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Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) is a popular interdisciplinary undergraduate/post-graduate degree which combines study from the three disciplines. The first institution to offer degrees in PPE was the University of Oxford and this particular course has produced a significant number of notable graduates such as Christopher Hitchens, the British American author, philosopher, polemicist, debater, and journalist,[1]David Cameron, the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Ed Miliband, the current Leader of the Opposition, and Tony Abbott, the current Prime Minister of Australia,.[2] In the 1980s, the University of York went on to establish its own PPE degree based upon the Oxford model; the University of Warwick, the University of Manchester, and other British universities later followed. According to the BBC, it "dominate[s] public life" (in the UK).[3] It is now offered at several other leading colleges and universities around the world.
PPE was established at the University of Oxford in the 1920s,[4] as a modern alternative to Classics (known as Greats at Oxford) because it was thought that a course in Philosophy and Ancient History was no longer relevant for those entering the civil service. It was thus initially known as Modern Greats.[3][5] Christopher Stray has pointed to the course as one reason for the gradual decline of the study of classics, as classicists in political life began to be edged out by those who had studied the Modern Greats.[6]
Dario Castiglione and Iain Hampsher-Monk have described the course as being fundamental to the development of political thought in the UK, since it established a connection between politics and philosophy. Previously at Oxford, and for some time subsequently at Cambridge, politics had been taught only as a branch of modern history.[7]
The programme is rooted in the view that to understand social phenomena one must approach them from several complementary disciplinary directions and analytical frameworks. In this regard, the study of philosophy is considered important because it both equips students with meta-tools such as the ability to reason rigorously and logically, and facilitates ethical reflection. The study of politics is considered necessary because it acquaints students with the institutions that govern society and help solve collective action problems. Finally, studying economics is seen as vital in the modern world because political decisions often concern economic matters, and government decisions are often influenced by economic events. The vast majority of students at Oxford drop one of the three subjects for the second and third years of their course. Oxford now has more than 600 undergraduates studying the subject, admitting over 200 each year.[8]
Oxford PPE graduate Nick Cohen and former tutor Iain McLean consider the course's breadth important to its appeal, especially "because British society values generalists over specialists".
Geoffrey Evans an Oxford fellow in politics and a senior tutor critiques that the Oxford course's success and consequent over-demand is a self-perpetuating feature of those in front of and behind the scenes in national administration, in stating "all in all, it's how the class system works". In the current economic system he bemoans the unavoidable inequalities besetting admissions and thereby enviable recruitment prospects of successful graduates. The argument itself intended as a paternalistic ethical reflection on how governments and peoples can perpetuate social stratification.[3]
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, Colleges of the University of Oxford, Jesus College, Oxford
Logic, Epistemology, Ethics, Metaphysics, Aesthetics
Computer Science, University of Leeds, University of Sheffield, Durham University, University of Cambridge
University of Birmingham, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, BPP University, Jaguar Land Rover
University of Cambridge, Jodrell Bank Observatory, University of Liverpool, Russell Group, University of Oxford
Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, Benjamin Disraeli, Nick Clegg, European Union
Bbc, Christ Church, Oxford, Save the Children, Royal Society of Arts, Roy Harrod
David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Leader of the Conservative Party, Witney (UK Parliament constituency), Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Authority control, Romania, Italy, Turkey, Ankara
Sociology, Authority control, Royal Artillery, University of California, Berkeley, Moscow