ST EDMUND HALL PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS We are pleased to welcome you as a future student in P.P.E. All P.P.E.

students (other than those possessing Senior Status) work in their first year towards the First Public Examination (Prelims), taken after three terms, and consisting of one paper in each of the three subjects. Your first-year work therefore will be equally divided between the three subjects and will usually be organised such that in any one term you will be having tutorials in two of them. After the first year you may either carry on with all three subjects or choose to continue with only two of them, but this choice does not have to be made until then. It is best to approach the first year with an open mind, as much of the work will be quite new to you. P.P.E. is a very challenging course: between now and October you are advised to read as widely as possible, cultivating your knowledge of current affairs, social, political, and economic issues, and exercising your mind with logic and philosophical problems. Below we offer a selection of books you may find helpful. Read as many as you can: it is the best way of finding out what P.P.E. actually is. We cannot emphasise too strongly that the more background knowledge you have, the more you will enjoy your course. Mathematical knowledge should not be forgotten: the first year introductory economics course has a substantial integrated mathematical content. We will set a test in basic mathematical skills (not economic applications, though) for first year PPEists during Fr eshers week in the beginning of your course to assess your standard. Advice how to prepare for this is detailed below. Basic IT competence will be expected but most young people these days have no difficulty with this. You will need to be able to word-process, use email and the internet; later you will also need to use spreadsheets, databases, presentations and other more specific applications. Microsoft Office or equivalent should be adequate at the beginning. The College has computing facilities available for students, but most students bring their own lap-top or equivalent. Either PCs or Macs are fine, although you may find that more advanced economics applications tend to be originally written for PCs, and therefore sometimes work more easily on PCs than on Macs. All student rooms have wired or wireless connections to the university network and the internet. Further information and advice are available from us at St Edmund Hall. Stephen Blamey Karma Nabulsi Martin Slater Outi Aarnio

A.

PHILOSOPHY

There are three sections to the philosophy paper in the preliminary examination: Logic; General Philosophy; Moral Philosophy. Logic The notation, terminology, and proof system used come from the textbook The Logic Manual, written by Volker Halbach, published by Oxford University Press. You should aim to get as far as you can reading this before you arrive: dont expect to find it easy, and make a note of things that you find puzzling. As a place to study some philosophical questions about logic, the Exam st nd Regulations also mention Mark Sainsbury, Logical Forms, 1 or 2 edition (Blackwell), chapters 1 and 2. It would be useful to look at this as well. For some wider-ranging reading in the area of logic, you might look at the following: P.T. Geach, Reason and Argument; Mark Sainsbury, Paradoxes. Geach is brief and basic, and he aims to show that logic is important for philosophy at large. Sainsbury presents a sustained discussion of some particular intellectual knots. (He includes a discussion of heaps of sand which might bring back happy memories for some of you.) General Philosophy The syllabus is based around a list of specified topics: knowledge, scepticism, perception, induction, primary and secondary qualities, the relation of mind and body, personal identity, and free will. Let me suggest a few books which will both provide some background for this specific syllabus and, more generally, get you used to how philosophy is done. First two very introductory things: Thomas Nagel, What does it all mean?; and Simon Blackburn, Think. Nagels book is very short and accessible, but very skilfully writtenit doesnt talk down to the readerand chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6 are directly relevant to the first-year syllabus (chapters 7 and 8 are relevant to moral philosophy: see below). Next there are two books which were written as introductions but which have acquired something of the status of (semi-)classics: Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy; and Peter Strawson, Analysis and Metaphysics: An Introduction to Philosophy. In Russells book the first six chapters are directly relevant to the first-year syllabus, and in Strawsons the first five. Moral Philosophy This subject is studied in conjunction with John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism. It would be useful for you read Mill: any edition would do, but perhaps the best is the Oxford University Press one, ed. Roger Crisp. Roger Crisp has also written a book, Mill on Utilitarianism (Routledge), which it would be useful to look at. And further reading on utilitarianism might be J.J.C. Smart & Bernard Williams, Utilitarianism: For and Against: there are two essays here, written from opposite points of view.

You should not feel restricted to the philosophy reading mentioned above. There is an important skill which you should learn to develop, viz. discovering for yourself books that you get on with by browsing in libraries or in book shops.

B.

POLITICS

The first year politics (Prelims) course offers a broad introduction to politics and most of it will be new to you, even if you have studied Politics at school or college before. The course as a whole is designed to encourage you to examine the political systems of different countries and to think critically about the principles which underpin the modern democratic order. During the year, the Department of Politics will offer lectures on the politics of Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, and on central topics in political theory such as the relationship of democracy to concepts such as liberty, equality and power. You will also examine some of these topics in more detail in your tutorials. Over the course of the year, you will write essays on the recent political development of Britain, France, and the United States, and on the works of major political thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Karl Marx, Alexis de Tocqueville, and John Stuart Mill. Before you arrive at the College in October, you should prepare for these studies in politics by acquiring some background knowledge of the political history of Britain, the US and France, and by familiarising yourself with some of the key debates regarding the nature of democracy as a system of government. There are many suitable books to help you get started, most of which should be available in your local library or bookshop. Kenneth O. Morgans, The People's Peace and Vernon Bogdanors The Coalition and the Constitution (2011), are good places to begin on Britain. Also useful is Martin Pughs The Making of Modern British Politics. William Chafes The Unfinished Journey and David MacKays American Politics and Society do the same job for the United States. For France you should read Sudhir Hazareesinghs Political Traditions in Modern France and Robert Gildeas France since 1945. To familiarize yourself with some interesting issues in political theory, you might start with Adam Swift's Political Theory: A Beginner's Guide for Students and Practioners and Jonathan Wolffs An Introduction to Political Philosophy, or David Millers Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. You can then connect some of the country specific studies together with the theoretical questions by reading Robert Dahls, How Democratic is the US Constitution? or David Marquands The Decline of the Public.

C. ECONOMICS The first-year course is a general introduction to Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Standard introductory text-books covering essentially the same ground are: D. Begg, & G. Vernasca: Economics (10 edition, or other recent previous edition by D. Begg, S. Fischer & R. Dornbusch ) th R. G. Lipsey & K. A. Chrystal: Economics (12 edition, or any other recent ed) If you have not studied Economics before it is essential that you read as much as possible of one of the above books. If you have studied Economics at school you may well have already come across them, in which case have a look at some of the next level of text-books (these are alternatives, so dont feel you have to read them all): W. Morgan, M.L. Katz & H.S. Rosen: Microeconomics (2 European edition, or original ed) th H. Varian: Intermediate Microeconomics (8 edition, or any recent ed) N. G. Mankiw & M.P. Taylor : Macroeconomics (European ed, or any original edition by Mankiw) There are some economics books not of a text-book nature which you may find interesting: J. Kay: The Truth about Markets (2003), and The Long and the Short of It (2009) T. Harford: The Undercover Economist (2006) P. Krugman: The Accidental Theorist and other Dispatches from the Dismal Science (1999) J. Stiglitz: Making Globalization Work (2007) M. Yunus: Banker to the Poor (1998) There are many books currently being published about the financial crisis and its implications, among the best are: P. Krugman: The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 (2008) M. Wolf: Fixing Global Finance (2009) G. Tett: Fools Gold (2009) G. Akerlof and R. Shiller: Animal Spirits (2008) N. Taleb: Fooled by Randomness (2004), and The Black Swan (2007) C. Reinhart and K. Rogoff: This Time is Different (2009) Finally, it is essential that you arrive well-prepared to take on applied maths work in economics as it will be challenging even for those with A-level Maths. If you have not studied A-Level Mathematics you should get hold of, and study at least an AS-level (preferably A-level) standard school maths book thoroughly. It is particularly important to have good foundations in arithmetic, algebra, equations and functions, including rules of derivatives and differentiation. We are sure your school can advise on this. If you have studied A-Level Mathematics it is still important that you come with your mathematical knowledge refreshed, in particular if your maths is a bit rusty. To get an idea how we apply mathematics in economics, please read and try exercises in: I. Jacques: Mathematics for Economics and Business (any edition) or G. Renshaw: Maths for Economics (any edition)
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