Philosophy, Politics and Economics combines the best of the three disciplines. The content and the approaches of each discipline feed into each other, yielding a three-dimensional appreciation of the toughest problems facing our society in the institutional, local, national and international contexts. This programme is designed to provide future politicians, civil servants, journalists and managers with a complex and subtle vision of how to improve things, and the skills to argue in support of such a vision. This appreciation of complexity is thus the greatest value that we strive to inculcate in our students: a reluctance to be fobbed off with cliché and mantra, or to be intimidated by statistics and jargon; a curiosity about what lies behind the newspaper headlines, and a persistence to research a topic thoroughly before forming an opinion; the willingness to engage with others respectfully and sensitively, and a humility to acknowledge one’s own error and prejudice.

1 - demonstrate a broad understanding of the central issues, theories and problems within all three of the disciplines of Philosophy, Politics and Economics;
2 - demonstrate a very detailed knowledge and understanding within a narrower range of areas within these disciplines;
3 - evaluate critically the leading theories and ideas within all of these disciplines;
4 - solve abstract problems using clear and concise arguments;
5 - develop their own ways of thinking about problems in philosophy, politics and economics, with rigour and clarity;
6 - communicate their ideas effectively using written and oral methods;
7 - develop their own research projects, applying research techniques effectively;
8 - work responsibly and directedly as an individual and in teams;
9 - demonstrate an awareness of principles of ethical practice in politics and economics and how these principles should be applied.

PPE programmes are scattered throughout many of the top universities in the world, attracting the best and most ambitious students and educating cohorts of politicians, civil servants, journalists and managers. All three disciplines share a commitment to rigour and problem-solving that will develop useful skills for any career – skills such as research, analysis, written expression and interpreting data. For a list of famous PPE programmes and graduates (such as Bill Clinton, David Cameron and Aung San Suu Kyi), see the Wikipedia entry on ‘Philosophy, Politics and Economics’. According to the BBC, the Oxford PPE “dominates public life in the UK”. 

Please ensure that you register to a minimum of 50 credits in total of Philosophy, Politics & International Relations and Economics modules. Please ensure that you register for a minimum of 10 credits for each subject area. If you are studying abroad (Erasmus/non-EU exchange), please see registration guidelines here.

Students are required to take 50 option credits in stage 4. A minimum of 15 credits must be taken in each of the three subject areas - Philosophy, Politics & International Relations, and Economics.

Politics options: Students wishing to take POL30490 and POL30500 must apply to the school in advance.

Module ID	Module Title	Trimester	Credits
Stage 1 Core Modules
ECON10770	Introduction to Economics	Autumn	5
INRL10010	Foundation of Political Theory & International Relations	Autumn	5
PHIL10160	Critical Thinking	Autumn	5
PHIL10190	Introducing PPE	Autumn	5
POL10170	Foundations in Political Research	Autumn	5
ECON10030	Introduction to Quantitative Economics	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
PHIL10040	Introduction to Ethics	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON10010	Principles of Microeconomics	Spring	5
ECON10020	Principles of Macroeconomics	Spring	5
PHIL10020	Introduction to the Problems of Philosophy	Spring	5
POL10160	Foundations of Contemporary Politics	Spring	5
Stage 1 Core Modules
Stage 1 Options - A)MIN1OF: Choose 1 option module. (Students who achieved less than an O3 in Leaving Cert Mathematics must register to and pass MATH00010 from list below in Autumn before being permitted to take core module ECON10030 Introduction to Quantitative Economics in Spring.)
MATH00010	Introduction to Mathematics	Autumn	5
PHIL10030	Introduction to Modern Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL10100	Existentialism and Humanism: An Introduction to Continental Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL10200	Intro Philosophy of Science	Spring	5
POL10120	Foundations in Global Development	Spring	5
Stage 1 Options - A)MIN1OF: Choose 1 option module. (Students who achieved less than an O3 in Leaving Cert Mathematics must register to and pass MATH00010 from list below in Autumn before being permitted to take core module ECON10030 Introduction to Quantitative Economics in Spring.)
Stage 2 Core Modules
ECON20010	Intermediate Microeconomics	Autumn	5
PHIL20490	Knowledge & Scepticism	Autumn	5
POL20010	Individuals and the State: The Idea of Freedom in the History of Political Thought	Autumn	5
ECON20040	Statistics for Economists	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON20020	Intermediate Macroeconomics	Spring	5
PHIL20620	Philosophy of Social Science	Spring	5
POL20050	Research Methods in Political Science	Spring	5
Stage 2 Core Modules
Stage 2 Options - A)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
INRL20040	Theories and Concepts in International Relations	Autumn	5
POL20020	Comparative Politics	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
Stage 2 Options - A)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
Stage 2 Options - B)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
ECON20060	Irish Economy	Autumn	5
ECON20080	Economic Policy Analysis	Autumn	5
ECON20190	Introduction to Financial Economics	Autumn	5
INRL20040	Theories and Concepts in International Relations	Autumn	5
INRL20080	Irish Foreign Policy	Autumn	5
INRL20090	United States Foreign Policy	Autumn	5
INRL20160	Introduction to European Union Politics	Autumn	5
PHIL20010	Rationalism and Empiricism	Autumn	5
PHIL20020	Logic	Autumn	5
PHIL20280	Metaphysics	Autumn	5
PHIL20440	Feminism & Gender Justice	Autumn	5
PHIL20500	Phenomenology & Existentialism	Autumn	5
PHIL20640	Philosophy of Mind	Autumn	5
PHIL20700	Introduction to the Philosophy of History	Autumn	5
POL20180	Capitalism and Democracy	Autumn	5
POL20220	Political Institutions and Development	Autumn	5
POL20230	Political Behaviour	Autumn	5
DEV20130	Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals	Spring	5
ECON20120	The Economics of the European Union: Institutions, Policies and Crises	Spring	5
ECON20130	Economic History: From the Middle Ages to the Second World War	Spring	5
PHIL20240	Applied Ethics	Spring	5
PHIL20550	Family, Ethics and Law	Spring	5
PHIL20570	Philosophy & Literature	Spring	5
PHIL20580	Plato's Republic	Spring	5
PHIL20600	Nietzsche: Nihilism as a Philo	Spring	5
PHIL20670	Origins of Analytic Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL20690	Philosophical Naturalism & Hum	Spring	5
POL20020	Comparative Politics	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
POL20250	Irish Politics	Spring	5
POL20260	Introduction to Chinese Politics	Spring	5
Stage 2 Options - B)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
Stage 2 Options - D)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
PHIL20010	Rationalism and Empiricism	Autumn	5
PHIL20020	Logic	Autumn	5
PHIL20440	Feminism & Gender Justice	Autumn	5
PHIL20500	Phenomenology & Existentialism	Autumn	5
PHIL20630	Art and Society	Autumn	5
PHIL20240	Applied Ethics	Spring	5
PHIL20580	Plato's Republic	Spring	5
PHIL20600	Nietzsche: Nihilism as a Philo	Spring	5
Stage 2 Options - D)MIN1OF: Select a minimum of 1 of the following option modules.
Stage 3 Options - B)MIN2OF: Please select a minimum of 10 credits from the Philosophy option list below.
PHIL30260	Philosophy of Law	Autumn	5
PHIL30280	Philosophy of Interpretation	Autumn	5
PHIL30300	Critical Theory	Autumn	5
PHIL30590	Aristotle: Ethics & Politics	Autumn	5
PHIL30820	Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason	Autumn	5
PHIL30110	Post-Kantian German Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL30490	History of Ethics: Eighteenth Century	Spring	5
PHIL30520	Philosophy of Religion	Spring	5
PHIL30650	History as a Philosophical Question	Spring	5
PHIL30670	Practical Philosophy: Work Experience	Spring	5
PHIL30790	Animated Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL30830	Reason and Faith: A Comparative Approach from Plato to Galilei	Spring	5
Stage 3 Options - B)MIN2OF: Please select a minimum of 10 credits from the Philosophy option list below.
Stage 3 Options - C)MIN2OF: Please select a minimum of 10 credits from the Economics option list below.
ECON30100	The Economics of Health and Health Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30180	Industrial Economics: Economics of Business Strategy	Autumn	5
ECON30270	Behavioural Economics and Public Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30360	Labour Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30400	Political Economy	Autumn	5
ECON30410	Development Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30490	Experiential Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30130	Econometrics: Applying Statistics to Economic Data	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON30150	International Money and Banking	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON30160	International Trade Economics	Spring	5
ECON30170	Financial Economics: Asset Pricing	Spring	5
ECON30190	Public Economics: Government Spending, Taxation and Public Choice	Spring	5
ECON30390	Experimental Economics	Spring	5
ECON30430	Economics of International Fin	Spring	5
Stage 3 Options - C)MIN2OF: Please select a minimum of 10 credits from the Economics option list below.
Stage 3 Options - D)MIN1OF: Please select a minimum of 10 credits from the Politics and International Relations option list below.
INRL30340	Internat. Political Economy	Autumn	10
INRL30350	International Justice	Autumn	10
INRL30370	Terrorism & Political Violence	Autumn	10
POL30710	Media and Politics	Autumn	10
POL30750	The Concept of Representation	Autumn	10
POL30780	Justice in Education	Autumn	10
POL30820	Pol Risk & Foreign Investment	Autumn	10
POL30840	Electoral Systems and their Consequences	Autumn	10
POL30850	Citizen Pol. in Global South	Autumn	10
INRL30320	Gender in War & Peace	Spring	10
INRL30330	Integration Fragmentation	Spring	10
INRL30360	Middle East Politics	Spring	10
INRL30380	Politics of Peace & Conflict	Spring	10
POL30660	Data Analytics for Social Sciences	Spring	10
POL30680	Gender and Politics	Spring	10
POL30690	Introduction to Asian Politics	Spring	10
POL30740	Political Economy of EU	Spring	10
POL30810	EU in the world	Spring	10
POL36060	Public Opinion: What Divides Voters?	Spring	10
Stage 3 Options - D)MIN1OF: Please select a minimum of 10 credits from the Politics and International Relations option list below.
Stage 4 Options - A)MIN2OF: Select a minimum of 15 credits of Politics modules to fulfill your stage 4 requirement. At least 10 credits must be selected from the level 3 options listed below. Please note that there are 5 and 10 credit modules available.
INRL30340	Internat. Political Economy	Autumn	10
INRL30350	International Justice	Autumn	10
INRL30370	Terrorism & Political Violence	Autumn	10
POL30490	Advanced Seminar in Politics 1	Autumn	5
POL30710	Media and Politics	Autumn	10
POL30750	The Concept of Representation	Autumn	10
POL30780	Justice in Education	Autumn	10
POL30820	Pol Risk & Foreign Investment	Autumn	10
POL30840	Electoral Systems and their Consequences	Autumn	10
POL30850	Citizen Pol. in Global South	Autumn	10
INRL30320	Gender in War & Peace	Spring	10
INRL30330	Integration Fragmentation	Spring	10
INRL30360	Middle East Politics	Spring	10
POL30500	Advanced Seminar in Politics 2	Spring	5
POL30660	Data Analytics for Social Sciences	Spring	10
POL30680	Gender and Politics	Spring	10
POL30690	Introduction to Asian Politics	Spring	10
POL30740	Political Economy of EU	Spring	10
POL30810	EU in the world	Spring	10
Stage 4 Options - A)MIN2OF: Select a minimum of 15 credits of Politics modules to fulfill your stage 4 requirement. At least 10 credits must be selected from the level 3 options listed below. Please note that there are 5 and 10 credit modules available.
Stage 4 Options - B)MIN3OF: Select a minimum of 15 credits of Philosophy option modules.
PHIL30260	Philosophy of Law	Autumn	5
PHIL30280	Philosophy of Interpretation	Autumn	5
PHIL30300	Critical Theory	Autumn	5
PHIL30590	Aristotle: Ethics & Politics	Autumn	5
PHIL30110	Post-Kantian German Philosophy	Spring	5
PHIL30490	History of Ethics: Eighteenth Century	Spring	5
PHIL30520	Philosophy of Religion	Spring	5
PHIL30650	History as a Philosophical Question	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - B)MIN3OF: Select a minimum of 15 credits of Philosophy option modules.
Stage 4 Options - C)MIN3OF: Select a minimum of 15 credits of Economics option modules.
ECON30100	The Economics of Health and Health Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30180	Industrial Economics: Economics of Business Strategy	Autumn	5
ECON30270	Behavioural Economics and Public Policy	Autumn	5
ECON30290	Advanced Microeconomics	Autumn	5
ECON30360	Labour Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30400	Political Economy	Autumn	5
ECON30410	Development Economics	Autumn	5
ECON30130	Econometrics: Applying Statistics to Economic Data	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON30150	International Money and Banking	Autumn and Spring (separate)	5
ECON20100	Game Theory	Spring	5
ECON30120	Advanced Macroeconomics	Spring	5
ECON30160	International Trade Economics	Spring	5
ECON30170	Financial Economics: Asset Pricing	Spring	5
ECON30190	Public Economics: Government Spending, Taxation and Public Choice	Spring	5
ECON30260	The Economics of the Transport Sector	Spring	5
ECON30390	Experimental Economics	Spring	5
ECON30420	Advanced Econometrics	Spring	5
ECON30430	Economics of International Fin	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - C)MIN3OF: Select a minimum of 15 credits of Economics option modules.
Stage 4 Options - D)MIN1OF: Students may select one module from the following Politics level 2 option list to fulfil stage 4 requirements.
INRL20080	Irish Foreign Policy	Autumn	5
INRL20090	United States Foreign Policy	Autumn	5
INRL20160	Introduction to European Union Politics	Autumn	5
POL20180	Capitalism and Democracy	Autumn	5
POL20220	Political Institutions and Development	Autumn	5
POL20230	Political Behaviour	Autumn	5
DEV20130	Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals	Spring	5
POL20060	Law, Politics, and Human Rights	Spring	5
POL20250	Irish Politics	Spring	5
POL20260	Introduction to Chinese Politics	Spring	5
Stage 4 Options - D)MIN1OF: Students may select one module from the following Politics level 2 option list to fulfil stage 4 requirements.

		Award		GPA
Programme	Module Weightings	Rule Description	Description
BHSOC010	Stage 4 - 50.00% Stage 3 - 30.00% Stage 2 - 20.00%	Standard Honours Award	First Class Honours	3.68	4.20
			Second Class Honours, Grade 1	3.08	3.67
			Second Class Honours, Grade 2	2.48	3.07
			Pass	2.00	2.47