Handbook

The course will examine the most important ways in which formal economic methods and ways of thinking have been imported into political science and political philosophy. In this course, you will study the major philosophical theories of justice, equality and democracy, along with the fundamentals of rational choice, game theory and public choice theory. You will learn about the impact of economic methods on the philosophical understanding of important political institutions and concepts as well as the interaction between economic theory, political science and political philosophy in the work of key theorists such as John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Gerald Cohen, Robert Nozick, Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen and Philip Pettit. You will be able to understand and follow debates involving  the application of rational choice approaches to issues in political philosophy and public policy such as an appropriate system of taxation, optimal immigration policies and their rational or responsibilities in relation to the causes and consequences of climate change.