ogy) 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 [Final]
examination…’ This means Hilary Term of your penultimate year. So if the idea appeals to
you, it is best discussed with your tutor no later than the beginning of that term; if your interest
arises too late for the Hilary Term meetings, you will need your tutor’s advice about the prac-
ticalities too.
You do not need to seek formal approval for a dissertation topic (unlike a thesis). The rules on
length, format and submission, late submission, and change of title, are the same as for Politics
theses: see the Examination Regulations.
The Department of Politics and International Relations issues advice on supervised disserta-
tions, contained within the Notes of Guidance on Politics theses, which you can find on the
WebLearn site by clicking on ‘Course information for all Prelims and FHS papers’ and then
‘299 Thesis’ at https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/socsci/politics/students/undergrad-
uat.
2. Teaching and Learning
As you are no doubt aware, Oxford is almost unique in the way teaching is organised. You
will learn through a mixture of lectures, classes and tutorials, with the last playing a
particularly important part. This is what differentiates Oxford from most universities in the
world. The following brief notes should help you understand the importance of tutors,
tutorials and University lectures and classes for the course. All of these learning experiences
will enhance your knowledge of the subjects being studied and contribute to your
performance in the final examinations in which your degree classification is determined.
2.1 Tutors Anyone to whom you go for tutorials or college classes counts as one of your tutors. In your
preparation for PPE Prelims there are bound to be at least three of them, and over the whole
course there may well be eight or ten. Some will be tutorial fellows or lecturers of your own
college; some may be tutorial fellows or lecturers of other colleges, or research fellows, or
graduate students. The overall responsibility for giving or arranging your tuition will lie with
tutorial fellows or lecturers of your own college, probably one in each of Philosophy, Politics,
15
and Economics. Behind them stands the Senior Tutor, who must see that proper arrangements
are made if one of these people is absent through illness or on leave.
Tuition for a term is normally arranged at the end of the preceding term; so before going down
each term you should make sure that you have received reading guidance and the names of your
tutors for all the work you will be doing in the following term. (In the occasional cases in which
the name of the tutor is not yet known you should make sure you have received an explanation
and that you are confident that arrangements will be in place by the beginning of term.) Some
tutors like to see their pupils at the end of the preceding term to make detailed arrangements.
Colleges have different rules about when term ‘begins’. The official start is Sunday of First Week
of Full Term, but you will almost certainly be required back before then, and you should try to
ensure that by the Sunday at the very latest you know who your tutors for the term will be, have
met or corresponded with them, and have been set work and assigned tutorial times by them.
If you would like to receive tuition from a particular person in Oxford, ask the in-college tutor
concerned; do not approach the person yourself, who cannot take you on without a request from
your college. If you would like a change of tutor, say so if it is not embarrassing; otherwise do
not just do nothing, but take the problem to someone else in your college - your College Adviser,
the Senior Tutor, the Women’s Adviser, the Chaplain, or even the head of college, if your
difficulty is serious. Most such problems arise from a personality clash that has proved
intractable; but since in a university of Oxford’s size there are almost certain to be alternative
tutors for most of your subjects, there is no point in putting up with a relationship that is
impeding your academic progress. In these circumstances you can usually expect a change, but
not necessarily to the particular tutor whom you would prefer.
In Economics, the provision of classes and tutorials for optional subjects is coordinated by the
Department. Centrally nominated subject convenors will communicate with college tutors at
the end of each term on the allocation of students to particular tutors for the forthcoming term.
2.2 Tutorials, Classes, Collections and Data Labs What you are expected to bring to a tutorial is knowledge of the reading that was set for it (or a
variant on your own initiative if some book or article proves really inaccessible) and any written
work demanded. What you have a right to expect is your tutor’s presence and scholarly attention
throughout the hour agreed, plus guidance, e.g. a reading list, for next time. Beyond that, styles
differ, depending on how many students are sharing the tutorial, the nature of the topic, and
above all the habits and personality of your tutor. You must not expect uniformity, and you will
gain most if you succeed in adapting to differences.
In PPE it is necessary to cover eight Finals subjects, in five tutorial terms (the weeks before the
Finals examination being usually set aside for revision). So you will nearly always have more
than one tutorial a week. The three PPE disciplines have, however, agreed that you should not
normally be expected to write more than twelve tutorial essays a term. All written work for a
tutorial will receive either written or oral comments. Tutors submit written reports on the term’s
work as a whole, and you are entitled to see these. Many colleges have timetabled sessions at
which college tutors discuss reports with their students.
16
Work on a tutorial essay involves library searches, reading, thinking, and writing. It should
occupy a minimum of three days. Read attentively and thoughtfully. As your reading progresses,
think up a structure for your essay (but do not write an elaborate plan which you will not have
time to execute). Expect to have to sort out your thoughts, both during and after reading. Use
essays to develop an argument, not as places to store information. You will learn a lot if you share ideas
with fellow students, and if you try out ideas in tutorial discussion. Remember that tutorials are
not designed as a substitute for lectures, or for accumulating information, but to develop
coherent verbal arguments and the capacity to think on one’s feet, and to tackle specific
difficulties and misunderstandings. This means that note-taking, if it occurs in a tutorial at all,
should be very much incidental to the overriding dialogue. You should, however, leave time
after the tutorial to make a record on paper of the discussion.
Students are broadly encouraged to use word processors, though there are arguments for and
against. On the one hand it makes one’s notes and essays more ‘inviting’ to read later, and in
writing an essay it becomes possible to postpone commitment to all the stages in an argument
until the very end of the essay-writing process. On the other hand there is a danger of getting out
of practice in hand-writing time-limited examinations, especially University examinations, in
which word processors may not be used.
Some tuition is by means of college or University department classes, a system specially suited
to subjects in which written work is exercises rather than essays - e.g. logic, econometrics, or
statistics. In the case of certain FHS papers in Politics, reading organised by colleges is
supplemented by departmental classes. The information on the classes is included in the Course
Outline and Bibliography for each of the papers. You have a right to expect that written work for
a class will be returned to you with written or oral comments.
Most colleges will require you to sit college examinations, so-called ‘collections’, before the start
of each term. Their object is to test your comprehension of work already covered, and to give you
practice in sitting examinations. Make sure at the end of each term that you know the times and
subjects of next term’s collections.
Oxford trains you as a writer to deadlines; so equip yourself with a writer’s tools - a dictionary,
such as the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and, unless you are very confident, a thesaurus and
Modern English Usage.
As mentioned above in the intended learning outcomes (section 1.3), you are expected to
develop the ability to make appropriate use of numerical, statistical and computing skills. This
ability is provided for in both the Economics and Politics components of the course. In
Economics, opportunities to develop computing skills are provided in the Quantitative
Economics paper and the use of statistical techniques is examined in this paper. In Politics,
the Quantitative Methods component in the first year course and the second year core courses
Comparative Government, International Relations, and Political Sociology provides students
with hands-on experience of data manipulation, data handling and data analyses by
introducing the use of statistical software packages. Data labs organised by the DPIR are a
core element of the course, especially in the first year. These data labs are designed to provide
17
students with an introduction to statistical software packages like STATA and R. The labs will
allow students to develop practical statistical computing skills relating to data manipulation,
data handling and data analyses – as a complement to the lectures and tutorials.
2.3 Lectures While tutorials and classes will be mainly organised by your College, lectures are provided
centrally by the University departments. A PPE lecture list is published each term, covering all
three branches; all three departments also publish individual lecture lists; and Philosophy issues
lecture prospectuses which describe the contents of the term’s lectures. Get a copy of the lecture
list, and the relevant prospectuses, from the departmental websites. Take your copy of the list to
your meetings with tutors: all of them will have advice on which lectures to attend. Remember
that the printed lecture lists often go out of date and the most up-to-date version of the lecture
list will be online.
Provisional programmes for lectures for the remainder of the academic year are also available on
the three departments’ websites, which will help you to plan for the future. Do not expect lectures
on a subject always to coincide with the term in which you are writing essays on that subject.
Important lectures may come a term or two before or after your tutorials, and in the case of some
less popular options they may come in your second year and not be repeated in your third year:
consult your tutors early about this risk.
The importance of lectures varies from subject to subject within PPE. Some lectures give a
personal analysis of a book or a set of books. Others provide an authoritative view on a fast
developing subject, or an overview on a subject whose boundaries are not well recognised in
the literature. It is perilous to miss the ‘core’ lectures on your chosen options: although in
Oxford’s system lecturers do not necessarily set the University examinations, they may be
consulted by those who do. In Philosophy, Finals examiners are told of lecture content by
lecturers, who are encouraged to suggest questions for the examination.
Please note the University policy on the recording of lectures, included as Appendix F to this
Handbook.
2.4 Teaching patterns The number of lectures an average PPE student will sit during her second and third years will
depend on her choice of subjects. Normally each subject comprises 8 hours of tutorials in total.
Students in their second and third years will dedicate about 90% of their time to independent
study. The teaching patterns for Economics are available on WebLearn here:
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/access/content/group/a64bf967-5670-4951-acd7-c4c64e416378/option-
grid/Teaching%20Norms_2011-12_.pdf
If you have any issues with teaching or supervision, please raise these as soon as possible so that
they can be addressed promptly. Details of who to contact are provided further below in the
complaints and appeals section of this handbook (Appendix C).
2.5 Skills training and development
18
A wide range of information and training materials are available to help you develop your
academic skills – including time management, research and library skills, referencing, revi-
sion skills and academic writing – through the Oxford Students website: www.ox.ac.uk/stu-
dents/academic/guidance/skills.
2.6 Vacations UK degree courses are among the shortest in the world. They hold their own in international
competition only because they are full-time courses, covering vacation as well as term. This is
perhaps particularly true of Oxford, where the eight-week terms (technically called Full Terms)
occupy less than half the year. Vacations have to include holiday time; and everyone recognises
that for very many students they also have to include money-earning time. Please see the
University’s guidance on paid work here: www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/experience. Nevertheless
vacation study is vital, and students are responsible for their own academic progress.
You are said to ‘read’ for an Oxford degree, and PPE is certainly a reading course: its ‘study’ is
mainly the study of material obtained from books and other documents. In term you will mostly
rush from one article or chapter to another, pick their bones, and write out your reactions.
Vacations are the time for less hectic attention to complete books. Tutorials break a subject up;
vacations allow consolidation. They give depth and time for serious thought. They are also
particularly important for reading set or core texts.
3. Assessment and examinations
3.1 Assessment structure Each of the three Preliminary papers is assessed through a three-hour written examination sat at
the end of the first year. All papers carry the same weight and in order to be admitted into the
Final Honour School (FHS), candidates have to pass these three papers.
Each of the eight papers (or seven papers and a thesis/supervised dissertation) candidates offer
in the Final Honour School carries the same weight. Papers are normally assessed through a
three-hour written examination sat at the end of the third year, with some exceptions (for
example, the Jurisprudence paper (which can be taken as a Philosophy option) is assessed by an
essay submitted at the beginning of the third year and a written examination at the end of the
third year).
For a detailed account of the assessment structure, please see the Examination Regulations.
3.2 Feedback on learning and assessment The mechanisms for providing you with feedback on your learning and assessment exist mostly
at the college level. Each PPE undergraduate has at least two and sometimes more meetings each
week with a college tutor. At least one of these meetings will be a tutorial focused on the
discussion of the student’s reading and of an essay completed by the student before the tutorial.
Feedback is given both in written comments on the essay and verbally in the tutorial.
19
In addition, students normally sit practice examinations in each paper at the start of the term
following the tutorials which are marked and returned with comments. Feedback on progress
is given termly through individual reports provided through the college reporting system:
OxCORT. The reports are discussed in a termly meeting with the student’s college’s tutors, and
academic officers of the student’s college. Problems that arise at other times are dealt with by
the college tutors and other college officers. Most colleges have special procedures to deal with
academic under-performance or issues concerning fitness to study.
3.3 Examination Procedures Each year a board of up to nine ‘moderators’, drawn from the academic staff, is appointed to
examine PPE Prelims, and a board of up to nineteen examiners, also drawn from the academic
staff except for three external members, is appointed to examine PPE Finals. The Prelims mod-
erators and Finals examiners are assisted by a number of assessors, also staff members, who
spread the load and deal with some of the specialised subjects. It is chance whether any of
your own tutors examines you. If that happens, the convention is that the tutor takes no part
knowingly in deciding your result; but since scripts are anonymous, tutors rarely take part
knowingly so the convention is seldom required to operate.
In 2016-17, the three PPE Finals external examiners will be:
Philosophy: TBC
Politics: Prof Stephen Hopgood, SOAS
Economics: TBC
Students are strictly prohibited from contacting external examiners directly. If you are unhappy with
an aspect of your assessment, you may make a complaint/appeal (Appendix C).
It is your responsibility to enter for your examinations. You will be invited by email to enter
for your examinations when the examination entry window for your examination opens. If
you do not enter by the required deadline for your course then you will need to pay a late
entry fee. For further information, please see: http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/exams.
The dates of examinations are published here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/ex-
ams/timetables. Timetables are published as early as possible and no later than five weeks
before the start of the examination. Your personal timetable showing your papers and the
dates, times and location at which they will take place will be sent to you at least two weeks
before your first examination.
At University examinations you must wear full academic dress with ‘sub-fusc’ clothing. Ac-
ademic dress is a gown, and a regulation cap or mortar board. Sub-fusc clothing is your pre-
ferred items from the following list:
1. one of: dark suit with dark socks, or dark skirt with black tights or stockings, or
dark trousers with dark socks or dark hosiery
20
2. dark coat if required
3. black shoes
4. plain white collared shirt or blouse
5. white bow tie, black bow tie, black full-length tie, or black ribbon.
See here for further details: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/dress.
There are special University regulations on the typing of illegible scripts (NB ‘the cost of the
typing and invigilation shall not be a charge on the University’), on the use of typewriters in
examinations, on blind candidates, on dyslexic candidates, on candidates unable to take pa-
pers on certain days for religious reasons, and on the use (where permitted) of computers in
examinations. The Oxford Students website provides a summary of these regulations:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/exams/guidance; and the Examination Regulations
provide the formal rules: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/information/contents.
In certain examinations calculators may be helpful. A list of permitted calculators can be
found on the Economics WebLearn site: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierar-
chy/socsci/econ/curr_student/undergrad/examinations. Please note that students are not al-
lowed to use any calculator other than the models on the list.
If you have any problems connected with University examinations which you want to take
further, never approach the examiners directly: always communicate through your Senior Tu-
tor. This applies to complaints as well (although every student has a statutory right to consult
the Proctors directly on any matter at any time in their Oxford career). See Appendix C for
further details.
The University regulations for PPE Prelims and PPE Finals are in the Examination Regulations.
Examination Conventions are the formal record of the specific assessment standards the formal
record of the specific assessment standards for the course or courses to which they apply.
They set out how examined work will be marked and how the resulting marks will be used
to arrive at a final result and classification of an award. They include information on: marking
scales, marking and classification criteria, scaling of marks, progression, resits, use of viva
voce examinations, penalties for late submission, and penalties for over-length work. The Ex-
amination Conventions for PPE Finals from 2015-16 are included in this Handbook as Appen-
dix I; please note that these Conventions are not definitive for your cohort. The relevant Con-
ventions for your cohort will be sent to you by email in Hilary Term preceding the examina-
tion.
3.4 PPE Prelims To complete the PPE Prelim you must pass all three subjects. Please note that, in order to enter
for Finals, you must have passed the PPE Prelim as a whole (or some other ‘First Public Ex-
amination’), but your Prelims results do not contribute to your Finals result nor to the classi-
fication of your degree.
You can access the examiners’ reports for previous years at:
21
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:socsci:xsocsci:ppe/page/14e40209-0739-4ce5-9042-
186d7ba4a8a2.
3.5 PPE Finals All scripts, theses and supervised dissertations have the same weighting; and are normally
double marked blind. The class boundaries are set as an average mark with each subject
weighted equally 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’
(see Honour School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics in the Examination Regulations), and a
Fail mark in one or more subjects may disqualify for Honours or even, in extreme circum-
stances, for a Pass degree (see the Examination Conventions for PPE Final Honour School).
The mark scale for individual papers is divided by classes:
First Upper-Sec-
ond
Lower-Sec-
ond
Third Pass Fail
100 – 70
(Excellent
First: 89-80;
Exceptional
First: 100-90)
69 – 60 59 – 50 49 – 40 39 – 30 29-0
(Outright
Failure of
FHS: 9-0)
British universities tend to use a standard scale for marking individual papers, whereby the
range 70-100 indicates a First; 60-69 a 2.1; 50-59 a 2.2; 40-49 a Third; 30-39 a Pass (i.e. not Hon-
ours); and 0-29 a Fail. However, they turn these individual marks into an overall degree clas-
sification according to different principles. One is to allocate each paper to a particular class
(First, 2.1, 2.2, Third, etc.), and then to establish which class predominates. The other is to add
up the marks on all papers and establish the average. Principle one does not require a First-
class mark on every paper to obtain a First overall, or a 2.1 on every paper to obtain a 2.1
overall, and so on. Principle two requires an average mark a little below 70 for a First, a little
below 60 for a 2.1, etc.
PPE currently uses a hybrid of these two principles: it requires both an average mark set just
below the class threshold for an individual paper and at least two papers falling within the
appropriate range for that degree classification. For example, in the academic year 2015-16, a
First required both an average of 68.5 or above and two marks of 70 or above and no mark
below 50.
There are separate marking descriptors (i.e. qualitative criteria governing whether an exam
script is classed as a First or a 2.1 etc.) for Philosophy, Politics and Economics. These are in-
cluded in the Examination Conventions, and copies of the versions used in 2015-16 are refer-
enced in Appendices K, L and M. Please note that these are not definitive for your cohort; the
definitive versions will be included in the Examination Conventions sent to you in Hilary
22
Term of the year of the examination. The Examination Conventions are kept under review by
PPE Committee, in light of advice from the internal and external examiners.
Once your results are released you will be sent an email informing you that your assessment
results and the result for the year are available to view in Student Self Service.
You can access the internal and external examiners’ reports for previous years at: https://web-
learn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:socsci:xsocsci:ppe/page/14e40209-0739-4ce5-9042-186d7ba4a8a2.
3.6 Preparing for examinations When planning your examination strategy, it is sensible to keep in mind the nature of the
examination method which the University uses (the conventional method in UK higher edu-
cation over the past two centuries). If the examiners allowed you to set the questions, you
could prepare good answers in a few months; by setting the questions themselves, they ensure
that a candidate cannot be adequately prepared without study over a broad area. They will
therefore not be interested in answers which are in any way off the point, and they will se-
verely penalise ‘short weight’ - too few properly written out answers. The examiners are look-
ing for your own ideas and convictions and you mustn’t be shy of presenting them. When you
have selected a question, work out what it means and decide what you think is the answer to
it. Then, putting pen to paper, state the answer and defend it; or, if you think there is no an-
swer, explain why not. Abstain from presenting background material. Do not write too much:
most of those who run out of time have themselves to blame for being distracted into irrele-
vance. Good examinees emerge from the examination room with most of their knowledge
undisplayed. Examiners’ reports (see link under 3.4 above) can be helpful in identifying the
characteristics of good and bad answers in the various papers.
3.7 Academic integrity: good practice in citation and the avoidance of
plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their
consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and
unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under
this definition. Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional. Under the regula-
tions for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence. Please see:
www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism.
To avoid plagiarism, it is important for all students within individual subject areas to be aware
of, and to follow, good practice in the use of sources and making appropriate reference. You
will need to exercise judgement in determining when reference is required, and when material
may be taken to be so much a part of the ‘general knowledge’ of your particular subject that
formal citation would not be expected. The basis on which such judgements are made is likely
to vary slightly between subject areas, as may also the style and format of making references,
and your tutor or course organiser, where appropriate, will be in the best position to advise
you on such matters; in addition, these may be covered, along with other aspects of academic
23
writing, in your induction. By following good practice in your subject area you should de-
velop a rigorous approach to academic referencing, and avoid inadvertent plagiarism. Advice
on good practice is available here: www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills.
Cases of apparently deliberate plagiarism are taken extremely seriously, and where examiners
suspect that this has occurred, they bring the matter to the attention of the Proctors. The Ex-
amination Regulations, Regulations for the Conduct of University Examinations: Part 19 state:
‘4. No candidate shall plagiarise by presenting someone else's work as their own, or by
incorporating other people's work or ideas into their own work without full acknowl-
edgement. This includes: verbatim quotation, cutting and pasting from the internet, and
paraphrasing without clear acknowledgement; collusion; inaccurate citation; failure to
acknowledge assistance; use of material written by professional agencies or other per-
sons; and autoplagiarism.’
The University employs a series of sophisticated software applications to detect plagiarism in
submitted examination work, both in terms of copying and collusion. It regularly monitors
online essay banks, essay-writing services, and other potential sources of material. It reserves
the right to check samples of submitted essays for plagiarism. Although the University
strongly encourages the use of electronic resources by students in their academic work, any
attempt to draw on third-party material without proper attribution may well attract severe
disciplinary sanctions.
Cases of plagiarism range from the culpably fraudulent to the carelessly inadvertent. Honesty
is all you need to avoid the first, the cultivation of academic good practice will ensure that
you do not fall foul of the second. You must avoid:
The submission of other people’s work as your own. You should not use professional
essay writing agencies nor submit any work which has been written in full or in part
by any other person. It is also forbidden to submit work which you have already sub-
mitted (partially or in full) for another degree course or examination.
The verbatim quotation of other people’s work without clear indication and due
acknowledgement (i.e. quotation marks or indentation, together with a full citation.)
Inadvertency in this may be avoided by scrupulous note-taking. Whenever taking
notes always write down the full details of the source (author, title, page numbers,
lecturer’s name and date of lecture, URL.) Where exact words are copied or taken
down quotation marks should be used; your notes should make it completely clear, in
case your memory does not, which of its words and ideas are your own and which
other people’s. The risk of plagiarism is increased where material is ‘cut and pasted’
from electronic resources. If you copy material in this way make sure it is fully refer-
enced and does not become confused with your own work. You should be aware that
there exist sophisticated systems to detect such copying.
Close paraphrase. Linking together phrases from a source with just a few words
changed here and there is not enough to avoid the charge of plagiarism
24
The reporting of ideas without acknowledging them as your own. When you write,
there should be no room for doubt which are your ideas and which are other people’s.
Note that where an idea is unattributed it will naturally be taken as the author’s own.
How often you provide references must to some extent be a matter of style and judg-
ment; to begin each sentence of a paragraph of exposition with “Davidson says that…”
would be redundant, but where you are substantially indebted to a particular author
it may well not be enough to cite his or her work once in a footnote at the start or the
end of the essay.
The surest way to avoid suspicion of plagiarism is by careful referencing. Tutors may be more
concerned to check that you understand than that your essays display scholarly references,
and no examiner expects full references in a three hour exam, but it is good practice to give
proper references. There are many ways to do this (footnotes, author and date, bibliography,
etc.). In general there is no one preferred system. Tutors and style guides are a source of ad-
vice. Note that some electronic sources explicitly tell you how to make references to their ar-
ticles.
You should not reference anything that you have not actually consulted. Where your
knowledge of a primary source is via a secondary one this should be made clear (e.g. R.Des-
cartes, The Principles of Philosophy, quoted in J.Cottingham, Descartes (Blackwell, 1986) p.92).
Some ideas may be taken as part of the ‘general knowledge’ of a particular subject and, as
such, do not call for a formal reference. You will need to exercise judgment in determining
when this is the case. If in doubt, seek advice or err on the side of caution.
Some illustrations of plagiarism:
Source text
‘Even more important, however, and certainly more generally applicable, is the argument
from queerness. This has two parts, one metaphysical, the other epistemological. If there were
objective values, then they would be entities or qualities or relations of a very strange sort,
utterly different from anything else in the universe. Correspondingly, if we were aware of
them, it would have to be by some special faculty of moral intuition, utterly different from
our ordinary ways of knowing everything else.’ (J.L.Mackie, Ethics, Inventing Right and Wrong
(Penguin, 1977) p.38)
Examples
(1) An important argument is that from queerness. It has two parts, one metaphysical
and one epistemological. Metaphysically, if objective values existed, then they would
be very strange entities, unlike anything else in the universe. Epistemologically, if we
were aware of them, it would have to be by some strange faculty of moral intuition,
quite different from our ordinary awareness.
25
Without reference of any kind to any source, this would be taken as the author’s own words
and ideas; when in fact it simply copies phrases verbatim from the source with just a few
words changed here and there.
(2) It has been argued against objective values on the grounds of queerness. The case
can be made in either metaphysical or epistemological terms. If objective values ex-
isted, they would be strange things, utterly different from anything else in the uni-
verse, and they would have to be known in an equally strange way, utterly different
from our ordinary ways of knowing everything else
This is a mixture of verbatim copying and close paraphrase. Two phrases have been copied
from the source, but no quotation marks or reference provided. The phrase ‘It has been ar-
gued’ is insufficient for this purpose.
(3) ‘The argument from queerness’ (Mackie, 1977, p.38) has been stated as follows. ‘If
there were objective values, then they would be entities or qualities or relations of a
very strange sort, utterly different from anything else in the universe.’ Correspond-
ingly, if we were aware of them, it would have to be by some special faculty of moral
intuition, utterly different from our ordinary ways of knowing everything else
By selective use of quotation marks and referencing this suggests that the second point here
is the writer’s own, when it is in fact just as heavily indebted to the source as the material
explicitly acknowledged. All quoted material must be enclosed in quotation marks and ade-
quately referenced.
Remember:
Always make clear the extent of your borrowing. A text reference, such as (Mackie,
1977, p.38), can leave it unclear whether the debt you wish to acknowledge is with
regard to a clause, a sentence, a few sentences or an entire paragraph that you have
written.
Try always to express the ideas and arguments you encounter in your own words; this
is part of what it means to really understand them.
3.8 Factors affecting performance Information on what to do if you would like the examiners to be aware of any factors that may
have affected your performance before or during an examination (such as illness, accident or
bereavement) are available on the Oxford Students website: www.ox.ac.uk/students/aca-
demic/exams/guidance.
4. Changing your course Sometimes the course you have chosen will not seem to be working out for you and you may
wish to consider changing. Do not seek to change course at the first sign of difficulty. All courses
that are worth anything bring the student up against obstacles, and your tutors will guide you
past them. Seek the advice of your tutors at all times when in difficulty. Discuss problems also
26
with your contemporaries; you are not in competition with them, and you should get into the
habit of helping and being helped. But if, having thought the matter through, you wish to explore
the possibility of changing, the first rule is, ‘Do not delay’ - you could be losing vital learning
time. Talk to your current tutors or, if that is embarrassing, to your College Adviser or the Senior
Tutor or any other Fellow whom you know. If you decide you really do want to change, there
are three bodies which must approve: the University, your college, and those who are paying for
you. College approval is usually the most difficult.
The University is unlikely to be a problem. There are no restrictions on examination entry:
provided that your college approves, you may be a candidate in any part of the First Public
Examination; and the condition for entering for a Final Honour School, besides college approval,
is that (if not exempt) you should have passed some part of the First Public Examination - any
complete Prelims or Mods will do. However, a few departments, such as Psychology, do have
quotas for acceptance on to their courses.
Your college has admitted you to read for a particular Honour School, or a particular
combination of First Public Examination plus Honour School. You cannot change without its
permission, which is liable to be refused if the `receiving’ tutors think you unsuited to their
course, or do not have room (in some courses, e.g. Law and English, the teaching resources are
often very strained).
Awards, scholarships, sponsorship, etc. may be tied to a particular course, and you may need the
awarding body’s permission to change course. Your Senior Tutor can help with the
correspondence, once your college has agreed to let you change.
5. Departments and Facilities The Departments of Politics and International Relations, of Economics, of Sociology, and of
Social Policy are in the Social Sciences Division, one of four Divisions in the University,
between which the academic departments and faculties are divided. The Faculty of
Philosophy is part of the Humanities Division.
The administration of the PPE degree is carried out by the PPE Administrator on behalf of all
three subjects within PPE. The contact details are as follows:
Email. [email protected]
Phone. 01865 2 88564
The PPE administrator is normally available in Room 126, Manor Road Building, from 09:00
to 17:20 Monday to Friday.
On PPE WebLearn (https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/:socsci:xsocsci:ppe/page/home) you
can find helpful information about the degree, as well as the full contact details for each of the
relevant undergraduate administrators:
Alice Evans (Politics; [email protected])
James Knight (Philosophy; [email protected])
27
Katherine Cumming (Economics; [email protected])
If you would like to contact your student representative (see section 8.1.2), please approach
one of the undergraduate administrators; they will let you know who your current
representative is. Do contact the undergraduate administrators as well if you need to get in
touch with a disability, or any other departmental, officer.
The members of the Departments and Faculties are those employed to carry out teaching or
research within the University. Further details of staff in Philosophy, Politics and Economics,
including their research interests, are available on the web sites:
www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk
www.politics.ox.ac.uk
www.economics.ox.ac.uk
For further contact details, please see Appendix D.
5.1 The Manor Road Building The Departments of Politics and International Relations, of Economics and of Sociology are
all located in the Manor Road Building on Manor Road. This building also houses the Social
Science Library and a Common Room. Coffee, tea, breakfast and lunch may be purchased in
the canteen on the first floor. In addition, there is a Lecture Theatre, an IT Room and seven
Seminar Rooms. The full address is: Manor Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ.
Opening hours are:
Term-time
Monday-Friday: 09:00-22:00
Saturday: 10:00-18:00
Sunday: 11:00-19:00
Vacations
Monday-Friday: 09:00-19:00
Saturday: 10:00-18:00 (Christmas and Easter)
Saturday: 10:00-16:00 (Long Vacation)
Sunday: Closed
On all visits, bring your university card for access. Some undergraduate lectures and classes
are held in the Manor Road building.
5.2 The Philosophy Faculty The Philosophy Faculty is based at the refurbished Radcliffe Infirmary building on the Wood-
stock Road, known as ‘Radcliffe Humanities’ or ‘Rad Hum’. As well as housing the Philoso-
phy Centre, the Grade II* listed building also contains a combined Philosophy and Theology
Library and the administrative offices of the Humanities Division. The move means that Phi-
losophy has become the first academic unit to be located within the Radcliffe Observatory
Quarter.
28
The Radcliffe Humanities building houses the Faculty’s administrative staff, provides offices
for some of the Faculty’s research projects and centres, and offers dedicated space for Philos-
ophy graduate students (as well as some general study space, available for use by all Human-
ities graduates). It contains four large teaching rooms, two of which – the Ryle Room on the
first floor and the Lecture Room on the second floor – are allocated to the Philosophy Faculty.
The building also contains some smaller meeting rooms which can be booked for small group
teaching or supervisions. Enquiries about room bookings on the site should be directed to the
Faculty’s Secretarial Assistant, Annelies Lawson ([email protected]).
There are also a common room (on the ground floor), and vending machines (for drinks and
snacks).
Radcliffe Humanities is also home to the Philosophy and Theology Faculties Library and to
the offices of the Humanities Division. Some of the Faculty’s research centres and projects are
based on the top floor of the building, alongside the Division’s newly formed Oxford Research
Centre for the Humanities (“TORCH”), and other Humanities research projects.
The Philosophy and Theology Faculties Library is open from Monday to Friday 09.30-19.00
and on Saturday 10.00-16.00 during term time and 09.30-17.00 Monday to Friday during va-
cation. The Radcliffe Humanities building is open during these times.
5.3 Department of Politics and International Relations The Department is located on the first floor of the Manor Road Building. It is open Monday
to Friday 08:30-22:00 in term-time and 08:30-19:00 in vacation, except on Bank Holidays and
between Christmas and the New Year. It contains the offices of the Head of Department,
Departmental administrative staff and the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The
Undergraduate Studies Coordinator for Politics is situated in the Courses Office (Room 195),
and is normally available for enquiries regarding Politics from 09:00 to 17:20 Monday to
Friday.
5.4 Department of Economics The Department is located on the second floor of the Manor Road Building. Opening hours:
9.30-18.00. Most members of the Department have an office and collect mail there and the
Undergraduate Administrator, to whom enquiries may be addressed, is based there (Monday-
Friday, 8:30-17:00). Lecture handouts and other course materials are available on the
Economics website.
5.5 Department of Sociology The Department is concerned primarily with graduate degrees in Sociology. However,
members give lectures and tutorials for PPE undergraduates in various ‘Politics’ papers,
including Political Sociology, Sociological Theory, and Sociology of Post-Industrial Societies.
Its research programme includes work on social and political change, the sociology of
elections, ethnicity and national identity, sociology of the family, and demography and the
life course and ageing. A number of PPE students have written theses based on the
Department’s research projects.
29
The Department is located on the third floor of the Manor Road Building. All students are
invited to attend the weekly departmental seminars. Further information on the Department
and the seminars can be found at www.sociology.ox.ac.uk.
5.6 Department of Social Policy and Intervention The Department is located at Barnett House, 32 Wellington Square (Tel: (2)70325). It is primar-
ily concerned with graduate degrees in Comparative Social Policy and Evidence Based Social
Intervention. Its senior members give lectures and convene tutorials for PPE and History &
Politics undergraduates in Social Policy and in Demography. Its research programme includes
work on social deprivation, poverty and disadvantage, the family, parenting and childcare,
demography and population ageing, social security and welfare reform, mental health and
anti-social behaviour, health and health care; there are growing programmes of research on
the comparative politics of the welfare state and on social policy in South Africa. The tutorials
are usually held in the Department; lectures and classes will be held in the Department or in
the Manor Road Building. Further information on the Department can be found at
www.spi.ox.ac.uk.
6. Libraries and Computing
6.1 Libraries The library provision in Oxford University is very good but can seem complex. The Social
Science Library (SSL) in the Manor Road Building has books for loan on Criminology, Eco-
nomics, Politics and International Relations, International Development, Sociology, Social Pol-
icy and Social Intervention, and Socio-Legal Studies. It has an extensive run of periodicals
online and in print. Opening hours are:
Term (Weeks 0 - 9)
Monday to Friday 09:00 - 22:00
Saturday 10:00 - 18:00
Sunday 11:00 - 19:00
Vacation
Monday to Friday 09:00 - 19:00
Saturday (Christmas and Easter Vacations) 10:00 - 18:00
Saturday (Summer Vacation) 10:00 - 16:00
Sunday CLOSED
Services provided include access to print and online resources as well as self-service photo-
copying, printing and scanning. Always bring your University card with you for access to the
Library, and to borrow books. Library staff will help you locate any material you may need.
30
Provision for Philosophy is split between the lending collections in the the Philosophy and
Theology Faculties Library at Radcliffe Humanities, Woodstock Road and the reference col-
lections at the Bodleian, with the most popular items located in the Philosophy Reading Room
in the Bodleian.
Your local College library also has a good selection of books which can be borrowed. Each
library is equipped with computers for searching databases and catalogues, and for checking
email and printing. Looking at the websites, picking up a paper guide, or asking the library
staff can provide you with further information about specific services and library rules and
regulations.
Some general information for all libraries is as follows.
Admission: The University Card, which is distributed by your College, will be required to
enter and/or to borrow books or to order items from closed stacks. The best policy is to always
carry your University Card with you. If you lose your University Card, request a replacement
as soon as possible from your College Secretary.
Induction: There are library induction sessions for all PPE students during Noughth Week.
You will be taught how to use SOLO, the online catalogue for Oxford’s electronic and printed
library collections; PCAS, the system for printing, copying and scanning; and OxLIP+, the OU
local interface to a large selection of subject databases and internet resources. You will receive
further instructions from your college about the timing and location of these sessions.
Finding books: Begin by checking SOLO for items listed on your reading lists. Ask library
staff for assistance if you cannot find the books you need. You can recommend new book
purchases via the library's website.
Finding journal articles: First look for the title of the journal using SOLO. If you do not know
the issue or the page number of the article, ask library staff who can help you search for the
item in one of the many subject databases available from OxLIP+, e.g. EconLIT, Philosopher’s
Index. Many journals are now available electronically via OU e-Journals. Feel free to ask li-
brary staff for further information and assistance.
Borrowing from a library or reading in the library: Once you have found the books or journal
articles you wish to read, you may have a choice of either borrowing the item or reading the
confined copy in the library (see individual libraries' websites for details). Central Bodleian
Library books cannot be borrowed.
Printing, copying, and scanning: The PCAS system in operation across The Bodleian Librar-
ies Group offers a range of services (see the link from the Bodleian Libraries website), paid for
using an online account topped up by a debit/credit card.
31
Opening hours: These vary between libraries and are longer during term-time than in vaca-
tions. See http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/libraries/opening-hours for opening hours of all li-
braries, and see the individual libraries' websites for further details.
Library Main subjects covered Web address
BOD Official Papers
(Bodleian Law Li-
brary)
Official Papers (Parliamentary papers, gov-
ernment publications etc.)
http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/bodley
BOD Philosophy
Reading
Room (Lower Read-
ing
Room, Old Bodleian)
Philosophy http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/bodley
BOD Upper Camera History, Education, History of Art, Anthro-
pology
http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/bodley
History Faculty Li-
brary
History http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/history
Philosophy and The-
ology Faculties Li-
brary
Philosophy and Theology http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/ptfl
Radcliffe Science Li-
brary
Science and Medicine http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/science
Weston Library History and Current Affairs – political, eco-
nomic and social – of Commonwealth and
Sub-Saharan Africa
http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/weston
Said Business School,
Sainsbury Library
Business and Management
Studies
http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/business
32
Social Science Li-
brary
Economics, International
Relations, Politics, Social Policy, Social Work,
Socio-Legal Studies, Sociology and
Criminology, International
Development, Refugee Studies, Russian and
East European Studies
http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/ssl
Vere Harmsworth Li-
brary
American Studies/History –
Political, Economic and Social – from colonial
times to the
present
http://www.bod-
leian.ox.ac.uk/vhl
Other libraries which may be of use to PPE students include: Bodleian Japanese, Bodleian Law
and Sackler.
Photocopying facilities and copyright law: The copying of books and journals and the use of
self-service photocopiers are subject to the provisions of the Copyright License issued to the
University of Oxford by the Copyright Licensing Agency for the copying (from paper on to
paper) of:
up to 5% or one complete chapter (whichever is the greater) from a book;
up to 5% or one whole article (whichever is the greater) from a single issue of a journal;
up to 5% or one paper (whichever is the greater) from a set of conference proceedings.
We hope you will enjoy using Oxford’s libraries. Please respect other library users and take
care of library books and facilities.
6.2 Computing All Colleges have a computer room, with software for word-processing and other
applications, connections to the central University machines and the Internet, and printers.
The Manor Road Building has an IT Room with 48 computers connected to the Internet. They
are equipped with a wide range of specialist social sciences research software. The room is
mainly used for computer-based courses.
The Bodleian Social Science Library has 52 networked computers. The standard desktop
offers: Microsoft Office 2007 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access); internet access (the SOLO
Library catalogue, OxLIP+ including OU e-Journals, and the World Wide Web); and a range
of other software include Endnote, Refworks, Nuance PDF creator Pro, GIMP, Adobe Digital
Editions, and Windows Media Player. To use library computers you will need to log-in with
your University Card barcode number and your library password. To set up your library
password please see instructions available at http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ssl/how/set-a-
new-library-password.
33
Readers are welcome to use their own laptops in most library study spaces; power sockets
and Ethernet points are provided. To use the wireless service, connect to the Bodleian-
Libraries network and log-in with your University Card barcode and Library password.
Ethernet cables and USB sticks (as well as a range of other stationery) are available to buy at
the SSL issue desk.
Oxford University Computing Services (OUCS) is at 13 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6NN. The
Service Desk opening hours, and contact numbers, are here: http://help.it.ox.ac.uk/helpcen-
tre/index.
Undergraduates have access to various IT training courses. Further details are at
www.oucs.ox.ac.uk.
6.3 IT Skills By the end of your first year we expect you to have the essential IT skills set out below; those
listed as ‘desirable’ would be useful for your future employment but are not a requirement of
your course. While many students coming to Oxford will already possess most if not all of
these skills, those who need to develop any are required to do this in their own time. Your
college will provide the basic hardware, software and support.
For those who would prefer to attend IT courses, the IT Learning Programme (ITLP) provides
lively, hands-on, teacher-led IT courses throughout the academic year. See here for further
details: http://www.it.ox.ac.uk/services/catalogue/itlp.
Course descriptions, charges and dates for all IT courses can be found online at
http://courses.it.ox.ac.uk. If you can’t attend a taught course, much of the course material is
also available at: http://portfolio.it.ox.ac.uk.
The Bodleian Libraries also provide information skills courses. See here for further details:
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/using/skills.
Skill Recommended software Course
Essential
Word-processing MS Word* (1) Word: Fundamentals
(2) Word: Building long documents
(3) Word: Managing your thesis
Email and use of
the Internet
Mozilla Firefox, Internet
Explorer or Chrome
(1) A selection of the “Wiser” courses
offered by the Bodleian Libraries
(2) Online Presence series of courses
(3) Online Security series of courses
Data Analysis R (via RStudio**) (1) Lab Sessions in Political Analysis I and II
34
(2) Supplementary online tutorials available
at http://tryr.codeschool.com
Desirable
Spreadsheets MS Excel* (1)Excel: Fundamentals
(2)Excel: Functions and Cell Referencing
Presentation and
drawing
MS Power Point* (1) PowerPoint: Fundamentals
(2) PowerPoint: Getting the message across
(3) Presentations: Creating conference
posters using PowerPoint
Database and filing
systems
MS Access* (1) Access: Fundamentals
(2) Database: Design essentials
*These are part of the integrated Microsoft Office suite. The University has a site license for this software
(available via the IT Services shop) for use in departments and colleges but it cannot supply copies to
individual students. You can obtain your own copy from a local supplier (see
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/shop/).
** You can download the RStudio software for free from: https://www.rstudio.com/ide/download/.
For second and third year students, various papers in PPE may have integrated practical
sessions involving the use of relevant software. You will need to use IT during your course.
Many tutors encourage students to present at least some of their essays in word-processed
form.
6.4 Web and email It is essential that you use email as this will be used to communicate information to you by
department and college staff. Your college will supply you with an email account. Your email
address will be: [email protected].
All the information you may need about PPE is available at the following websites:
PPE WebLearn
For up-to-date versions of this handbook, information on exams (including examiners’
reports), the combined lecture list.
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/%3Asocsci%3Axsocsci%3Appe/page/4aaf6674-cb26-
4ed9-9f54-ce452cd3046b
The Departments’ WebLearn sites
For up-to-date departmental lecture lists, course listings, lecture lists, further information on
exams, the undergraduate joint consultative committees (UJCCs). Links to the Departments’
WebLearn sites can be found on PPE WebLearn (see above).
The Departments’ Websites
www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk
35
www.politics.ox.ac.uk
www.economics.ox.ac.uk
All students should also be aware of the University’s IT code of conduct, available on-line at
www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/regulations/196-052.shtml.
7. Data Protection
DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998: INFORMATION ON STUDENT PERSONAL
DATA
This section of the handbook will help you understand the purposes for which your College
and the University of Oxford, including its departments, faculties and administration (‘the
University’) process (i.e. collect and use) your personal data and any disclosures that they
may make of those data outside the College/University. It is important that you are aware of
the personal data which is held about you, especially the sensitive personal data as defined
by the Data Protection Act 1998 (see section A.2 below), where special provisions apply.
7.1 Data processing In order to fulfil their educational, pastoral, and administrative responsibilities before, during
and after your studies at Oxford, your College and the University will need to collect and
process personal data about you. The Data Protection Act 1998 requires that any such infor-
mation is processed fairly and lawfully, is held securely, and is kept up-to-date. In some cases
this processing is permitted under the Data Protection Act 1998 as being necessary to enable
your College and the University to fulfil their operational responsibilities and where your
rights and legitimate interests are not prejudiced by the processing. Your consent is not
needed for processing of this data, which is described in section 1(a) below). There are other
cases where your consent is similarly not required and these are described in 1(b) and 1(c)
below. The final category of processing is that of sensitive personal data which does require
your consent and that is described in section 2 below. In all cases data will be collected by
your College and may be passed to the University and vice versa, so that necessary processing
can be undertaken. Data may also be shared with other Colleges.
1. Non-sensitive personal data
Categories of the non-sensitive personal data which may be collected and processed are set
out below; these lists are not exhaustive but indicate the main sorts of such data.
(a) Non-sensitive data which may be collected during the applications process and during
your studies at Oxford
Name, address, telephone number and email address; any other contact details; date of birth
and gender; marital and family/household details; name of doctor; person to be contacted in
case of emergency and contact details; school and admissions documentation; matriculation
36
details and course studied; information on academic performance; examination details; dis-
tinctions, prizes, positions of responsibility held; membership of University clubs and socie-
ties; disciplinary action taken; financial matters (including loans, fees, college invoices, schol-
arships and bursaries etc).; information provided to the College/University during the course
of your studies; information needed to permit access to College/University facilities such as
computing facilities, libraries and for the issue of the University card, where access will be
subject to regulations available from the provider of the facility; passwords and IDs used to
access College or University facilities; provision of student advice and support (e.g. OUSU
and Careers Service).
Your consent for such processing is not required as it is processing needed to allow the Col-
lege(s) and the University to fulfil their educational, pastoral and administrative responsibil-
ities.
(b) Additional non-sensitive data which may be collected and processed after your studies
have been completed.
Details of qualifications and skills; employment details; membership of professional bodies;
publications.
Processing of data of this kind does not require your written consent but you may wish to
indicate to your College/the University if you do not wish it to be collected or processed.
(c) Alumni data
Unless you request otherwise, your College and the University will add your details to their
alumni records so that you may receive relevant publications and information about alumni
activities, events and programmes and be kept informed more generally about the activities
of your College and the University. Your data may also be included in College/University
alumni publications.
Such data will be held securely and will be treated confidentially for your benefit and the
benefit of your College and the University. The data will be available to your College, the
University’s Development Office, International Offices, faculties, academic and administra-
tive departments, and to the Oxford University Society and other recognised alumni societies,
sports and other clubs associated with your College and the University. It may be disclosed
to bodies outside your College/the University where such bodies are acting as agents of your
College/the University.
Data will be used for a full range of alumni activities as described above. Data may also be
used in fundraising programmes, which might include an element of direct marketing by your
College/the University. Data will not, however, be passed to external commercial organisa-
tions without your explicit consent.
2. Sensitive personal data
37
The Data Protection Act 1998 defines sensitive personal data as information about racial or
ethnic origins; political opinions; religious beliefs or other beliefs; trade union membership; physical or
mental health; sex life; criminal allegations, proceedings or convictions. Save in limited circum-
stances specified in the Act, those collecting and processing sensitive personal data are re-
quired to seek explicit consent to do so. However, much of the sensitive personal data han-
dled by the Colleges and University will be provided by students themselves so that consent
to process in those cases is not an issue.
The Colleges and University have no need or intention to collect information concerning the
political beliefs, sexual orientation, or trade union affiliations of students. Nor do they have
any need or intention to collect or process data on religious beliefs or practices except in so far
as students may, for example, require special dispensation to avoid sitting examinations on
certain days or may have special dietary requirements. However the student will probably
have volunteered the sensitive data him/herself so consent to collect and process is unlikely
to present a problem.
If a student is convicted of an offence under the criminal law, this may be the subject of further
disciplinary proceedings within the Colleges when data may be collected and processed; this
will not happen without the student’s knowledge. Conviction of a criminal offence may in
certain limited circumstances have to be mentioned in a reference to an employer or profes-
sional body.
The University and Colleges may need to process information relating to a student’s
health. For example, it may be necessary to ask for dispensation to miss an examination or
special provision may be needed for certain health problems or in cases of disability, or sus-
pension of status may be needed for graduate students.
If a student is following a course leading to a professional qualification, the College/University
will need to be able to report to the appropriate professional body, such as the General Med-
ical Council, that he or she is ‘a safe and suitable entrant to a given profession’.
The Data Protection Act allows action to be taken to process personal sensitive data, and to
disclose such information to an individual/body outside the College/University, without con-
sent, where it is regarded as in the student’s vital interest. However, this is generally likely to
apply only in cases of illness or accident where the student is unable or unwilling to give
consent. This exemption may only be used in exceptional circumstances.
There is also an exemption in the Act to allow collection of data without explicit consent in
order to identify or keep under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or
treatment between persons of different racial or ethnic origins. Such data is collected by the
Colleges and University for the purposes of monitoring and of upholding equal opportunities
policies.
If you have any concerns about the processing of any information in the sorts of circumstances
outlined above you should contact your College Data Protection Officer or the University Data
Protection Officer via email to [email protected].
38
7.2 Disclosure of data to bodies outside your College/the University
Your College/the University may be required to provide non-sensitive personal data to the
Inland Revenue, Community Charge Registration Officers, local authority electoral registra-
tion, assessment and valuation departments, other education and training establishments and
examining bodies, and students’ sponsors (e.g. local authority education departments, the
Student Loan Company and funding councils (and including the Higher Education Statistics
Agency)).
Your College/the University will respond to requests for references, transcripts or other infor-
mation on your educational attainments, from employers or prospective employers or from
other educational institutions, funding bodies or recognised voluntary organisations. How-
ever, the information will not be provided unless the request is made in writing and appears
to be bona fide.
Disclosure may also be necessary in certain other circumstances, for example to comply with
legal or statutory requirements; in any legal proceedings; or for medical reasons to medical
staff.
Your College/the University will not normally send information about you to outside organi-
sations at home or overseas other than of the kind indicated. Your personal data will not be
placed on any website by your College or the University without your consent.
You should be aware that many countries outside the European Economic Area do not have
data protection legislation and so may not always protect your personal data to the same
standard.
7.3 Keeping your personal data up-to-date The Data Protection Act 1998 requires that your College and the University take reasonable
steps to ensure that any personal data which they process is accurate and up-to-date. It is
therefore important that you let the relevant College officer know of any changes to your per-
sonal data, or of any error in those data. The University will be informed of changes as ap-
propriate.
7.4 Queries and access requests The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to know what personal data your College
and the University are processing, subject to certain exemptions provided in the legislation
and to consideration of third party rights. If you wish to seek access under the Data Protection
Act provisions, you should contact either your college in the case of personal data processed
by your College or the University’s Data Protection Officer, via email to data.protection@ad-
min.ox.ac.uk. A fee is required for such access.
General queries about the Data Protection Act 1998 may be addressed to the University’s Data
Protection Officer using the email address: [email protected].
39
7.5 Archives The College and University records are normally archived as a matter of routine, but your
College and the University are not liable for any failure to archive, or maintain the archive or
for deletion of archive material however arising and you are advised to retain any original
certificates issued by the University safely and securely.
As indicated in section 2 above it is possible that sensitive data may appear on your file. It is
unlikely that your College or the University will have to process sensitive data without your
knowledge and consent. It may, however, be necessary to process information about your
health. If when you leave Oxford you are concerned about the retention of any such mate-
rial on your file or about the possibility that other types of sensitive data (as defined by the
Act) may have been collected, you should discuss these concerns with the college Data Pro-
tection Officer in the first instance.
40
PART B - STUDENT ISSUES
8. Participation
8.1 Consultation Consultation of students is a serious concern to the departments and faculties and takes a
number of forms discussed below. It is important that you give us your views and feel free to
do so, in order that we may deal with problems that arise both relating to you personally and
to the course. Feedback from students takes both an institutional form via the Undergraduate
Joint Consultative Committees (UJCCs) and also involves you as individuals making the effort
to complete lecture or tutorial report forms or to seek out college or departmental officers for
discussion. Confidentiality is preserved when we seek feedback and will be maintained if you
wish it when you discuss issues of concern to you. It is important that you remember that both
the college and the departments will seek and welcome your feedback in various ways.
8.1.1 Student Feedback The feedback which you provide to lecturers and tutors is valued and is taken seriously. It has
an important contribution toward maintaining the quality of the education you receive at Ox-
ford.
Lecture questionnaire forms will be provided for you to comment on each set of lectures. Lec-
ture questionnaires are distributed either electronically or as paper copies. Paper copies will
be handed out by the lecturer towards the middle or end of his or her set of lectures, and
further copies will be available from department or faculty offices. Completed forms may ei-
ther be given to the lecturer at the end of the lecture or sent to the departmental office. The
results of the questionnaire are seen by the lecturer and also by the Director of Undergraduate
Studies or Teaching/Lectures Committee or panel. The DUS and/or committee or panel are
responsible for ensuring that any problems reported through the questionnaires are ad-
dressed. These are reported on to the JCC and the department or faculty.
You will also be expected to provide feedback on tutorial teaching to your college, and alt-
hough colleges may differ in the exact ways in which they provide for this, in general they
will ask your views on the amount and quality of teaching, reading materials, timeliness of
comments on essays and tutorial performance, and feedback on your progress on the course.
Colleges also arrange for you to hear or read reports written by your tutor and to make com-
ments on them, and also for you to submit your own self-assessment of your progress to date
and your academic goals.
Students on full-time and part-time matriculated courses are surveyed once per year on all
aspects of their course (learning, living, pastoral support, college) through the Student Barom-
eter. Previous results can be viewed by students, staff and the general public at:
https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/student-engagement?wssl=1.
41
Final year undergraduate students are surveyed through the National Student Survey. Results
from previous NSS can be found at www.unistats.com.
8.1.2 Undergraduate Joint Consultative Committees (UJCCs) Each department/faculty has an Undergraduate Joint Consultative Committee on depart-
mental/faculty matters (UJCC). The UJCC is the forum through which departmental/faculty
officers will keep you informed of developments within the department/faculty. Typical
agenda items include course developments, lecture arrangements, library provision and IT.
Senior members will look to you for comments and suggestions which may bring beneficial
changes. It is also the forum in which you should raise any matters of concern to you relating
to the organisation, content and delivery of the course.
The Politics UJCC comprises the Director of Undergraduate Studies, the Undergraduate Stud-
ies Coordinator or Courses Manager, and an undergraduate representative from each College.
It meets once a term at 13:00 on Monday of Third Week in Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity
Terms. The undergraduate representatives must be reading for a degree in PPE or HP.
The Economics UJCC comprises several senior members, including the Director of Under-
graduate Studies, and an undergraduate representative from each college. The undergraduate
representatives must be reading for one of the Honour Schools involving Economics. The
UJCC meets once per term. It elects one of its undergraduate representatives as Chair. The
Chair prepares the agenda and minutes for meetings.
The Philosophy UJCC is likely to be reformed in structure, but will always aim to elicit con-
tributions from junior members from across all eight of the joint honour schools involving
Philosophy, not just from PPE. It meets once a term in the Ryle Room at Radcliffe Humanities,
Woodstock Road. The UJCC convenors attend their respective faculty meetings and should
send one representative to attend the PPE Committee, which is the body of academics and
administrators responsible for the organisation of the degree. In addition, the Chair of the
Philosophy UJCC serves as an undergraduate representative on the Philosophy Undergradu-
ate Studies Committee.
If you do not know who your representative is, please approach the relevant undergraduate
administrator (see Section 5: Departments and Key Contacts); she should let you know who
the representatives are.
8.1.3 Students representatives on the Divisional Board Student representatives sitting on the Divisional Board are selected through a process organ-
ised by the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU). Details can be found on the OUSU
website (www.ousu.org) along with information about student representation at the Univer-
sity level.
8.1.4 Library Committees The Committee on Library Provision (CoLP) in Social Sciences may include student represent-
atives from the relevant UJCCs. The Committee meets once a term.
42
9. Student Support
Each College has their own system of support for students. Please refer to your College hand-
book or website for more information. There is also a wide range of sources of support avail-
able in the University, including in relation to mental and physical health, and disability. See
here for further details: www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare.
9.1 Equality and Diversity
Equality and Diversity at Oxford
“The University of Oxford is committed to fostering an inclusive culture which promotes equality,
values diversity and maintains a working, learning and social environment in which the rights and
dignity of all its staff and students are respected.” Equality Policy (2013).
Oxford is a diverse community with staff and students from over 140 countries, all with dif-
ferent cultures, beliefs and backgrounds. As a member of the University you contribute to-
wards making it an inclusive environment and we ask that you treat other members of the
University community with respect, courtesy and consideration.
The Equality and Diversity Unit works with all parts of the collegiate University to develop
and promote an understanding of equality and diversity and ensure that this is reflected in all
its processes. The Unit also supports the University in meeting the legal requirements of the
Equality Act 2010, including eliminating unlawful discrimination, promoting equality of op-
portunity and fostering good relations between people with and without the ‘protected char-
acteristics’ of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership,
pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and/or belief and sexual orientation. Visit our website
for further details or contact us directly for advice: www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop or equality@ad-
min.ox.ac.uk.
The Equality and Diversity Unit also supports a broad network of harassment advisors in
departments/faculties and colleges and a central Harassment Advisory Service. For more in-
formation on the University’s Harassment and Bullying policy and the support available for
students visit: www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/harassmentadvice
There is range of faith societies, belief groups, and religious centres within Oxford University
that are open to students. For more information visit: www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/religion-
andbelief/faithsocietiesgroupsorreligiouscentres/
Student Welfare and Support Services
The Disability Advisory Service (DAS) can provide information, advice and guidance on the
way in which a particular disability may impact on your student experience at the University
and assist with organising disability-related study support. For more information visit:
www.ox.ac.uk/students/shw/das
43
The Counselling Service is here to help you address personal or emotional problems that get
in the way of having a good experience at Oxford and realising your full academic and per-
sonal potential. They offer a free and confidential service. For more information visit:
www.ox.ac.uk/students/shw/counselling
A range of services led by students are available to help provide support to other students,
including the peer supporter network, the OUSU Student Advice Service and Nightline. For
more information visit: www.ox.ac.uk/students/shw/peer
OUSU also runs a series of campaigns to raise awareness and promote causes that matter to
students. For full details, visit: ousu.org/get-involved/campaigns
There is a wide range of student clubs and societies to get involved in - for more details visit:
www.ox.ac.uk/students/life/clubs
9.2 Harassment There are confidential advisers who can be contacted for help on any matter related to harass-
ment:
Politics
Prof Lois McNay - Tel: (2) 70651) - [email protected]
Dr Paul Martin - (Tel: (2)77987) - [email protected]
Economics:
Dr Howard Smith - (Tel: (2)71061) - [email protected]
TBC
Philosophy:
Dr Ursula Coope - (Tel: (2)76328) - [email protected]
Dr Michail Peramatzis - (Tel: 2(78372) – [email protected]
You will also find that your college has people that you can approach if you feel harassed.
You may wish to go to your tutor or to the Senior Tutor; alternatively, if you wish to deal with
someone who is not connected directly with your academic work or your course, consult the
Chaplain, Women's Adviser, or Welfare officers in your college.
9.3 Disability The University operates a code of practice to provide equality of opportunity for those with
disabilities. Detailed information about provision and sources of assistance, including the
University’s Disability Statement and the Access Guide to University buildings and colleges (which
gives details about the accessibility of most University buildings) can be found at:
http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/eop/disab/. Further information and advice are available from
the University’s Disability Office at [email protected].
44
Local information on access and resources can be found on the Philosophy Faculty website at
www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk. The Disability Co-ordinator for the Philosophy Faculty is Dr Hilla
Wait, Tel: (2)76927, email [email protected].
The Disability Officer for the Department of Politics and International Relations is Mr Andrew
Melling, Tel: (2)78727, email [email protected].
Observations or complaints concerning disability issues should be addressed via college and
departmental complaints procedures.
9.4 Complaints Procedures The University complaints and academic appeals policy is provided in Appendix C of this
handbook. It is the policy of the departments/faculty responsible for the teaching of PPE to
deal with all complaints from individuals fairly, promptly, and in confidence. Complaints
concerning College matters should in the first instance be referred to your College authorities.
Complaints concerning University matters, including all centrally-provided lectures and clas-
ses, should normally be addressed in the first instance to the Director of Undergraduate Stud-
ies for Philosophy or to the Heads of the Departments of Politics and International Relations
or of Economics. In the case of harassment, complaints should be made to the individuals
named in Section 9.2 of this Handbook. Alternatively, students can approach the Secretary of
the Faculty of Philosophy or the respective Directors of Undergraduate Studies in Politics or
Economics. The names of these officers are set out in Appendix D.
Note that although tutorial and class teaching for the option papers in Economics is arranged
by the Economics Department, any complaints should first be taken to the college tutor, as for
other tutorial teaching. The college tutor will take the matter up with the option tutor and/or
the convenor in the first instance, and if not satisfied will ask the Director of Undergraduate
Studies to take up the issue. If the matter is still not satisfactorily resolved, the college Senior
Tutor should be informed (either by the undergraduate concerned, or the college tutor) who
will then take up the issue with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and/or the Head of
Department.
In addition, the University’s Proctors provide a special forum for dealing with complaints.
They have power to investigate directly complaints from any member of the University and
to take appropriate measures to provide redress. Details can be found in the Proctors’ and
Assessor’s Memorandum, which sets out complaints procedures, and provides further infor-
mation on disciplinary procedures, equal opportunities policy, harassment, disability and
other welfare issues; see here: https://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/proctors/info/pam.
It is important to remember, in a collegiate University, that even on matters relating exclu-
sively to University teaching and examining, your college tutor, or your college’s Senior Tutor
and its other officers concerned with welfare, provide an immediate and well-informed source
of advice about the best procedure to adopt.
9.5 Illness and personal issues
45
If illness, or other personal issues such as bereavement, seriously affect your academic work,
make sure that your tutors know this. If at all possible choose a Fellow of your college in
whom to confide - otherwise it will be difficult for the college to help. Help may involve:
excusing you tutorials for a while; sending you home; asking the University to grant you
dispensation from that term’s residence (to qualify for the BA you must reside and study in
Oxford for nine terms - or six if you have Senior Status - and a term for that purpose means
forty-two nights); or permitting you to go out of residence for a number of terms, with
consequent negotiations with your funding body as appropriate.
If illness or other issues have interfered with preparation for a University examination, or
have affected you during the exam itself, your college will, if appropriate, report the fact to
the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors, who will pass the information to your examiners ‘if, in their
opinion, it is likely to assist the examiners in the performance of their duties’. Your college
also reports to the Proctors if illness, disability or other factors have prevented you from
attending part of a University examination, or makes it desirable that you should be examined
in a special place or at a special time. The college officer concerned is the Senior Tutor. You
must deal with your Senior Tutor, never with the examiners. Give the Senior Tutor as much
notice as possible; in particular, examinations specially invigilated in a special place (usually
your college) take a lot of organising, and the deadline for getting permission in respect of
foreseeable issues such as dyslexia is Second Week of the term of the examination. In the case
of illness or disability, you will probably need a medical certificate; college doctors have the
relevant University forms.
For further information about factors affecting performance during your examination, please
see section 3.8 of this handbook and the Oxford Students’ website:
www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/exams/guidance.
9.6 Scholarships, Prizes and Grants After your first year you will be eligible for a scholarship or exhibition from your college, on
academic criteria which the college decides and applies. The University administers a number
of trust scholarships, mostly narrow in remit and none specifically for PPE subjects; they are
listed in the University’s Statutes, Decrees and Regulations (the ‘blue book’), which you can
consult in your college office or a library.
University prizes are listed in a supplement of the University Gazette each year, which can be
found on the university website. Those particularly concerning PPE are as follows:
• The Henry Wilde Prize (value about £500) is offered for an outstanding performance in the
Philosophy subjects in one of the Final Honour Schools; and a Gibbs Prize (value up to £100)
is offered for an outstanding performance in the Philosophy subjects in PPE.
• Gibbs Prizes in Politics are awarded for the best performance in Politics written papers
(value £400 and £300 plus the option of two £200 proxime accessit award) and for the best
Politics thesis (value £400 plus the option of one £200 proxime accessit award) in PPE and
History and Politics for Finals. There is also a Gibbs prize for the best Politics written paper in
46
the Preliminary Examination for PPE and History and Politics (value £300 plus the option of
two £200 proxime accessit awards).
• Hicks/Webb Medley Prizes are awarded for the best Economics performance (value £300)
in PPE and History and Economics. Three prizes may be awarded.
• The George Webb Medley Undergraduate Thesis Prize is awarded for the best Economics
thesis (value £150) in one of the Final Honour Schools.
• The John Hicks Foundation Prizes are awarded for the best overall performance in
Macroeconomics (value £150), Microeconomics (value £150) and Quantitative Economics
(value £150) in PPE and History and Economics.
• The Gladstone Memorial Essay Prize (value about £500) is awarded for a thesis on some
subject connected with recent British History, Political Science, or Economics, or with some
problem of British policy - domestic, imperial or foreign - in relation to finance or other
matters, submitted for the Honour School in History, History and Economics, or PPE.
• The Arnold Historical Essay Prize (value about £500) is awarded for the best thesis in
History, which may be a PPE thesis.
• The Duns Scotus Prize in Medieval Philosophy (value £150) may be awarded each year, if
there is a candidate of sufficient merit, by the examiners of the Medieval Philosophy paper in
any of the Final Honour Schools involving Philosophy.
• The Elizabeth Anscombe Thesis Prize (value £100) is awarded each year to the best Final
Honour Schools Philosophy Thesis across all Final Honour Schools involving Philosophy.
The Access to Learning Fund is provided by the UK government to assist ‘Home’
undergraduates and postgraduates who are in financial difficulty. Application forms are
available from your college or can be requested from Student Financial Support by emailing
[email protected]. See here for details:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/fees-funding/assistance/hardship/alf.
The University Hardship Committee also makes grants and loans for the relief of unexpected
financial hardship, which must have been unforeseeable at the time of admission. It meets
once a term (Week 6 in Michaelmas and Hilary, and Week 4 in Trinity). Application forms are
held in your college office and must be submitted by your college before the Committee
meeting (Friday of Week 3 in Michaelmas and Hilary, and Friday of Week 1 in Trinity). See
here for details: http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/fees-funding/assistance/hardship/uhf.
10. The Future
10.1 Taking your Degree
47
Once your name has appeared on the PPE Class List or Pass List, you may ‘supplicate’ for the
degree of Bachelor of Arts, that is, ask to be ‘presented’ to the Vice-Chancellor or the Vice-
Chancellor’s deputy, either in person or in absentia as you choose. Your college presents you,
and you must apply through it. If you wish to be presented in person, you must apply many
months in advance: there are about a dozen ceremonies each year (usually in the Sheldonian),
but they are heavily booked. You may ask your college for up to three tickets entitling guests
to attend a degree ceremony, and your college will probably invite you, and possibly your
guests, to lunch on the day. Dress is sub-fusc, and you must also make sure that you have,
perhaps by loan from your college, an undergraduate gown, mortar board or cap, and also a
BA gown and hood. The same procedure applies to the degree of MA, for which you may
supplicate - together with or after your BA - in or after your twenty-first term from
matriculation. Further information on degree ceremonies, transcripts, and preparing to leave
is here: https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/graduation?wssl=1.
10.2 Proceeding to Further Study If you are considering graduate study, the beginning of your final year is the latest time by
which you should research the various degrees on offer and choose the ones that appeal to
you. At that time you might also discuss the options with your tutors. Most applications for
graduate study, particularly to institutions in the northern hemisphere, must be submitted by
December or January. Deadlines are often strictly enforced and the competition for a place on
a particular degree may be intensive. Your initiatives are likely to fail if they are not completed
in good time.
Every year a number of PPE finalists apply to continue their studies at Oxford. There are three
main application deadlines at Oxford, though many degrees participate in only one or two of
the deadlines. You will be able to find a comprehensive list of deadlines, as well as information
about the application process, on the Graduate Admissions website at:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/index.html.
Graduate students must secure their own funding to cover fees and maintenance, both of
which can be costly. The closing dates for some fellowships and scholarships, especially those
overseas, may fall in advance of the application deadline for your chosen degree programme,
and the competition for funding can also be fierce, so it is important to research the deadlines
for these opportunities and to plan your applications in a timely manner.
There are two UK Government funding bodies: the Arts and Humanities Research Council
(AHRC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). They provide studentships
to a small number of UK students (fees and maintenance) and EU students (fees only). You
can find out more information about them, including which one supports your chosen
discipline, at www.ahrc.ac.uk and at www.esrc.ac.uk. Both research councils now operate a
quota system, which means that your department selects the successful studentship
nominees. You will need to check the local procedures for AHRC and ESRC studentship
applications at the institution to which you intend to apply.
If you are applying to continue your studies at Oxford, you should indicate your wish to be
considered for an AHRC studentship on the graduate application form (all students who are
48
eligible for an ESRC studentship are automatically considered). The department to which you
are applying will consider all students who ask for awards and will contact directly those
whom it chooses. In addition to Government funding bodies, other sources can also provide
funding to graduate students. You may find the following links helpful:
Humanities Division Funding
http://www.humanities.ox.ac.uk/prospective_students/graduates/funding
Social Sciences Division Funding
http://www.socsci.ox.ac.uk/students/for-postgraduates/esrc-dtc
University Fees and Funding
www.ox.ac.uk/feesandfunding/
10.3 Careers A wide range of careers is available to PPE graduates, and in recent years employers have
recruited very actively. You are strongly recommended to start thinking carefully about your
career plans early in your course. A PPE Careers Induction Session will be held in Week 1 of
Michaelmas Term 2016; you will be notified of the time and location by email.
The University’s Careers Service (www.careers.ox.ac.uk) is at the disposal of all students both
while studying and for four years after they leave Oxford. Their advice is that students should
contact them early in the second year to be able to take full advantage of the extensive range
of resources available through them. The Careers Service is located at 56 Banbury Road,
Oxford OX2 6PA (Tel: 274646).
49
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Outline of Papers For your second and third years you may choose to continue with all three subjects or to pur-
sue only two of them. This is a matter you should discuss with your college tutors. There are
various requirements to take particular papers, and restrictions on the option papers you can
take, and these are listed in detail in the Examination Regulations. The Examination Regulations
also contain the regulations for each paper. Course outlines, teaching arrangements and read-
ing lists are available on the websites for each of the three departments.
What follows here is an outline (not necessarily the actual regulations) of what the individual
papers involve. You may well find it helpful to look at recent examination papers (available
at https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/oxam) to help build up a picture of what is in-
volved in the various papers. If you find the examination questions interesting you are more
likely to find working on the paper engaging.
In the following table, numbers in brackets represent subjects with which that subject may not
be combined. Please note that the information in this table is subject to change: not all option
papers will necessarily be available. You will be notified of any changes by the relevant De-
partments, and an updated version of this Handbook will be published on PPE WebLearn.
Philosophy Politics Economics
Core Papers Core Papers Core Papers
101 Early Modern Philoso-
phy
102 Knowledge and Reality
103 Ethics
115 Plato Republic
116 Aristotle Nicomachean
Ethics
201 Comparative Govern-
ment
202 British Politics and Gov-
ernment since 1900
203 Theory of Politics (114)
214 International Relations
220 Political Sociology
300 Quantitative Economics
301 Macroeconomics
302 Microeconomics
Options Options Options
104 Philosophy of Mind
106 Philosophy of Science
and Social Science (105, 124)
107 Philosophy of Religion
108 Philosophy of Logic and
Language
109 Aesthetics and the Phi-
losophy of Criticism
110 Medieval Philosophy:
Aquinas (111)
204 Modern British Govern-
ment and Politics
205 Government and Poli-
tics of the United States
206 Politics in Europe
207 Politics in Russia and
the Former Soviet Union
208 Politics in Sub-Saharan
Africa
209 Politics in Latin America
210 Politics in South Asia
303 Microeconomic Analysis
304 Money and Banking
305 Public Economics
306 Economics of Industry
307 Labour Economics and
Industrial Relations (222)
308 International Economics
310 Economics of Develop-
ing Countries
311 British Economic His-
tory since 1870
50
111 Medieval Philosophy:
Duns Scotus, Ockham (110)
112 The Philosophy of Kant
113 Post-Kantian Philoso-
phy
114 Theory of Politics (203)
117 Frege, Russell, and Witt-
genstein (118)
118 The Later Philosophy of
Wittgenstein (117)
120 Intermediate Philoso-
phy of Physics
122 Philosophy of Mathe-
matics
124 Philosophy of Science
(105, 106)
125 Philosophy of Cognitive
Science
127 Philosophical Logic
128 Practical Ethics
150 Jurisprudence (114, 203)
198 Special Subjects
199 Thesis (298, 299, 399)
211 Politics in the Middle
East
212 International Relations
in the Era of Two World
Wars
213 International Relations
in the Era of the Cold War
215 Political Thought: Plato
to Rousseau
216 Political Thought: Ben-
tham to Weber
217 Marx and Marxism
218 Sociological Theory
219 The Sociology of Post-
Industrial Societies
222 Labour Economics and
Industrial Relations (307)
223 The Government and
Politics of Japan
224 Social Policy
225 Comparative Demo-
graphic Systems
226 Quantitative Methods in
Politics and Sociology
227 Politics in China
228 The Politics of the Euro-
pean Union
229 Advanced Paper in The-
ories of Justice
297 Special Subject in Poli-
tics
298 Supervised Dissertation
(199, 299, 399)
299 Thesis (199, 298, 399)
314 Econometrics
318 Finance
319 Game Theory
398 Special Subject in Eco-
nomics
399 Thesis (199, 298, 299)
A.1 Philosophy
Formal requirements
Students must take two core subjects: 103 Ethics, and one of papers 101 Early Modern Philos-
ophy, 102 Knowledge and Reality, 115 Plato: Republic, or 116 Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics. In
your choice of further subjects you should be guided by the Normal Prerequisites (see below).
You may only take 199 (Philosophy Thesis) if you are taking at least three other Philosophy
51
subjects. You may take only one from 106 (Philosophy of Science and of Social Science) and
124 (Philosophy of Science). You may not take both of 117 (Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein)
and 118 (the Later Wittgenstein), or both of 110 (Aquinas) and 111 (Duns Scotus and Ockham).
Bi-partite Politics and Economics students may take any one Philosophy subject (except 199,
Thesis in Philosophy), but should be guided by the Normal Prerequisites.
The official syllabuses for subjects may be found in the Examination Regulations, and it is these
which form the framework within which exam questions on a paper must be set. But to help
your choices, see below brief, informal descriptions of the subjects, followed in some cases by
a suggested introductory reading. You should always consult your tutor about your choice of
options, noting also the advice in the next paragraph.
Normal Prerequisites (indicated by NP)
In what follows, you will find that some subjects are named as ‘normal prerequisites’ for the
study of others. For instance: 112 The Philosophy of Kant (NP 101) means that those studying
112, Kant, would either normally be expected to have studied 101 (Early Modern Philosophy),
or to have undertaken relevant background reading in the History of Philosophy, as sug-
gested by their tutor. In some cases alternatives are given as the prerequisite, e.g. 107 Philos-
ophy of Religion (NP 101 or 102) means that those studying 107, Philosophy of Religion,
would normally be expected either to have studied 101 (History of Philosophy) or 102
(Knowledge and Reality), or to have undertaken relevant preparatory work in one or other of
those areas, as suggested by their tutor. In cases of doubt students are encouraged to consult
their tutors and establish with them, in their individual circumstances, what the best options
are.
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 ulti-
mately derive from experience, our knowledge is necessarily limited. Berkeley and Hume de-
veloped 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 subse-
quently 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.
The examination paper is divided into two sections and students are required to answer at
least one question from Section A (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz) and at least one from Section
B (Locke, Berkeley, Hume). NB: previously this paper was known as “History of Philosophy
52
from Descartes to Kant” and further allowed study of Kant (who remains available within
paper 112)
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 pro-
vided 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?' There is an op-
portunity 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 prob-
lem.
Jonathan Dancy, Introduction to Contemporary Epistemology (Oxford), chs. 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 de-
cide 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 oppor-
tunity to discuss some applied ethical issues. Knowledge of major historical thinkers, e.g. Ar-
istotle and Hume and Kant, will be encouraged, but not required in the examination.
53
John Mackie, Ethics (Penguin), chs. 1-2.
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, in-
cluding 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 con-
sciousness 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 some-
thing essential to a proper understanding of ourselves and others? Other more specific ques-
tions concern memory, thought, belief, emotion, perception, and action.
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 philos-
ophy 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, ob-
jectivity, scientific explanation, and the nature of scientific theories. Whether economics, soci-
ology, and political science are "really" sciences is a question that lay people as well as philos-
ophers 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 hu-
man 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 techno-
logical view of 'social control' does not threaten democratic politics as usually understood.
Please note: the Faculty of Philosophy has recently permitted PPE students taking this paper
to specialise in the Philosophy of Social Science. That is, students must answer at least one
question on Philosophy of Social Science in the exam, but can answer up to three. This is to
allow you to play to your strengths and experience as a student not just of Philosophy but also
of Politics and Economics.
54
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 any-
thing, 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 abun-
dant 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 exam-
ines 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 conven-
tions or stipulations, or the reflection of how things have to be independently of us? Philoso-
phy of language is closely related. It covers the very general question how language can de-
scribe 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 ad-
verbs, 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).
55
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 be-
cause 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 de-
pend 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 ques-
tions such as these ones, 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 ques-
tions, 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 Aes-
thetic 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 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 care-
fully read and analyse Aquinas’s texts and to focus on the philosophical questions they raise.
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.
Paper 116, Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics is a good background for this option.
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 Mid-
dle 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
56
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 immate-
riality 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 “supposition” and its applica-
tion 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 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.
Texts: Scotus: Philosophical Writings, tr. Wolter (Hackett), chapters II-IV, pp. 13-95 (man’s nat-
ural 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 cog-
nition); 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 enor-
mously 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 rec-
oncile traditional Christian morality and modern science, in the face of their apparently irrec-
oncilable 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 de-
velops 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’.
57
Critique of Pure Reason, P. Guyer and A. Wood (CUP);
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, trans. 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. Nie-
tzsche'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 philo-
sophical 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 hu-
man 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. This purpose of this
subject is to enable you to look at the main ideas we use 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 harm-
ful? 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.
58
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 stud-
ying it you will encounter a work of philosophy of unusual literary merit, one in which phi-
losophy 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 im-
portant contributions to ethics, political theory, metaphysics, philosophy of mind and aesthet-
ics. You are expected to study the work in detail; the examination contains a question requir-
ing comments on chosen passages (see Appendix F), as well as a choice of essay questions.
Julia Annas, An Introduction to Plato's Republic, Introduction and ch. 1.
Set translation: Plato: Republic, trans. 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 vir-
tues, 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 (see Appendix F), 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)
second edition.
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 the-
ory) and applied this apparatus to the analysis of arithmetic. Russell continued this pro-
gramme, 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. Abil-
ity to understand logical symbolism is important, and previous work in philosophical logic
would be advantageous.
59
Anthony Kenny, Frege (Penguin) and Wittgenstein (Penguin); J. O. Urmson, Philosophical Anal-
ysis.
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 distinc-
tive 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 philos-
ophy of mind. In philosophy of language, one key topic is the nature of rules and rule-follow-
ing. 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 illuminat-
ingly 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 Witt-
genstein thought) avoid Cartesianism without lapsing into behaviourism?
The texts: try Philosophical Investigations paras 1-80; Blue Book pp. 1-17; Saul Kripke: Wittgen-
stein on Rules and Private Language (Blackwell); Marie McGinn: Wittgenstein and the Philosophical
Investigations (Routledge, 1997, in the Routledge Philosophy Guidebooks series)
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, con-
cerning 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).
60
124. Philosophy of Science (NP 101 or 102): Philosophy of science is applied epistemology
and applied metaphysics. It is theory of scientific knowledge and scientific method, including
elements in philosophy of language, philosophy of mathematics, and metaphysics. It deals
with metaphysical questions – about space, time, causation, ontology, necessity, truth – as
they arise across the board in the special sciences, not just in physics. Questions of method
include questions of the theory-observation distinction, testability, induction, theory confir-
mation, and scientific explanation. They also include theory-change, whether inter-theoretic
reduction, unification, or revolutionary change. They are at once questions about scientific
rationality, and connect in turn with decision theory and the foundations of probability. They
connect also with metaphysics, particularly realism: theory-change, scepticism, fictionalism,
naturalism, the under-determination of theory by data, functionalism, structuralism, are all
critiques of realism.
The subject also includes the study of major historical schools in philosophy of science. The
most important of these is logical positivism (later logical empiricism), that dominated the
second and third quarters of the last century. In fact, some of the most important current
schools in philosophy of science are broadly continuous with it, notably constructive empiri-
cism and structural realism. The syllabus for this subject contains that for Part A of 106.
Don Gillies, Philosophy of Science in the Twentieth Century (Blackwells)
James Ladyman, Understanding Philosophy of Science (Routledge)
125. Philosophy of Cognitive Science (NP 102 or 104): This paper covers some of key ques-
tions 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 com-
putational 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
61
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 cog-
nition; evolutionary psychology and massive modularity; forward models and predictive cod-
ing; imagery; implicit processing (e.g. blindsight, prosopagnosia); innateness (e.g. concept na-
tivism); language processing and knowledge of language; perception and action (e.g. dorsal
vs. ventral visual systems); spatial representation; theory of mind / mindreading; unity of con-
sciousness. Lectures may also cover some historical background (e.g. the cognitive revolu-
tion).
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 under-
stand the benefits and limitations of bringing scientific data to bear on deep issues in the phi-
losophy of mind.
Recommended pathways:
Although there are no absolute prerequisites, it would be beneficial to study FHS 102
Knowledge and Reality and/or FHS 104 Philosophy of Mind in conjunction with this paper.
For those doing so it would be useful to have begun work on one or both of those papers first.
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 ex-
panded version is available online at the Philosophy Faculty Weblearn site, in the Undergrad-
uate Section, under ‘Reading Lists’.
Clark, A. (2001), Mindware: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Cognitive Science (Oxford, OUP).
127. Philosophical Logic: This paper is a second course in logic. It follows on from the first
logic course provided by The Logic Manual in Prelims. This is, at the time of writing, a new
paper, and will first be offered in the 2014-5 academic year.
This course exposes you to logical systems that extend and enrich—or challenge and deviate
from—classical logic, the standard propositional and predicate logic familiar from Prelims.
Why depart from classical logic? Here’s one example: classical logic has exactly two truth-
values, true and false. How, then, are we to deal with sentences like ‘Hamlet has blood type
O’ which appear to defy classification with either? One systematic answer is provided by
three-valued logics which deviate from classical logic by permitting their sentences to be nei-
ther truth nor false. Another example: classical logic only has truth-functional connectives.
How, then, are we to deal with connectives like ‘It must be the case that…’ whose semantics
cannot be captured with a truth-table? One systematic answer is provided by modal logic,
which extends classical logic by allowing its connectives to be non-truth-functional.
62
The course has two principal aims. The first is to give you the technical competence to work
with, and prove things about, a number of logical systems which have come to play a central
role across philosophy. These include non-classical propositional logics, such as three-valued
and intuitionistic systems, and extensions of classical logic, such as propositional and predi-
cate modal logic, as well as systems for counterfactual conditionals and ‘two-dimensional’
logic. The second principal aim is for you to come to appreciate the diverse philosophical
applications of these systems. The logic studied in this paper has important connections to the
metaphysics of time and existence, a priori knowledge, obligation, vagueness, and condition-
als, amongst many other issues, and is often presupposed in the contemporary literature on
these topics. Competence with the logic in this paper unlocks a wide range of fascinating work
across philosophy.
The paper is studied in conjunction with a set textbook:
Theodore Sider, Logic for Philosophy (Oxford University Press).
Like Prelims logic, the paper is mostly examined through problems not essays. The exam will
require you to apply logic and prove things about it, as well as to critically discuss its
philosophical applications. Consequently, the course calls for some technical ability but is
considerably less mathematically demanding than the Logic and Set Theory paper (B1),
studied in mathematics. (B1 is also available to be studied by philosophy students, and in
very exceptional cases it is a suitable option for them. Note, however, that there is no special
teaching provision for philosophy students taking B1: they are taught in classes alongside
mathematicians and must be prepared for the possibility that knowledge of relatively
advanced mathematics will be presupposed. For the very great majority of PPE students who
wish to undertake further work in logic, paper 127 will be the better option.)
128. Practical Ethics: The purposes of this course are to help you to appreciate that many
practical moral issues are intellectually demanding, and also to enable you to evaluate them
in a critical and rigorous way. Issues that will be covered include war, torture, punishment,
the killing of animals, markets, organ sales, consent in medicine and medical research,
abortion, euthanasia, causing people to exist, screening for disability, genetic enhancement,
global poverty, racial and gender equality, and so on. These and other related moral problems
raise fundamental issues of moral theory, such as whether the distinctions between doing and
allowing, means and side effects, partiality and impartiality, and so on are relevant to the
permissibility of action. Considerable engagement with normative ethics will therefore be
unavoidable in this course, though practical moral issues will not be addressed solely through
the mechanical application of any of the familiar moral theories, such as consequentialism.
Indeed, one of the aims of the course is to explore and question different methods of thinking
about practical ethics, such as reasoning by reference to moral theories, reasoning on the basis
of intuitions about particular cases, or some combination of the two.
150. Jurisprudence: This paper, from the Final Honour School of Jurisprudence, may be taken
by PPE FHS students as a subject in Philosophy.
63
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. Candi-
dates offering the Jurisprudence subject are prohibited from combining it with Theory of Pol-
itics (i.e., with either subject 114 or 203). Jurisprudence teaching comprises two elements: core
topics, taught by means of tutorials in Hilary or Trinity Term of the second year; and mini-
options (particular subjects within the general field of philosophy of law) taught by classes in
Trinity Term of the second year. 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. Jurispru-
dence is examined by means of a 3,000-4,000 word assessed essay written during the summer
vacation of the second year; and a two-hour timed examination at the end of the student’s
third year. The essay is written on one of a number of questions relating to the particular
mini-option undertaken by the student. Because of the timing of the essay, Jurisprudence can
only be taken in the second year.
198. Special subjects: As specified in the regulations for Philosophy in All Honour Schools in-
cluding Philosophy in the Examination Regulations.
199. Thesis: As specified in the regulations for Philosophy in All Honour Schools including Phi-
losophy in the Examination Regulations.
A.2 Politics You should choose your core subjects with care. The choice of two from five core subjects is
deliberately permissive. In the first year, you acquire the basic tools of political analysis, but
the discipline of Politics consists of several distinct schools of analysis, none of which is self-
evidently more fundamental than the others. The core papers are each designed to enhance
your ability to conceptualise, to compare, and to develop analytical skills. In a joint honours
degree, to require you to take papers covering all approaches would leave no space for choice
and specialisation. Your choice of core subjects will however have a bearing on your
subsequent work in Politics, and you are strongly advised to consult your college tutor and
option-paper tutors before selecting any optional subject. For a number of options, it is
helpful, though not essential, already to have taken a related core subject. Thus the study of
political systems in particular areas or countries is based on issues that are raised in
Comparative Government and Political Sociology; several subjects in the area of political
theory are most readily tackled with the background provided by Theory of Politics; the two
optional subjects in International Relations follow most naturally from the core paper, as to a
lesser degree, do those in Sociology from the core paper in Political Sociology. The
Department sets no ‘normal prerequisites’ (papers you should normally have studied before
studying others) similar to those in Philosophy. It prefers to leave final decisions on the
appropriateness of particular choices to the individual, in conjunction with college tutors, and
to leave open the possibility, where you might otherwise lack sufficient background, that you
attend additional lectures or follow a course of directed vacation reading covering important
material from the relevant core subject.
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A. Core subjects
Three of the five core papers contain a further Political Analysis component. These are papers 201, 214
and 220. Candidates taking these papers are expected to complete the course of study in Po-
litical Analysis, which consists of further lectures and data labs. They are also expected to
submit an assessed methods essay in each of the papers they propose to take in the Final Hon-
our School.
201. Comparative Government: This course is a comparative study of the main political insti-
tutions through which con-temporary societies are governed. It focuses on the origins and
effects of democratic institutions and attempts to understand the differences between forms
of government and what effects they have within the polity. As such, topics studied include
those such as state-building, colonial legacies, judiciaries, bureaucracies, the origins of parties,
interest groups and the nature of political activism. Through reference to the distinct method-
ological approach used by different scholars in studying these phenomena, students acquire
an understanding of the utility and limits of different means of analysis. The course builds on
material covered at Prelims, for instance by developing on conceptual ideas about regimes to
move towards causal theories of democratization and factors sustaining authoritarian re-
gimes. It provides students with an understanding of key concepts and tools of empirical po-
litical 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 is formed of sixteen lectures, and students are expected to treat it
as a commitment running right through the academic year.
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 in-
clude techniques and methods as diverse as archivally-based historical analysis, political bi-
ography 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 gov-
ernment; the changing party system under mass democracy; the challenges and failures of
political extremism; the domestic impact of foreign policies such as appeasement, decolonisa-
tion and European integration; the challenges posed to modern governments by relative eco-
nomic decline, and efforts to transform the system such as tariff reform, social democracy and
Thatcherism.
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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.
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].
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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.
B. Further Subjects
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
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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.
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, compare, and contrast 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 detail. 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 class. These
include the politics of democratization and political parties, structural adjustment and
economic reform, agricultural policy, gender, class and ethnicity, the politics of religion, civil
conflict and the politics of natural resources. The course will allow students to extend their
understanding of comparative politics and international relations, particularly of issues
common to Africa and other regions they may be studying, as well as political theory and
political sociology, by raising relevant questions in the African context. Students will acquire
an informed and critical understanding of African countries. Students may use this course as
a foundation for graduate research as well as for further work in and about Africa in business,
government, journalism, NGOs and advocacy work, etc. 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 Amer-
ica and use comparative methods to clarify and analyse them. This course focuses on the pol-
itics 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
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analyse the main issues. Yet the course also demonstrates the continuing relevance of the his-
torical and cultural contexts of Latin American politics, and the main issues are placed in con-
text by reference to the politics of particular countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil,
Chile, Mexico, Peruand 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’.
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
69
then proceed to a Masters in Middle Eastern studies. Please note that demand sometimes
outstrips teaching supply on this paper.
212. International Relations in the Era of the Two World Wars: This course is the study of
central issues in the international history of a period 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.
215. Political Thought: Plato to Rousseau: The objective of this paper is to introduce students
to some of the canonical texts in political thought and to help them to develop an appreciation
of the significance of these texts 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 and their
significance for a 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 supplementary topics which encourage students to examine issues raised by these
texts in the context of related discussions in the wider canon 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
70
discuss the arguments of the texts in relation to issues in contemporary political theory. 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.
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 Marx's own writings and some subsequent Marxist theory. The course
focusses on the political, philosophical, and sociological aspects of this body of work, but there
is some opportunity to look at Marxist economic thought if students want (in consultation
with tutors). All students are required to cover the central ideas of Marx and Engels; including
their theory of history, view of human nature, understanding of class and politics, and vision
of socialism. However, there is also an opportunity to strike a balance between concentrating
on these texts - and their interpretation and evaluation - and considering the theoretical
contributions of later Marxists (including Rosa Luxemburg, V.I. Lenin, and Leon Trotsky).
While most attention is devoted to issues in Marxist theory, students can also approach
Marxism as a practical body of political thought 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.
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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. (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. 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.
222. Labour Economics and Industrial Relations: Can also be taken as an Economics subject,
see Economics entry 307 below.
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223. The Government and Politics of Japan: This course provides a study of 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. 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, principles and problems
of welfare states; the mixed economy of welfare, including the state, private provision,
voluntary organisations and the informal sector; the efforts to cluster different types of welfare
states; and the analysis of social policy problems and policies. The first four weeks of more
generic topics such as these are followed by four weeks of more specific is-sues chosen from
amongst such topics as: ageing; poverty and social exclusion; health; education; family policy;
housing or homelessness; labour market policy; and immigration. 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: The course deals with the major subject areas and
controversies in contemporary demography. Students will gain an understanding of major
contemporary demographic trends, the theories advanced to account for them and their
practical importance. These include: the status of demographic transition models, theories of
low fertility and of divergent mortality in the industrial world; the prospects for welfare
systems in ageing societies, new forms of family and household and their future; the realities
and prospects of mass migration. Population growth, economic development, environmental
pressures and new threats to health in the post war third world will receive attention, and the
future of world population as growth rates slacken and poor societies begin population
ageing. Intended and unintended consequences of government actions on demographic
phenomena, and the historical origins of Europe’s distinctive demography will be
emphasised. On the technical side of the subject, by the end of the course students will know
73
the limitations and origins of demographic data, the advantages of measuring demographic
phenomena through different indices and the use of models in population analysis. They will
be able to perform elementary operations in the analysis of fertility and mortality, including
methods of standardization, the construction and manipulation of the life table and simple
population projection. Only elementary arithmetic ability is needed, but sympathy for
arguments presented as graphs, numbers or simple expressions is important. No previous
demographic knowledge is required. This subject provides an unusual opportunity to
combine numerical analysis of human populations with an interdisciplinary comparative
analysis of population change at micro and macro level.
The examination paper will comprise two sections. Section 1 will test the candidate’s ability
to interpret quantitative results and the methods of demographic analysis. Section 2 will test
the candidate’s knowledge of substantive trends and their explanation. Candidates will be
required to answer three questions, one from Section 1 and two from Section 2.
226. Quantitative Methods in Politics and Sociology: Suspended for 2016-17.
227. Politics in China: This course will enable students to acquire a knowledge and under-
standing 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 back-
ground 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. Please note
that demand sometimes outstrips teaching supply on this paper.
228. The Politics of the European Union: This paper focuses on the study of the history, in-
stitutions, and policy processes of the European Union. It includes analysis of the history and
theories of the European integration process. Candidates are expected to show knowledge of
politics of the European Union, including the main institutions of the EU, decision making
procedures and specific policies, as well as relations between the EU and the rest of the world.
The paper also focuses on democracy in the European Union and the impact of European
integration on the domestic politics and policies of the member states.
229. Advanced Paper in Theories of Justice: Theories of justice often focus on adults who lack
any disabilities, who live in a single society with no history of injustice and who are contem-
poraries. This paper aims to examine the questions that arise when we broaden the focus of
justice beyond these confines. In particular, it examines what principles of justice should ap-
ply with respect to:
74
(i) global politics and justice (What principles of justice, if any, apply at the global level? In a
globalized world, goods and services cross borders. This raises the question as to what are
just terms of trade. What would constitute 'fair trade'? People also often cross borders. This
raises the question: Is there a human right to free movement? Or may states permissibly limit
migration, and, if so, on what grounds? In addition to this, environmental hazards (like cli-
mate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification) transcend borders. This raises the ques-
tion of who should bear the burdens of addressing global environmental degradation, and
what would be a fair share of the world's natural resources.)
(ii) historic injustice (How should we respond to past injustice? Are reparations required, and
if so, when? Is it fair to make those alive today pay for the actions of earlier generations? Do
current generations have duties to rectify the situation because they have benefited from in-
justice? What implications do these principles have given histories of colonialism, imperial-
ism, and racial and other kinds of historic injustice?)
(iii) future generations (Do we have duties of justice to those who have not yet been born? If
so, why? Many conventional theories of justice hold that there are duties not to harm indi-
viduals or violate individual rights; some emphasize duties of justice among those engaged
in schemes of cooperation. What implications, if any, do such ideals have for intergenera-
tional justice? If we do have duties of justice to future generations, what principles of justice
apply? What implications does this have for environmental sustainability, economic growth,
and the future of the welfare state?)
(iv) disability and justice (Mainstream theories of justice often assume agents who lack any
disability. How should we conceptualize disability? Should it be understood as a 'mere dif-
ference' or in some other way? In addition to this, are mainstream theories well-equipped to
provide a plausible and attractive account of what those with disabilities are entitled to? What
kinds of policies are demanded by a commitment to treating all fairly, and what limits, if any,
are there to the demands which may be required by such policies?)
(v) children and justice (Conventional theories of justice tend to focus on adults. What rights,
if any, do children have? And, who is obligated to pay for the welfare and education of chil-
dren? Should it be parents, because, and to the extent that, they brought them into existence?
Or society at large on the grounds that children are a public good?)
The course is centred around these five sets of normative issues. The aim of the course is to
develop students’ knowledge and understanding of the content and scope of principles of
justice, and allow them to assess the normative underpinnings of key policy debates (such as
those surrounding climate change and environmental degradation; trade, development, mi-
gration; the legacy of colonialism, imperialism and past injustice; disability rights and the de-
mands of justice; and, the future of the welfare state and state support for families with chil-
dren).
Students are not required to have taken 'Theory of Politics' (but it is recommended).
75
297. Special Subject in Politics: Where offered, Special Subjects are examined like most other
papers in Politics: by three hour unseen examination, in which three questions must be an-
swered. 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.
Comparative Political Economy (Special Subject in Politics): The study of comparative po-
litical economy (CPE) examines the relationships between politics and economics across na-
tions. The paper introduces students to the systematic analysis of these interconnections
across economically developed democracies in the West and with additional reference to rap-
idly developing economies such as China and India. Its principal aim is to provide students
with insights into how market economies are institutionally designed and how they function
both politically and economically. An emphasis is placed on how different ways of institu-
tionally organising societies in turn shapes national economic performance and societal ine-
quality. This theme, regarding the balance which nations strike between economic efficiency
and socio-economic inequality, is explored through centuries of scholarship from the 18th and
19th century writings of Adam Smith and Karl Marx to the latest analyses in the field of the
recent economic crisis. There will also be a focus on comparing the way in which national
economies have been governed and what this imparts about the development and the chang-
ing nature of global capitalism. The principal objective will be to acquaint students with the
diversity of perspectives and academic approaches which scholars have used over the centu-
ries and up to the present day in order to understand how politics and economics shape the
world in which we live. The paper has been designed with a view to accommodating both
those who are interested in the historical study of CPE and those who are interested in its
quantitative study with assigned texts in the course reading list drawing upon both academic
perspectives. Topics include: Economic Policy and Economic Performance, The Politics of Re-
distribution and Inequality, Firms and Labour Markets, The Interests of Business and Organ-
ised Labour, Financial Systems and Corporate Governance, Economic Crisis, Classic Theories
of Political Economy, Public Sector Growth and the Rise of the Welfare State, Institutional
Change and Changing Approaches to Capitalism.
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. De-
pending on the availability of teaching resources, not all Special Subjects will be available to
all candidates in every year. There might be other further subjects which it would not be pos-
sible to offer alongside it. For example, if there were a Special Subject on The U.S. Supreme
Court, it might be restricted to candidates not taking Government and Politics of the USA. Any
such restrictions would 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 num-
bers.
76
International Security and Conflict (Special Subject in Politics): International security and
conflict is a core concern of the discipline of international relations. This paper offers an intro-
duction to this field of scholarship, providing students with a thorough grounding in major
debates regarding the nature of security, the form and scale of traditional and novel threats to
security, and the dynamics of violent conflict in the contemporary world. Specifically, the
course will cover twelve key topics: theories and concepts of security; the causes of interstate
war; regional security; civil wars; nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; terrorism; mass
atrocities and genocide; refugees, displacement and forced migration; sexual violence and
gender in conflict; organised crime and piracy; cyber threats and cybersecurity; and conflict
prevention and response. The paper will be offered in Michaelmas, Hilary and Trinity Terms
in the 2016-17 academic year. Students are required to have taken the International Relations
214 core paper in order to select this special subject paper.
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. De-
pending on the availability of teaching resources, not all Special Subjects will be available to
all candidates in every year. There might be other further subjects which it would not be pos-
sible to offer alongside it. For example, if there were a Special Subject on The U.S. Supreme
Court, it might be restricted to candidates not taking Government and Politics of the USA. Any
such restrictions would 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 num-
bers.
298: Supervised dissertation in Politics: see the separate entry under section 1.7 of this
Handbook.
299: Thesis in Politics: see the separate entry under section 1.6 of this Handbook.
A.3 Economics
A. Core subjects Students continuing with Economics must take three compulsory core papers in Economics -
Quantitative Economics, Microeconomics and Macroeconomics - as part of their Finals, except
that tripartite students may take only two Economics papers in total, in which case they may
choose any two of these three.
300. Quantitative Economics: This is a core Finals course; the lectures and classes will be given
in Trinity Term. The QE course is designed to give students a good understanding of the
rationale for and intuition about the application of statistical methods to the analysis of a range
of applied economics issues, such as the economics effects of education or the behaviour of
aggregate consumption. Topics covered will include statistical and causal inference,
multivariate regression analysis, testing and interpretation of regression results and empirical
77
applications and interpretation of current and recent literature in a number of areas of
empirical economics.
301. Macroeconomics: This is a core Finals course; the lectures are given in Hilary Term. The
course will introduce you to the ideas and tools of modern macroeconomic analysis, and show
how these tools can be applied to issues in macroeconomic policy. The Macroeconomics paper
in Finals will contain two sections. Part A will consist of shorter questions designed to ensure
that students demonstrate a reasonable coverage of the syllabus. Part B will consist of
questions requiring longer answers showing more detailed knowledge of particular topics.
You will be required to answer questions from both sections. The course will cover:
macroeconomic theories and their policy implications; macroeconomic shocks and
fluctuations; unemployment and inflation; exchange rates, interest rates and current account;
intertemporal adjustment, growth theory and monetary and fiscal policy.
302. Microeconomics: This is a core Finals course; the lectures are given in Michaelmas Term.
The Microeconomics paper in Finals will contain two sections. Part A will consist of shorter
questions designed to ensure that students demonstrate a reasonable coverage of the syllabus.
Part B will consist of questions requiring longer answers showing more detailed knowledge
of particular topics. You will be required to answer questions from both sections. The course
aims to introduce you to some of the fundamental ideas and tools of modern microeconomic
theory and their applications to policy issues, such as competition and environmental policies.
The course will cover: Risk, expected utility theory; welfare economics and general
equilibrium, public goods and externalities; game theory and industrial organisation;
information economics and applications of microeconomics.
B. Option subjects In Hilary Term of your second year there will be an Economics Options Fair, at which one of
the tutors teaching each option will be available to give an introduction to the content of the
course, and answer questions on its organisation and teaching arrangements. The list of
options below is indicative: details of the choices available for the following year will be
announced at the Options Fair at the beginning of the fourth week of the first Hilary Full Term
of your second year, and will be posted on the Department's WebLearn site at the same time.
303. Microeconomic Analysis: The course will introduce and develop some key elements of
microeconomic analysis along with their mathematical foundations. Those topics may (but
will not necessarily) include: Principal-Agent problems, General Equilibrium (with
uncertainty), Asset pricing. A descriptive list of the topics will be published on the Economics
website by the beginning of the year in which the course is taught and examined.
It will be assumed that students have mathematical fluency in: sets & sequences, functions of
one variable, differentiation, and integration.
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.
78
305. Public Economics: Public Economics is a very wide-ranging discipline, concerned with
the principles underlying most aspects of economic policy. The course covers both principles
and applications. It starts by developing the welfare-theoretic foundations of policy analysis,
the rationale for government intervention and the constraints on government action. Taxation
and government expenditure are considered extensively. On the revenue side of the public
accounts we consider the principles involved in tax design and analyse different types of
taxes, including social insurance systems. On the expenditure side the course assesses the
rationale for major categories of public spending, including health, education and pensions.
306. Economics of Industry: This popular course centres on the behaviour of private sector
firms. It builds on the analysis of oligopoly behaviour developed in the Microeconomics core
course, extending this to provide a comprehensive industrial organization analysis.
Implications of firm behaviour for social welfare are considered throughout. The course
includes empirical evidence from studies of real markets. The major themes of industrial and
competition policy are covered, including oligopolistic price competition, product
differentiation, strategic entry deterrence and predatory behaviour, advertising, price
discrimination, vertically related markets, R & D, technology races, the relationship between
market structure and profitability, and the analysis of mergers.
307. Labour Economics and Industrial Relations: The aim of the paper is to understand: the
behaviour of employees and employers and of collective groups which they may form; how
the labour market works and the macroeconomic and distributional outcomes it produces; the
policies and practices of organisations towards their employees; government policy towards
labour issues. Students are encouraged to take an international comparative perspective on
the individual topics. As the above indicates, the paper is a mixture of Macro and Micro.
However, it allows a much more intensive study of distributional matters, of policy and of
applied issues more generally than do these two core papers. Another special subject that fits
well with this option is Public Economics. For PPE students this paper counts as either an
Economics or a Politics special subject. Partly because of this, it encompasses a wider range of
topics than many other special subjects. The exam paper is not sectionalised and your choice
is not restricted by whether you are deeming this an Economics or a Politics option. For
Economics and Management students there is a “sister” optional paper in management –
Employment Relations. Examiners ensure that the two Finals exams contain an optimal
degree of overlap.
308. International Economics: With the increasing internationalisation of economic life the
study of International Economics has much to offer in helping to think about global
developments. The course will analyse the determinants of international trade, including the
implications of imperfect competition in international markets; the cases when a protectionist
policy towards international trade may be appropriate; regionalism in international trading
arrangements; the fundamental determinants of the balance of payments and exchange rates;
the theory and evidence relating to exchange rate behaviour and to alternative exchange rate
arrangements; the international context within which domestic macroeconomic policy is
designed and conducted; international macroeconomic linkages; and the importance of
international macroeconomic policy co-ordination.
79
310. Economics of Developing Countries: Economic development for the world’s poorer
nations is a self-evident challenge, which demands serious economic analysis. This course
introduces you to key areas of development economics, relating analysis to conditions in
developing countries, and exploring some of the major economic policy issues relating to
developing countries. The topics covered include: theories of growth and development;
poverty and income distribution; human resources, labour markets and employment;
industrialisation and technology; agriculture and rural development. Familiar topics which
have to be adapted to the situation in developing countries also include monetary and fiscal
issues; inflation; foreign trade and payments; foreign and domestic capital; the role of
economic aid. An overarching theme is the role of government in development and the
operation of markets. While the approach taken in the course is analytical, you will be
expected to have an interest in the problems and policies of particular regions or countries,
and use knowledge of actual situations to inform and illustrate the analysis.
311. British Economic History since 1870: This subject analyses the record of the British
economy since 1870 from an economist’s perspective. A continuing theme is the assessment
of the extent and sources of the decline of the British economy. For the period 1870-1918 topics
of particular interest include British overseas investment and changes in agriculture, both of
which played a significant role in developments here and abroad. The analysis of the inter-
war period begins from a review of the industrial problems of the British economy, and then
covers the return to the Gold Standard in 1925, the great depression and unemployment,
including the departure from gold in 1931, and the sources and nature of the economic
recovery in the 1930s. The post-1945 period brings the ‘Keynesian Revolution’, demand
management and the role of fiscal policy. Economic growth in the ‘golden age’ was tarnished
by price and wage inflation, followed by rising unemployment and the slowdown in output
and productivity growth beginning in the 1970s.
314. Econometrics: Econometrics is concerned with the application of statistical theory to the
analysis of economic data and the estimation of economic relationships. A variety of
econometric topics will be covered, 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. Application of the introduced
econometric methods to economic problems will also be discussed.
A descriptive list of the topics will be published on the Economics website before the begin-
ning of the year in which the course is taught and examined.
318. Finance: Investment appraisal under conditions of certainty/uncertainty. Portfolio the-
ory and capital asset pricing model. Sources of finance, debt capacity, dividends, and cost of
capital. Financial market efficiency. Emerging issues in finance. Takeovers and mergers.
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, cooperative 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.
80
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.
398. Special Subject in Economics: Special Subjects will be examined by examination paper.
No candidate may offer more than one Special Subject. The list of Special Subjects will be pub-
lished by the Department of Economics at its ‘Options Fair’ at the beginning of the fourth
week of the first Hilary Full Term of candidates’ work for the Honour School, and will be
posted on the Department's undergraduate web-site at the same time. Depending on the avail-
ability of teaching resources, not all Special Subjects will be available in every year. There may
be no Special Subjects offered in a particular year.
399. Thesis: See section 1.6 of this Handbook.
81
APPENDIX B: Examination Regulations
The Examination Regulations are available at: www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/
For the Final Examination, the Regulations that apply to you are those for students starting in
2016-17. At the above link, search for 'Honour School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics',
and then the view the regulations for the appropriate year. Do also read the Related Regula-
tions listed under that search, especially 'Philosophy in all Honour Schools including
Philosophy' (the latter lists the regulations for Philosophy FHS papers), 'Regulations for the
Conduct of University Examinations' and 'General Regulations for the First and Second Public
Examination'.
APPENDIX C: Complaints and Academic Appeals
Complaints and academic appeals within the three faculties/departments
The University, the Social Sciences and Humanities Divisions and the three faculties/depart-
ments all hope that provision made for students at all stages of their course of study will make
the need for complaints (about that provision) or appeals (against the outcomes of any form
of assessment) infrequent.
Where such a need arises, an informal discussion with the person immediately responsible
for the issue that you wish to complain about (and who may not be one of the individuals
identified below) is often the simplest way to achieve a satisfactory resolution.
Many sources of advice are available from colleges, faculties/departments and bodies like the
Counselling Service or the OUSU Student Advice Service, which have extensive experience in
advising students. You may wish to take advice from one of these sources before pursuing
your complaint.
General areas of concern about provision affecting students as a whole should be raised
through Joint Consultative Committees or via student representation on the faculty/depart-
ment’s committees.
Complaints
If your concern or complaint relates to teaching or other provision made by the faculty/de-
partment, then you should raise it with Director of Undergraduate Studies (see Appendix D:
Key Contacts) or with the Director of Graduate Studies as appropriate. Complaints about de-
partmental facilities should be made to the Departmental Administrator (see Appendix D). If
you feel unable to approach one of those individuals, you may contact the Head of Depart-
ment/Faculty (see Appendix D). The officer concerned will attempt to resolve your con-
cern/complaint informally.
82
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you may take your concern further by making a for-
mal complaint to the Proctors under the University Student Complaints Procedure
(https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/complaints).
If your concern or complaint relates to teaching or other provision made by your college, you
should raise it either with your tutor or with one of the college officers, Senior Tutor, Tutor
for Graduates (as appropriate). Your college will also be able to explain how to take your
complaint further if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of its consideration.
Academic appeals
An academic appeal is an appeal against the decision of an academic body (e.g. boards of
examiners, transfer and confirmation decisions etc.), on grounds such as procedural error or
evidence of bias. There is no right of appeal against academic judgement.
If you have any concerns about your assessment process or outcome it is advisable to discuss
these first with your subject or college tutor, Senior Tutor, course director, director of studies,
supervisor or college or departmental administrator as appropriate. They will be able to ex-
plain the assessment process that was undertaken and may be able to address your concerns.
Queries must not be raised directly with the examiners.
If you still have concerns you can make a formal appeal to the Proctors who will consider
appeals under the University Academic Appeals Procedure (https://www.ox.ac.uk/stu-
dents/academic/complaints).
APPENDIX D: Key Contacts
PPE Administrator
Ms Violet Brand 88564
Philosophy
Chair of the Faculty Board: Dr Edward Harcourt 72741
Chair of the Faculty: Prof Chris Timpson 77584
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Prof Paul Lodge (for MT) 82883
Undergraduate Studies Administrator: Mr James Knight 76925
Politics and International Relations
Head of Department: Dr Elizabeth Frazer 88560
Chair of the Sub-faculty: Prof Patricia Thornton 76324
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Dr Karma Nabulsi 74151/79017
Undergraduate Studies Coordinator: Miss Alice Evans 78706
Economics
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Head of Department: Prof Margaret Stevens 71092
Director of Undergraduate Studies: Professor Ian Crawford 81441
Undergraduate Administrator: Ms Katherine Cumming 71098
Sociology
Head of Department: Prof Melinda Mills 86181
Director of Taught Courses: Prof Colin Mills 86182
Departmental Secretary: Ms Jane Greig 81740
Social Policy and Intervention
Head of Department: Prof Rebecca Surender 80326
Social Policy Paper Convenor: Ms Fran Bennett 70321
Courses Administrator: Mr Robin McGahey 70326
Libraries
Social Science Library, Manor Road Building 71093
Philosophy and Theology Faculties Library, Radcliffe Humanities 76927
Social Science Division
Enquiries 14850
Humanities Division
Enquiries 80106
Nightline 70270
APPENDIX E: Policies and Regulations
The University has a wide range of policies and regulations that apply to students. These are
easily accessible through the A-Z of University regulations, codes of conduct and policies
available on the Oxford Students website: www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/regulations/a-z.
APPENDIX F: Policy on the recording of lectures and other
formal teaching sessions by students
Introduction
1. The University recognises that there are a number of reasons why students might wish
to record lectures or other formal teaching sessions (such as seminars and classes) in or-
der to support their learning. The University also recognises that in most cases copy-
right in lectures resides with the University or with the academic responsible for the
lecture or formal teaching session, and that academics and students may have concerns
84
about privacy and data protection. This policy sets out the circumstances in which such
recordings may take place; the respective roles and responsibilities of those involved in
such recordings; and the implications of breaches of this policy.
2. For the purposes of this policy, the term 'recording' refers to any audio or visual re-
cording of a lecture or other formal teaching session, made with any type of audio or
visual recorder.
Permission to record a lecture or other formal teaching session
3. Students who have been given permission to record lectures or other formal teaching
sessions as a reasonable adjustment on disability-related grounds do not need to ask
for permission to record from individual academics. Students who believe they have
disability-related grounds for recording should contact the University’s Disability
Advisory Service (http://www.ox.ac.uk/students/welfare/disability/study or disabil-
[email protected]) for further information on the process for obtaining such per-
mission.
4. Students may request permission to record any lectures or other formal teaching ses-
sions. All such requests should be made in writing (including by email) prior to the
lecture course or equivalent, to the academic responsible. Subject to paragraph 3
above, the decision on whether to grant permission is at the discretion of the
academic. Students may only record lectures where the academic responsible for the
session has given their consent prior to the start of the lecture in writing (e.g. by
email), and recordings of lectures may not be made by students unless this consent has
been given. Retrospective requests are not permissible under this policy and covert re-
cording of lectures will be treated as a disciplinary offence.
5. Students granted permission in writing to record a formal teaching session other than
a lecture should ask the session leader to check at the start of the session that there are
no objections from others present to a recording being made.
6. Where recordings are made available routinely by departments and faculties, stu-
dents may not make personal recordings unless they have been given permission to
record as a reasonable adjustment.
Use of recordings
7. Recordings of lectures or other formal teaching sessions may only be made for the
personal and private use of the student.
8. Students may not:
(a) pass such recordings to any other person (except for the purposes of
transcription, in which case they can be passed to one person only);
(b) publish such recordings in any form (this includes, but is not limited to,
the internet and hard copy publication). Students may store recordings of
lectures for the duration of their programme of study. Once they have
85
completed the programme of study, students should destroy all record-
ings of lectures or other formal teaching sessions.
Implementation
9. Where a student breaches this policy, the University will regard this as a discipli-
nary offence. All such breaches will be dealt with in accordance with Statute XI
(http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/statutes/352-051a.shtml).
APPENDIX G: Fieldwork Safety and Training
Fieldwork
Many students will, as part of their course, be required to undertake fieldwork. Fieldwork is
considered as any research activity contributing to your academic studies, and approved by
your department, which is carried out away from the University premises. This can be over-
seas or within the UK. The safety and welfare of its students is paramount to the University.
This includes fieldwork and there are a number of procedures that you must follow when
preparing for and carrying out fieldwork.
Preparation
Safe fieldwork is successful fieldwork. Thorough preparation can pre-empt many potential
problems. When discussing your research with your supervisor please think about the safety
implications of where you are going and what you are doing. Following this discussion and
before your travel will be approved, you will be required to complete a travel risk assessment
form. This requires you to set out the significant safety risks associated with your research,
the arrangements in place to mitigate those risks and the contingency plans for if something
goes wrong. There is an expectation that you will take out University travel insurance. Your
department also needs accurate information on where you are, and when and how to contact
you while you are away. The travel assessment process should help to plan your fieldwork
by thinking through arrangements and practicalities. The following website contains some
fieldwork experiences which might be useful to refer to https://www.socsci.ox.ac.uk/field-
workers-experiences
Training
Training is highly recommended as part of your preparation. Even if you are familiar with
where you are going there may be risks associated with what you are doing.
Departmental course: no Departmental courses available
Safety Office courses http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/safety/overseastravelfieldwork/
(run termly)
86
Emergency First Aid for Fieldworkers.
Fieldwork Safety Overseas: A full day course geared to expedition based fieldwork.
Useful Links
More information on fieldwork and a number of useful links can be found on the Social
Sciences divisional website:
http://www.socsci.ox.ac.uk/services/research-and-impact/fieldwork/fieldwork;
http://www.socsci.ox.ac.uk/services/research-and-impact/fieldwork/fieldwork-more-
information
Please note that for Politics theses, if your thesis involves human participants, you may need
to get ‘research ethics’ approval, which is designed to protect both you and those you are
studying. For details, please see ‘Courses’ followed by ‘299 Thesis’ on the Department of Pol-
itics undergraduate WebLearn page.
APPENDIX H: Declaration of Authorship
The declaration of authorship that you must use when submitting your thesis will be sent to
you, along with a letter from the chair of examiners, before your thesis submission date.
Electronic copies of the declaration will also be available on PPE WebLearn: https://web-
learn.ox.ac.uk/portal/site/%3Asocsci%3Axsocsci%3Appe/page/14e40209-0739-4ce5-9042-
186d7ba4a8a2
APPENDIX I: Examination Conventions
These are the PPE FHS Examining Conventions for 2015-16. They are included in this handbook as a
sample only. The conventions under which you will be examined will be sent to you by email in Hil-
ary term of the year of the examination.
Introduction
Final Honour School (FHS) of Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE)
Examining Conventions 2016
Candidates sitting their Examinations in Trinity Term 2016 are bound by these Conventions,
and by the Examination Regulations 2014-15 (the year in which candidates will normally
have entered FHS).
Examination Conventions are the formal record of the specific assessment standards for the
course or courses to which they apply. They set out how examined work will be marked and
how the resulting marks will be used to arrive at a final result and classification of an award.
The supervisory body responsible for approving the Examination Conventions is the Social
Sciences Board’s Teaching Audit Committee.
87
Rubrics for Individual Papers
Candidates may offer either Philosophy, Politics and Economics or Philosophy and Politics or
Politics and Economics or Philosophy and Economics. Candidates must take eight subjects
and must satisfy the requirements of particular branches of the school, as set out in the Ex-
amination Regulations 2014-15.1 All eight examination components are weighted equally.
Please consult the front page of the examination paper from the most recent year available
for the rubrics of individual papers, including the number of questions candidates can typi-
cally choose from, and the balance of compulsory and optional questions. Past papers are
available on Oxam.2 Where a new rubric has recently been introduced, the Departments /
Faculties that constitute PPE will supply sample papers on WebLearn, or otherwise alert
candidates to the changes. The rubric for Jurisprudence is stated in the FHS Examination
Conventions published by the Law Faculty, which will be made available to PPE candidates.
For the regulations for individual papers, see the Examination Regulations 2014-15.
All papers are assessed by means of 3-hour unseen examinations, except Jurisprudence, Su-
pervised Dissertations and Theses. Jurisprudence is assessed by means of an essay of 3000-
4000 words (written over the Long Vacation between second and third years and handed in
by noon on Friday of Week 0 of Michaelmas Term) and a 2-hour unseen examination (taken
at the end of the third year). Supervised Dissertations and Theses in Politics and Economics
must be submitted no later than noon on the Thursday of Week 0 of Trinity Term in the
third year, in accordance with the Examination Regulations 2014-15 (see ‘399. Thesis’).3 The-
ses in Philosophy must be submitted no later than noon on Friday of Week 0 of Trinity Term
in the third year, in accordance with the Examination Regulations for Philosophy in all Hon-
our Schools including Philosophy 2014-15 (see ‘199. Thesis’).4
Marking Conventions
The degree classification is determined by the eight separate marks awarded for the exami-
nation components. Marks are awarded in accordance with the following scheme:
First 70-100 (Excellent First: 80-89; Exceptional First: 90-100)
Upper-Second 60-69
Lower-Second 50-59
1 Available here: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/2014-15/hsop-poliandecon/studentview/ 2 Available here: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/oxam/ 3 Available here: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/2014-15/hsop-poliandecon/studentview/ 4 Available here: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/examregs/2014-15/piahsinclphil/studentview/
88
Third 40-49
Pass 30-39
Fail 0-29 (Outright Failure of FHS: 0-9)
Qualitative Criteria
Qualitative Descriptors for Philosophy
Qualitative descriptors for Philosophy are available here
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/x/bHVhD9.
Qualitative Descriptors for Politics
Qualitative descriptors for Politics are available here https://web-
learn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/socsci/politics/students/undergrad-
uat under ‘Marking criteria for Politics exam essays and theses in
PPE’.
Qualitative Descriptors for Economics
Qualitative descriptors for Economics are available here
https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/portal/hierarchy/socsci/econ/curr_stu-
dent/undergrad/examinations/page/home under ‘Assessment Crite-
ria’.
Qualitative Descriptors for Jurisprudence
Candidates should consult the FHS Examination Conventions of the
Law Faculty.
Verification and Reconciliation of Marks
All examined components are subjected to double-blind marking: the two markers submit
their initial marks without knowing what the other has given, and may not subsequently
change those initial marks. If the two markers give different initial marks they will be so in-
formed and asked to confer and produce either an agreed mark or, in exceptional circum-
stances, an explanation of their inability to agree, in which case a third reader will be asked
to produce a decisive mark. Agreed marks may lie outside the range of the initial marks.
Third-reader marks must lie within the range of the initial marks.
The external Examiners may recommend changes to agreed or third-reader marks. The
Board of Examiners may accept or reject these recommendations, and may make other
changes to agreed or third-reader marks.
Candidates taking Jurisprudence are subject to the verification and reconciliation procedures
operated by the Law Faculty, and should consult the Law Faculty’s FHS Examination Con-
ventions.
89
Scaling of Marks
The Chair and Convenors will consider statistical analyses of the mark profiles of all mark-
ers and subjects, and judge whether to recommend to the Examiners that the marks be re-
scaled; the Examiners will decide whether to rescale marks at the First Marks Meeting. Any
decision to rescale marks will follow the guidelines set out in the document ‘Policy and
Guidance for Examiners and others involved in University Examinations’.
Classification Rules
All papers count equally towards the examination outcome. For the Jurisprudence paper,
the essay is weighted 50% and the 2-hour examination 50%.
Failure to obey rubrics. Rubrics are the instructions to candidates on the cover sheet of (or
elsewhere in) a paper, including instructions on how many questions must be answered. In
cases of short weight papers, the maximum achievable mark will be lowered by the propor-
tion of the paper missing. For example, in a paper requiring three (equally weighted) an-
swers where a candidate has written only two, the maximum achievable mark will be 67. In
a paper requiring four answers where a candidate has written only two, the maximum
achievable mark will be 50. In cases where a partial answer has been completed, markers
will use their discretion to decide what proportion of the answer is missing.
Penalty for over-length work. Where a candidate submits a Thesis (or other piece of written
coursework) which exceeds the word limit prescribed by the relevant regulation, the exam-
iners, if they agree to proceed with the examination of the work, may reduce the mark by up
to one class (i.e. from a 1st to a 2:1, or its equivalent).
The marks as agreed by the Board of Examiners are converted into classes as follows:
For a First Class: an average mark of 68.5 or above and two marks of 70 or above and no
mark below 50.
For an Upper-Second Class: an average mark of 59.0 or above and three or more marks of 60
or above.
For a Lower-Second Class: an average mark of 49.0 or above and three or more marks of 50
or above.
For a Third Class: an average mark of 40.0 or above and three or more marks of 40 or above.
For a Pass (i.e. non-Honours) Degree: an average mark of 30.0 or above.
A mark of 9 or below on any script (or Thesis / Supervised Dissertation) leads to failure of
the whole examination, whatever the other marks.
Late submissions
90
Late submission of items of assessment which must be submitted to the Examination
Schools, such as Theses, Supervised Dissertations, and Jurisprudence essays, will be penal-
ised as follows:
Submission Lateness Penalty
Up to one day (submitted on the day but after
the deadline)
- 5 marks
Each additional day (i.e. two days late = - 6
marks, three days late = - 7 marks, etc. Each
weekend day counts as a full day for the pur-
poses of mark deductions)
- 1 mark
Maximum deduction for late submission - 20 marks
Failure to submit a required element of assessment will result in the failure of the whole FHS
Examination.
Factors Affecting Performance
Where a candidate or candidates have made a submission, under Part 13 of the Regulations
for Conduct of University Examinations, that unforeseen factors may have had an impact on
their performance in an examination, a subset of the Board will meet to discuss the individ-
ual applications and band the seriousness of each application on a scale of 1-3 with 1 indicat-
ing minor impact, 2 indicating moderate impact, and 3 indicating serious impact. When
reaching this decision, Examiners will take into consideration the severity and relevance of
the circumstances, and the strength of the evidence. Examiners will also note whether all or
a subset of papers were affected, being aware that it is possible for circumstances to have
different levels of impact on different papers. The banding information will be used at the
final meeting of the Board of Examiners, which evaluates the impact of the circumstances re-
ported and decides on the candidate’s classification. Further information on the procedure is
provided in the Policy and Guidance for Examiners, Annex B and information for students is
provided at www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/exams/guidance.
Details of Examiners and Rules on Communicating with Examiners
Professor David Vines (Chair)
Professor Peter Kail
Professor Josh Parsons
Professor Jeff McMahan (tbc)
Professor Daniel McDermott
Professor James Tilley
Professor Sudhir Hazareesingh
Professor Michael Hart
Professor Patricia Thornton
Professor Karma Nabulsi
Professor David Gill
Professor Rui Esteves
Professor Ferdinand Rauch
91
Professor Guido Ascari
Professor Hussein Kassim (University of East Anglia)
Professor Amrita Dhillon (Kings College London)
Dr James Wilson (University College London)
Candidates should not under any circumstances seek to make contact with individual inter-
nal or external Examiners.
APPENDIX J: Advice on answering “gobbets” or commentary
questions in Philosophy
If you are offering Philosophy at PPE Finals, you may well be taking one of the papers in
Ancient Philosophy, that is to say 115 Plato’s Republic or 116 Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.
These papers include a compulsory commentary or “gobbets” question, where you are ex-
pected to comment on and elucidate certain passages of text. The advice below is reproduced
from the handbook for Literae Humaniores (or “Classics”), and concerns how to go about a
“gobbets” question in Philosophy:
The first requirement is to identify the argumentative context of the passage, e.g. `This
passage occurs in Socrates' response to Thrasymachus' claim that the ruler properly so-
called is expert in promoting his own advantage; in reply Socrates urges that all exper-
tise aims to promote the advantage of that on which the expertise is exercised, hence
the expert ruler must aim to promote, not his own advantage, but that of the subject'.
You should then set out the specific contribution of the passage to the argumentative
context, e.g. a sub-argument (in which case the steps of the argument should be set out),
or a distinction (in which case you should clearly state what is being distinguished from
what), or the introduction of some key concept, which should be clearly elucidated.
Where appropriate, elucidation should be followed by criticism; thus if the passage con-
tains a fallacious or unsound argument, or a faulty distinction, the flaw should be
briefly identified. If the significance of the passage goes beyond the immediate argu-
mentative context (e.g. in introducing a concept which is important for a wider range
of contexts) that wider significance should be indicated. Wider significance may be in-
ternal to the work as a whole, or may extend beyond it, for instance by relating to some
theme central to the thought of the author (such as Plato's Theory of Forms or Aristotle's
Categories) or to some important topic in modern philosophy. Your primary focus in
philosophy gobbets should be on argumentative and conceptual content. Details of sen-
tence construction, vocabulary etc should be discussed only in so far as they affect the
content thus conceived. The same goes for the identification of persons etc named in
the passage; note that where the passage is taken from a Platonic dialogue it will usually
be relevant to identify the speaker(s).
92
It is vitally important to observe the time constraints imposed by the number of pas-
sages to be translated and commented on. Brevity, relevance and lucidity are crucial. It
is especially important not to be carried away in expounding the wider significance of
the passage (see above); a gobbet should not expand into an essay on the Theory of
Forms or the problem of universals. Use your own judgement on how much you can
afford to put in.
APPENDIX K: Philosophy marking descriptors
Philosophy has unified marking descriptors that apply to work across all eight joint
Philosophy schools. After extensive consultation and deliberation, the Faculty has developed
the descriptors with students in mind: there is an amount of gradation within the marking
bands that aims to show students how marks vary according to quality. The descriptors are
reviewed by the Undergraduate Studies Committee during each academic year. Please see
here: https://weblearn.ox.ac.uk/x/bHVhD9
APPENDIX L: Marking Criteria for Questions in Politics
These are the marking criteria used for marking Politics (FHS, i.e., Finals) essays in 2015-16.
Unless you are informed of any changes, these criteria will be used when your Finals are
marked.
Markers will look for the following qualities in Politics essays:
1. Command of Material: secure knowledge and understanding of relevant concepts, models
and evidence; incisive explanation and insight; evidence of wide reading.
2. Analysis: Well-focused and analytical approach, addressing the question directly; coherent
and cogent argument and discussion.
3. Exposition: Efficient, organised; and structured; well-written and fluent; interesting and
pleasant to read.
4. Judgement: Perceptive appreciation of strengths and weakness of theoretical approaches to
Politics; well-judged application of theory and use of illustrative examples.
5. Independence: Evidence of independent thinking and insight in approach to the question,
explanation of concepts, or analysis of data and examples.
Outstanding and thought-provoking; evidence of
deep critical understanding, novel ideas and origi-
nality of approach.
Excellent
1st
93
93
First Class
(70-100)
An analytical and well-
written essay, demon-
strating excellent com-
mand of material,
breadth of knowledge,
cogent argument, good
judgement and inde-
pendent insight.
Comprehensive; highly analytical; knowledgeable
and elegantly written; strong evidence of original
thought and independent evaluation of material.
High 1st 85
Clear, thorough, well-focused and well-argued. Se-
cure command of material and evidence of ability to
form independent critical assessment.
Mid 1st 78
An essay demonstrating many first-class qualities,
but with identifiable gaps, occasional misinterpreta-
tion or small mistakes, will be given this mark.
Low 1st 73
Upper
Second
(60-69)
A structured and
well-written essay
addressing the ques-
tion; good command
of the relevant core
material; clear expla-
nations and argu-
ments, and evident
understanding.
Thoughtful and well-argued; analytical approach;
secure understanding and explanation. But lacking
the breadth, judgement or independence of a 1st
class essay. Or an otherwise 1st class essay marred
by a significant deficiency.
High
2.1
68
Competent essay making good use of relevant mate-
rial. Careful explanations and arguments. May con-
tain some gaps or mistakes, or occasional confusion
or lack of focus.
Mid
2.1
65
A generally competent essay, but more limited
with respect to coverage of material, clarity of ex-
planation, or political insight; or relying on text-
book or lecture material without independent
judgement. Mostly well-written but may include
some confused or less well-focused sections, or a
significant mistake.
Low 2.1
62
Lower Sec-
ond
(50-59)
Reasonably well-
written essay, rele-
vant to the question
and making use of
appropriate material,
showing under-
standing of essential
concepts. But limited
in scope or with no-
table deficiencies of
analysis or exposi-
tion.
Focused on the question; showing knowledge and
understanding of core material. Including valid ar-
guments and effective explanation, but lacking a se-
cure grasp of the topic, or with important gaps in
coverage.
High 2.2 58
Relying on limited material, or with significant mis-
takes in interpretation or explanation of relevant
material. Or: a well-constructed essay that fails to
address the question asked; or an otherwise very
good answer that is significantly unfinished.
Mid 2.2 55
Relevant in broad terms to the question, including
relevant material and attempting to construct argu-
ments. Poorly written, some misunderstanding and
confusion, and/or very limited coverage.
Low 2.2 52
Achieves a minimal re-
sponse to the question,
Some evidence of understanding, insight and
thoughtfulness; some attempt to link the material
High 3rd 48
94
Third
(40-49)
revealing some basic
knowledge of core ma-
terial. Some attempt to
provide structure and
argument. But very
limited coverage and/or
serious inaccuracy and
evident confusion.
used to the question. But poor explanations or inad-
equate exposition; large parts of the answer irrele-
vant, confused or making no substantive contribu-
tion.
Showing knowledge of material that is at least mar-
ginally relevant, but little sign of deeper thought or
understanding. Very poor exposition; no successful
analysis. Or, a better essay that completely misses
the point of the question.
Mid 3rd 45
A very poorly written and confused essay, or a very
short one, showing little evidence of understanding.
Low 3rd 42
Pass 35 A very poor or short answer that nevertheless demonstrates some grasp of ma-
terial that can be interpreted as addressing the question asked, and an attempt
to organise it appropriately.
Pass
(High
Fail in
Prelims)
35
Fail 25 Containing some relevant information and evidence of having understood the
question, either as part of a confused and badly-written essay, or in an answer
that is not presented in essay form (for example, an answer presented in bullet
points or one that progresses no further than an introductory section).
Fail 25
Low Fail
12
A minimal answer, containing some evidence of knowledge of related topics or
interpretation of the question.
Low Fail 12
Zero No meaningful answer Zero 0
APPENDIX M: Marking Criteria for Economics These are the marking criteria for problem-solving questions, essay questions and theses in
Economics used in 2015-16 both for PPE Prelims and FHS PPE. Unless you are informed of
any changes, these criteria will be used when your Prelims and Finals are marked.
M.1 Marking Criteria for Problem-Solving Questions in Eco-
nomics [This version 6.11.12]
80 – 100 •
•
•
Full, clear, accurate answer, well-presented and well-explained, includ-
ing appropriate economic interpretation or application
Some exceptional qualities: either in the insight shown or the
sophistication of the approach
No more than minor mistakes; faultless answers may be given 100%
95
70 – 79 •
•
•
Accurate, clear and methodical; correct in all important respects
Good explanation of the approach and the steps in the solution
Showing awareness of economic interpretation or application
60 – 69 • Appropriate choice of approach, and corresponding explanation
• Successful completion of significant steps; accurate use of notation
• Evidence of thinking about the meaning of answers and awareness if they
don’t seem sensible
50 – 59 • Evidence of understanding of the question and standard techniques
• Systematic approach; some success in deriving a solution, even if marred
by carelessness or significant mistakes
• Some attempt to explain and justify working
40 – 49 • Displaying relevant knowledge or competence
• Attempt to apply a reasonable approach and use the information
provided in the question in a systematic way
• Serious mistakes or confusion; inadequate or inaccurate explanations
30 – 39 • Evidence of some competence or knowledge of a possible approach
• Little or no systematic analysis
• Absence of explanation, or obvious confusion or lack of understanding
0 – 30 • Very little evidence of relevant knowledge or understanding
• No attempt to apply a systematic approach
• Serious confusion in interpretation of the question
Questions involving several parts with marks weightings
Parts of the question involving problem-solving will be marked according to the criteria
above. Parts requiring description, explanation and/or illustration of concepts or models
will be marked by applying the basic criteria for essay questions. The overall mark will
normally be the appropriately weighted sum, but markers will use discretion where it is
required to give candidates credit for the quality of the answer as a whole: for example, if
some of the answer to one part of a question is given in answer to another part.
M.2 Marking Criteria for Essay Questions in Economics [This version 6.11.12]
Markers will look for the following qualities in economics essays:
96
1. Command of Material: secure knowledge and understanding of relevant concepts, mod-
els and evidence; incisive explanation and economic insight; evidence of wide reading.
2. Analysis: Well-focused and analytical approach, addressing the question directly; co-
herent and cogent argument and discussion.
3. Exposition: Efficient, organised; and structured; well-written and fluent; interesting and
pleasant to read.
4. Judgement: Perceptive appreciation of implications of formal models; well-judged ap-
plication of theory and use of illustrative examples.
5. Independence: Evidence of independent thinking and insight in approach to the ques-
tion, explanation of concepts, or application or interpretation of models.
The following table provides a guide to the expected level of achievement corresponding
to each class, and step-mark.
First Class
(70 -100)
An analytical
and well-written
essay, demon-
strating excellent
command of ma-
terial, breadth of
knowledge, co-
gent argument,
good judgement
and independent
insight.
Outstanding and thought-provoking; evidence
of deep critical understanding, novel ideas and
originality of approach.
Excellent 1st 93
Comprehensive; highly analytical; knowledgeable
and elegantly written; strong evidence of inde-
pendent insight.
High 1st 85
Clear, thorough, well-focused and well-ar-
gued. Secure command of material showing
independent thought; no significant mis-
takes or misunderstanding.
Mid 1st 78
An essay demonstrating many first-class quali-
ties, but with identifiable gaps, occasional mis-
interpretation or small mistakes, will be given
this mark.
Low 1st 73
Upper
Second
(60 - 69)
A structured and
well-written essay
addressing the
question; good
command of the
relevant core ma-
terial; clear expla-
nations and argu-
Thoughtful and well-argued; analytical ap-
proach; secure understanding and explanation.
But lacking the breadth, judgement or inde-
pendence of a 1st class essay. Or an otherwise 1st
class essay marred by a significant deficiency.
High 2.1 68
Competent essay making good use of relevant
material. Careful explanations and arguments.
May contain some gaps or mistakes, or occa-
sional confusion or lack of focus.
Mid 2.1 65
97
ments, and evi-
dent understand-
ing.
A generally competent essay, but more limited
with respect to coverage of material, clarity of ex-
planation, or economic insight; or relying on text-
book or lecture material without independent
judgement. Mostly well-written but may include
some confused or less well-focused sections, or a
significant mistake.
Low 2.1 62
Lower
Second
(50 – 59)
Reasonably well-
written essay, rel-
evant to the ques-
tion and making
use of appropriate
material, showing
understanding of
essential concepts.
But limited in
scope or with no-
table deficiencies
of analysis or ex-
position.
Focused on the question; showing
knowledge and understanding of core mate-
rial. Including valid arguments and effective
explanation, but lacking a secure grasp of
the topic, or with important gaps in cover-
age.
High 2.2 58
Relying on limited material, or with significant
mistakes in interpretation or explanation of rele-
vant material. Or: a well-constructed essay that
fails to address the question asked; or an other-
wise very good answer that is significantly unfin-
ished.
Mid 2.2 55
Relevant in broad terms to the question, includ-
ing relevant material and attempting to con-
struct arguments. Poorly written, some misun-
derstanding and confusion, and/or very limited
coverage.
Low 2.2 52
Third
(40 - 49)
Achieves a mini-
mal response to
the question, re-
vealing some
basic knowledge
of core material.
Some attempt to
provide structure
and argument.
But very limited
coverage and/or
serious inaccu-
racy and evident
confusion.
Some evidence of understanding, insight and
thoughtfulness; some attempt to link the material
used to the question. But poor explanations or in-
adequate exposition; large parts or the answer ir-
relevant, confused or making no substantive con-
tribution.
High 3rd 48
Showing knowledge of material that is at least
marginally relevant, but little sign of deeper
thought or understanding. Very poor exposition;
no successful analysis. Or, a better essay that com-
pletely misses the point of the question.
Mid 3rd 45
A very poorly written and confused essay, or a
very short one, showing little evidence of un-
derstanding.
Low 3rd 42
98
M.3 Marking Criteria for a Thesis in Economics
The Subject of the Thesis
There is no restriction on the choice of topic, other than that the subject “should fall within
the scope of the honour school”. The subject may overlap with one or more of your papers –
it will almost certainly be related in some way to at least one of the core papers, and may
fall within the general area of one of your options. The regulations state that in finals papers
candidates should “avoid repetition ... of material used in their theses”. There is no need to
be unduly concerned about this: writing an essay that directly addresses a particular ques-
tion addressed in your thesis, rehearsing the same arguments, would constitute repetition;
but writing an essay on a related topic – for example “externalities” or “exchange rates” –
would not.
Undergraduate theses in economics may vary considerably in character, but they should be
focused so as to answer a question, or set of questions, using arguments, models and/or evi-
dence. There is no requirement that the thesis should contain ‘original research’ – the ideas,
models, and evidence incorporated in the thesis may have been published elsewhere – but
the thesis should demonstrate ‘independence of mind’ in the way that such material is or-
ganised, presented and discussed.
Assessment Criteria for Theses in Economics*
A thesis need not be original in the sense that its ideas and illustrative material are unique
to it; but it should demonstrate independence of mind. Markers will be looking above all
for:
Pass
35
A very poor or short answer that nevertheless demonstrates some
grasp of material that can be interpreted as addressing the question
asked, and an attempt to organise it appropriately.
Pass
(High
Fail in
Prelims)
35
Fail
25
Containing some relevant information and evidence of having under-
stood the question, either as part of a confused and badly-written es-
say, or in an answer that is not presented in essay form (for example,
an answer presented in bullet points or one that progresses no further
than an introductory section).
Fail 25
Low
Fail
12
A minimal answer, containing some evidence of knowledge of related topics or interpretation of the question.
Low Fail 12
Zero No meaningful answer. Zero 0
99
cogency of analysis and argument
application of appropriate theoretical or empirical models
accuracy and solidity in the backing up of the analysis and argument
clarity of expression and presentation
knowledge of how the topic fits into the existing work in its field
awareness of relevant methodological issues
respect for the scholarly conventions regarding contents pages, introduc-
tions, conclusions, chapters, notes, bibliographies, etc.
*These criteria apply to economics theses examined from 2010/11 onwards
APPENDIX N: Oxford Q-Step Centre
The Oxford Q-Step Centre (OQC), initiated with generous funding from the Nuffield
Foundation, HEFCE and ESRC, aims to increase the data literacy of our undergraduate
students within the Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) and History & Politics (HP)
joint schools here at the University of Oxford. OQC will provide a home for quantitative
methods teaching and research within the Departments of Politics and International Relations
and Sociology. OQC will engage in outreach activities such as a summer school, e-learning
and an internship programme focussing on the development of QM skills in a professional or
policy context. These internships will give students practical experience of applying their
methods skills in a workplace setting, exposing them to long-term career options at the stage
of their undergraduate studies when many will be forming views about future professions. At
OQC, we will teach data literacy and statistical methods through a problem-driven approach.
We will use real-world problems that scientists study and policy makers care about to show
how data and statistical techniques can help us to answer important questions we have about
the world. OQC will help reform existing courses rather than developing new ones so that the
data analysis tools that students will learn will facilitate their understanding of substantive
questions. For further information, please visit www.oqc.ox.ac.uk.
APPENDIX O: Key dates
Term dates 2016-17
Michaelmas 2016
Sunday, 9 October to Saturday, 3 December
Hilary 2017
Sunday, 15 January to Saturday, 11 March
Trinity 2017
Sunday, 23 April to Saturday, 17 June
Further term dates are available at:
http://www.ox.ac.uk/about/facts-and-figures/dates-of-term
100
Examination dates
Start of your Final examination: May 2018
You will be informed of the actual dates by Trinity term of the year of the examination.