Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Magdalen has a long-established and flourishing tradition in PPE. Academic results are very good, and students work hard and have a lively sense of group identity. We have a strong teaching team, having two Tutorial Fellows with complementary areas of specialisation in each of Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Magdalen welcomes applications to read PPE from candidates of all educational and cultural backgrounds. In our admissions process we seek to detect academic potential. We take account of past achievement because it is generally good evidence of this, but we try to detect a candidate’s true abilities. We are at least as interested in a candidate’s motivation as in his or her ability: our aim is to admit able students who have a deep and abiding interest in, and commitment to, studying the subjects in the PPE course.

We typically admit 10 students a year to read PPE. Our standard conditional offer is AAA at A-Level, or the equivalent. We have no preference for A-levels in specific subjects, but we strongly prefer candidates to be taking at least three mainstream academic A-levels, or equivalent, the range of which should not be too narrow.

We rarely admit candidates for deferred entry as it is desirable that candidates be considered alongside others who are applying for places in the same year of admission.

We do not encourage visits from potential candidates outside Open Days, although in special circumstances a group visit from one or more schools which are unable to attend on an Open Day because of their academic time-tabling problems may be arranged.

Entry procedures

All candidates in PPE are required to register for and to take the Oxford Thinking Skills Assessment. This test will take place on 4 November 2009 in the candidate's own school/college or approved test centre. Further information can be found on the test website.

Philosophy

The College currently has two Tutorial Fellows in Philosophy. The Senior Philosophy Tutor is Dr Ralph Walker; his research interests and teaching specialisms are wide, including ancient philosophy (Plato and Aristotle), history of modern philosophy, especially the German philosopher Kant (on whom he has published 2 books and many articles), metaphysics, theory of knowledge, and philosophy of religion. Dr Lizzie Fricker’s research interests are in philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and theory of knowledge. Her current research is on knowledge acquired through the spoken or written word, on which she has published articles and is preparing a book. She is also a specialist in the later philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. Both tutors regularly teach all of the ‘core’ papers in History of Philosophy, Ethics and ‘Knowledge and Reality’, and also the optional papers in their own specialist areas.

In the first year students are usually taught in small classes of 3 or 4, since we find this encourages discussion both in and beyond the tutorial, which is very beneficial in developing skills and enthusiasm, as well as comradeship, at this stage. ‘Core’ finals papers are usually taught in a mixture of small classes and individual tutorials. Optional papers are often taught in single tutorials, since this is appropriate to students at a more advanced stage, who are capable of sustaining a discussion on their own and can benefit from focus on their own distinctive line of thought on a subject.

Politics

The two Politics tutors at Magdalen are Dr Stewart Wood and Professor Simon Caney. Dr Wood teaches comparative politics, including American, British, and west European politics, as well as political sociology. He has written on political economy (the politics surrounding differences in economic policy and welfare states between countries), and a range of issues concerning public policy in Britain. He is also a special adviser to the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown. Professor Caney teaches political theory and the history of political thought, and writes about topics in contemporary political theory, especially issues surrounding global justice.

Politics teaching is largely organised in tutorials with one, two or three students meeting weekly with the tutor to discuss the essays they have written. There are also larger classes from time to time. The University’s lectures and classes provide an essential complement to the College tutorial work.

Economics

There are two Economics Fellows, Dr Tom Norman, who specialises in game theory, and Dr Jennifer Castle, who specialises in time-series econometrics and applied macro-economics. Together they provide students with exposure to different perspectives and to a blend of theory and applications.

Teaching is mainly by tutorials, in pairs for prelims and for some core finals papers, and there are also classes both for revision and for more technical topics.

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