HUMAN, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES TRIPOS

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1 HUMAN, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES TRIPOS Part IIB Options Booklet Politics and International Relations Students must return preliminary paper choices by Tuesday 3 rd July Department of Politics and International Studies ugadmin@polis.cam.ac.uk In this booklet you will find information on the available POLIS papers for Part IIB of the Tripos. If you have any queries please contact your Director of Studies in the first instance.

2 Table of Contents Important information for How to submit your paper choices.. 1 Part IIB : Paper Titles Available... 2 Politics and International Relations... 2 Other HSPS Subjects: Please see advice from the corresponding departments regarding these papers Paper Combinations... 4 Politics and International Relations Paper Descriptions... 5 POL6: Statistics and Methods in Politics and International Relations... 5 POL9: Conceptual Issues and Texts in Politics and International Relations... 5 POL10: The History of Political Thought from c.1700-c POL11: Political Philosophy & the History of Political Thought Since c POL12: The Politics of the Middle East... 7 POL13: The Politics of Europe... 7 POL14: US Foreign Policy... 8 POL15: The Politics of Africa... 9 POL16: Law of Peace: The Law of Emerging International Constitutional Order POL17: The Politics of Southeast Asia: Democratization and Diversity POL18: Politics and Gender POL19: The politics of the international economy POL20: The politics of the future, POL21: China in the international order 12 History Paper 6: States between states: The history of international political thought from the Roman Empire to the early nineteenth century (Historical Tripos) HPS Paper 5: Philosophy of Science (History and Philosophy of Science Tripos) HPS Paper 6: Ethics and Politics of Science, Technology and Medicine (History and Philosophy of Science Tripos) Economics Paper 8 History and Philosophy of Economics (Economics Tripos) Administrators... 14

3 Important information for New paper numbers Last year s POL16 Conflict and Peacebuilding will become POL16 Law of Peace: The Law of Emerging International Constitutional Order There is one new paper: POL21 China in the international order Please be careful when selecting your choices. Assessment In , students will be able to choose between assessment by a three hour exam or assessment by two 5000 word long essays for the following papers: POL12: The Politics of the Middle East POL15: The Politics of Africa POL17: The Politics of Southeast Asia: Democratization and Diversity POL20: The politics of the future, , will be examined by two 5000 word long essays only. You can only do one paper by two long essays. If you do a dissertation, you cannot take POL20 and you cannot do POL 12, 15, 17 by long essay. Caps Some papers might be capped due to the availability of supervisors. Students for these papers will be selected by lottery. Please be sure to give in your paper choices by 3 July as the lottery will take place shortly after the deadline. How to submit the paper choices Please review this guide and discuss your choices with your Directors of Studies. Submit your choices on the online system. Here is the link: Page 1

4 Part IIB : Available Papers Politics and International Relations POL6 Statistics and methods in politics and international relations POL9 Conceptual Issues and Texts in Politics and International Relations POL10 The History of Political Thought from c POL11 Political Philosophy & the History of Political Thought since c.1890 POL12 The Politics of the Middle East (choice between three hour exam or assessment by two 5000 word long essays) POL13 The Politics of Europe POL14 US Foreign Policy POL15 The Politics of Africa (choice between three hour exam or assessment by two 5000 word long essays) POL16 Law of Peace: The Law of Emerging International Constitutional Order POL17 The Politics of Southeast Asia: Democratization and Diversity (choice between three hour exam or assessment by two 5000 word long essays) POL18 Politics and gender POL19 The politics of the international economy POL20 The politics of the future, (examined by two 5000 word long essays only) POL21 China in the international order History 6 States between states: The history of international political thought from the Roman Empire to the early nineteenth century (Historical Tripos) HPS 5 Philosophy of Science (History and Philosophy of Science Tripos) HPS 6 Ethics and Politics of Science, Technology and Medicine (History and Philosophy of Science Tripos) Economics 8 History and Philosophy of Economics (Economics Tripos) Dissertation Up to 10,000 words on a topic chosen by the student (you cannot do a dissertation if you are assessed by two 5000 word essays for another paper) Other HSPS Subjects: Please see advice from the corresponding departments regarding these papers. Archaeology: ARC8 ARC9 ARC10/BAN3 ARC11/BAN9 ARC12 ARC14 ARC15 ARC17 ARC18 Archaeological science I Archaeological science II Palaeolithic Archaeology Special topics in Palaeolithic Archaeology and Human Evolution European prehistory Aegean prehistory (Paper D1 of the Classical Tripos) The Art of Collecting in Greece and Rome (Paper D2 of the Classical Tripos) Roman cities: Network of Empire (Paper D4 of the Classical Tripos) Settlement and society in ancient Egypt Page 2

5 ARC20 ARC22 ARC25 ARC26 ARC27 ARC29 ARC32 ARC33 The archaeology of religion in ancient Egypt Mesopotamian archaeology I: prehistory and early states Mesopotamian culture II: religion and scholarship The Medieval Globe The Medieval Globe Ancient India: the Indus civilisation and beyond The archaeology of Mesoamerica and North America The Archaeology of Africa Biological Anthropology: BAN2 Human Ecology and Behaviour BAN3/ARC10 BAN4 BAN5 Human Evolution From data to interpretation Major Topics in Human Evolutionary Studies BAN6 Evolution within our Species BAN7 Human Culture and Behaviour BAN8 Health and Disease in Anthropological Perspective BAN9/ARC11 Special Topics in Palaeolithic Archaeology and Human Evolution Social Anthropology: SAN11 Anthropology of Media and Visual Culture SAN12 Anthropology of Cities and Space SAN13 Gender, Kinship and Care Sociology: SOC6 SOC7 SOC8 SOC9 SOC10 SOC11 SOC12 SOC13 SOC14 SOC15 Advanced social theory Media, culture and society Religion and contentious mobilization Global capitalism Gender Racism, race and ethnicity Modern Britain Health, medicine and society The Sociology of education Criminology, sentencing and the penal system Page 3

6 Paper Combinations Paper choice rules for Part IIB Politics and International Relations track (for detailed regulations, please see the POLIS website): (i) POL9; (ii) two papers chosen from POL , one of which may be substituted by a dissertation on a subject approved by the Head of the Department of the subject the dissertation is in. (iii) either one paper chosen from ARC8 33, BAN2 9, SAN7 14 2, SOC6 15 3, Paper 5 or Paper 6 for the subject History and Philosophy of Science in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos, Paper 6 borrowed from Part II of the Historical Tripos, or Paper 8 borrowed from Part II of the Economics Tripos or a further paper chosen from POL6, POL (iv) a candidate who chooses any of POL12, POL15 or POL17 under (ii) or (iii), and who does not offer a dissertation or POL20, may offer two essays in place of one of those papers. (v) a candidate who chooses POL20 under (ii) or (iii) may not offer a dissertation. Paper choice rules for Part IIB Politics and Sociology joint track: (i) two papers chosen from POL6, POL ; (ii) two papers chosen from SOC ; (iii) a candidate may substitute for one paper a dissertation on a subject approved by the Head of the subject the dissertation is in. (iv)a candidate who chooses any of POL12, POL15 or POL17 under (i), and who does not offer a dissertation or POL20, may offer two essays in place of one of those papers. (v) a candidate who chooses POL20 under (i) may not offer a dissertation. Students will have chosen a track in their second year. They are not permitted to switch tracks between Part IIA and Part IIB unless they switch from a joint track to a single track (for example: Pol/Soc Part IIA to PolIR Part IIB). 1 Paper POL10 cannot be taken if POL8 was taken in Part IIa 2 Candidates can only choose any individual paper from the range of papers SAN7-13 that they did not take in Part IIa 3 Paper SOC6 can only be taken if SOC2 was taken at Part IIa 4 Paper POL10 cannot be taken if POL8 was taken in Part IIa 5 Paper POL10 cannot be taken if POL8 was taken in Part IIa 6 Paper SOC5 cannot be taken if a candidate is also taking POL6 Page 4

7 Politics and International Relations Paper Descriptions POL6: Statistics and Methods in Politics and International Relations This paper introduces students to statistical methods used in the social sciences, illustrates how these methods can be used to study important political issues, and gives students hands-on experience on using these methods and writing up the results of empirical research. The first part of the course introduces students to basic statistical concepts and methods issues covered include descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, multivariate linear regression, logistic regression and multilevel regression. These methods are illustrated through examples from research in politics and international relations. This part of the course is taught through lectures, practical sessions and supervisions, and is assessed by a two-hour exam at the end of the year (making up 50% of the overall mark for the course). The second part of the course consists of a data analysis project, on which students write a 5000-word report that is due early in Easter term (which makes up the other 50% of the overall mark). For this project, students choose a dataset from a list provided by the course leaders, design a research project based on the dataset, and conduct the data analysis for the project. This paper will give students useful skills for conducting social science research, which are also essential for various career options in the public and private sector. Selected readings: Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot, 'The numbers game: statistics and politics', Open Democracy (8 Oct 2007): s Peter John, 'Quantitative methods', in D. Marsh and G. Stoker (eds), Theory and methods in political science (3rd ed) (Palgrave, 2010) [Chapter 13] Roger Tarling, Statistical modelling for social researchers: Principles and practice (Routledge, 2009) [esp. Chapters 1 and 2] POL9: Conceptual Issues and Texts in Politics and International Relations This is solely an examination paper. Candidates are required to answer one question from a choice of ten: five inviting discussion of an unseen and unattributed text in politics or international relations, and five inviting answers to general questions. POL9 gives candidates the opportunity to think about different kinds of general questions in politics and international relations, and to use the knowledge and understanding they have acquired to reflect on these and develop arguments of their own at length. The paper is set to avoid advantaging or disadvantaging any particular choice of papers elsewhere in Part II. Some questions can be answered from a knowledge of political thought, some from a knowledge of international or domestic politics; most will encourage candidates to connect the two. There are classes for the paper in the Lent term. Page 5

8 POL10: The History of Political Thought from c.1700-c.1890 Beginning with the Enlightenment and extending from the American and French revolutions to the wave of revolutions in 1848 and the challenge of capitalism in the thought of Karl Marx, this paper explains the formation of the fundamental concepts of modern politics. The line between the sacred and the civil, the relation between liberty and commerce, the transformations in the principles of political legitimacy which led to the notion of the modern representative republic, the nineteenth-century rise of the idea of the nationstates and nationalism, the modern concept of empire, the demand for gender equality: all these and more form the content of this paper. Selected readings: ed. Sylvana Tomaselli, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in A Vindication of the Rights of Men and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, (Cambridge, 1995). István Hont, Politics in Commercial Society: Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith (Cambridge, Mass., 2015). POL11: Political Philosophy & the History of Political Thought Since c.1890 This paper explores some of the central texts and key ideas of twentieth and twentyfirst century political thought, looking at both analytical concepts and historical context. It provides the opportunity to trace the development of political ideas into the twentieth century and further into contemporary political philosophy. This includes many ideas that students will have encountered in other contexts freedom, democracy, revolution, equality, international relations and global justice as well as some ideas that may be new or less familiar for instance, ecology, punishment or welfare. It also provides an opportunity to explore the history of political thought and political philosophy more generally, and to consider what studying politics historically or theoretically brings to our understanding of politics in practice. The paper is divided into two parts, Section A covers a number of historical topics, Section B a variety of themes in contemporary political philosophy that have some historical, and some purely normative, elements. It is possible to concentrate on one side or other of the paper, but students will be required to answer at least one question from each section. Like the earlier History of Political Thought Papers, Section A encourages the contextual study of key political texts and debates. This section introduces students to important thinkers such as Nietzsche, Weber, Hayek or Rawls; to developments in the Marxist and liberal traditions of political thought; and to significant political debates, such as those accompanying the crisis of the Weimar Republic, or the emergence of American political science. Section B introduces students to themes in contemporary political philosophy. Through the study of such themes such as, for example, post-colonialism, property, sovereignty and obligation, students can explore how modern philosophical arguments can be simultaneously engaged both as a normative dialogue with a range of Page 6

9 contemporary and classic texts, as well as being seen to emerge as historically specific claims about politics and political ideas in their own right, since c Overall then, this is a varied paper that offers a chance to explore some familiar ideas in more detail or in more contemporary contexts; to encounter new ideas; and to reflect on what political philosophy means for the study of politics in the round. Introductory readings: For Section A T. Ball and R. Bellamy (eds.) The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Political Thought (Cambridge, 2003) [available at For Section B W. Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction 2nd ed. (Oxford 2001). POL12: The Politics of the Middle East This paper, on the politics and international relations of the modern Middle East and contemporary Islam, is based around three sets of themes. The first section explores the nature and causes of political change in the Middle East, with a focus on understanding and critically examining the literature on state formation, democratisation, and political economy. The second section is on the development and character of political Islam, looking at both Sunni and Shia Islamism, and exploring how and why certain forms of Islamism have become heavily associated with violence. The third section is on security and international relations, developing an approach to understanding the Arab-Israeli conflict, the politics of the Persian Gulf, and the force and limits of external influence in the region. The first and third sections cover the Arab states, Iran, Israel and Turkey, while the second section also looks beyond the Middle East to Islamist groups in Europe and elsewhere. Specific themes and issues are brought out in special lectures or seminars focusing on the politics of specific themes of present-day relevance: the aspirations and pitfalls of Iraq s encounter with electoral politics after 2004, the ongoing crisis in Yemen, and the place of refugees within the region. The paper builds upon the POL4 option on Iran and Egypt, and knowledge of those two countries is presupposed in the teaching. Those who did not study this option will be at a disadvantage if they take this paper. Selected readings: Eugene Rogan, The Arabs: A History (London: Penguin, 2 nd edition, 2012) Asef Bayat, Life as Politics: How Ordinary People Change the Middle East (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2 nd edition, 2013) POL13: The Politics of Europe European politics has always been a vibrant subject, and has been in considerable flux in recent years. In fact, the word crisis is frequently used to describe various aspects of European politics from the crisis of the post-war settlement and the crisis of the welfare Page 7

10 state to the crisis of political parties, the Eurozone crisis, and the migration crisis. Most recently, the UK s vote to leave the European Union has raised profound questions about the relationship between Britain and continental Europe, the effectiveness of the UK s political institutions, and the long-term prospects of the EU itself. POL13 examines these questions through two modules, one on British Politics and one on The Politics of the European Union: the exam will be an undivided paper, so students can specialize in one module or study them in combination. The British Politics module explores political developments in the UK since 1945, including the rise and fall of the post-war settlement, Thatcherism and New Labour, devolution and constitutional reform, immigration, economic policy, and changes in electoral behaviour up to the 2017 general election. The Politics of the European Union module examines key aspects of the process of European integration, such as the nature of the European Union, the distribution of power within (and political mobilisation against) the EU, monetary integration and its problems, EU enlargement, and the EU s role in international affairs. The paper will enable students to engage critically with the scholarly literature in these fields and to develop a comparative and historical perspective on British and European politics. Selected readings: Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 (London: Pimlico, 2005) Geoffrey Evans and James Tilley, The New Politics of Class: The Political Exclusion of the British Working Class (Oxford: OUP, 2017) Julie Smith, The UK s Journeys In and Out of the EU: Destinations Unknown (London: Routledge, 2017) POL14: US Foreign Policy By most measures, the United States has been the most powerful country in the world since The U.S. is centrally involved with almost every important international political issue, from international security and economic regulations to transnational issues such as climate change and human rights regimes. For these reasons, the factors which shape U.S. foreign policy are of concern to people around the globe. This paper is designed to develop students understanding of these factors, both historically and in their present state. It explores how U.S. foreign policy coincides with--and sometimes confounds--prominent theories of international relations. The paper will familiarise students with important literature and debates on the intellectual and cultural foundations of U.S. foreign policy, including anti-statism, liberalism, and the illiberal assumptions used to legitimise continental and hemispheric domination. It will address the development of domestic American political institutions and their involvement in foreign affairs. This includes the balance between the presidency and the Congress as established in the Constitution and day-to-day politics; workings of the foreign policy bureaucracy; the impact of public opinion and social movements on political leaders and vice versa; and the sometimes pluralistic, sometimes oligarchic constellation of interest groups which foreign policymakers find it prudent to heed. It will examine significant aspects of U.S. foreign policy towards different regions of the world, especially since Page 8

11 The role the U.S. plays vis-à-vis five pertinent contemporary issues will be discussed: nuclear weapons, terrorism, climate change, the global economy, and international law. Lastly, the paper will cover debates over the nature and consequences of U.S. power and the potential decline of the U.S. relative to other states. Selected readings: Stephen G. Brooks and William C. Wohlforth, America Abroad: The United States Global Role in the 21st Century (Oxford University Press, 2016) Amy Zegart, Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC (Stanford University Press, 1999) G. John Ikenberry, Liberal Leviathan: The Origins, Crisis, and Transformation of the American World Order (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011) POL15: The Politics of Africa This paper explores the interaction of local and international factors that have influenced the social, economic and political trajectories of African states, and political participation by African citizens. We will consider how the study of Africa and indeed all of the formerly colonised world can challenge ways of thinking about politics that have been grounded primarily in the western experience, as well as how discourses on Africa or the global south relate to the economic, strategic and ideological projects of those who shape and deploy them. The course is taught thematically, but students develop case study knowledge of the diverse range of African countries experiences through essays and seminars. Students are encouraged to give due consideration to the agency of African peoples and political actors alongside the powerful external pressures on the continent from colonialism until the present day. The paper begins with an overview of the history of state formation on the continent, looking at precolonial and colonial systems of rule, the ideologies and strategies of anticolonial struggle, and their legacies in post-independence politics. We consider the continuities and changes in Africa s position in the global order, from European colonialism through independence and the Cold War, to humanitarian and security agendas of recent western policy, the rise of China and the emergence of south-south solidarity. This understanding of the international context will frame our analysis of political authority, mobilisation and legitimacy in independent Africa, and how these relate to different forms of political participation and domination, order and disorder: one-party rule, multiparty democracy, popular protest and conflict. Selecting readings: Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (Penguin, 1961). Mahmood Mamdani, Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (Princeton University Press, 1996). Claude Ake, Democracy and Development in Africa (Brookings Institution, 1996). Page 9

12 POL16: Law of Peace: The Law of the Emerging International Constitutional Order This course considers the role of law in organizing international life. It considers privileged actors in the international system, including the concepts of statehood, selfdetermination and human rights. The course also addresses governance, in particular the question of whether international law supports a right to democracy and a right of intervention in response to abuse of a population by its own government. The course then considers how law is made in the international system, and whether there exist core values enshrined in high-status rules of international constitutional standing. There follows a consideration of how the necessary stability of legal obligations can be balanced against the need to allow for change over time, along with an investigation into mechanisms to ensure compliance with international legal obligations. This includes dispute settlement mechanisms, in particular the International Court of Justice at The Hague. The final part of the course is devoted to collective security and unilateral claims to the use of force. The course is presented through lectures, accompanied by seminar sessions/supervisions devoted to the study and discussion of actual cases. It is examined through a single invigilated examination requiring the choice of one out of five questions. The majority of these questions will require the analysis of a hypothetical case based on real-life events in the international arena. Introductory reading: Malcolm Shaw, International Law, 7th edition (Cambridge University Press, 2014) POL17: Politics of Southeast Asia: Democratization and Diversity This paper approaches the study of Asian politics using Southeast Asian cases to raise themes and issues that might productively be applied across a broader geographic area, and across Asian regions. Southeast Asia is one of the world's most diverse regions. Here we find societies that were colonized by the British, the Dutch, the French, the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the Americans, as well as one that escaped direct colonization; that have been deeply influenced by Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam; that range from the world's most impoverished to the wealthiest; and that in the past century, in addition to colonial regimes, have been ruled by absolute monarchs, 'sultanistic' dictators, military juntas, Communist parties, and a number of more or less democratically elected governments. The paper is divided into two streams. The first focuses on the dynamics of democratization in Southeast Asia. In Michaelmas term it surveys the political, cultural, social, economic, institutional, and international factors that have fostered or obstructed the development and consolidation of democratic forms of government in Southeast Asia. A second stream, given in Lent term, focuses on the politics and genealogies of race and religion in South and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Pakistan), focusing upon: colonial formulations of race and religion, nationalism and state formation, law and litigation, and new religious movements. No prior knowledge of the region is assumed. Page 10

13 POL18: Politics and Gender Human security, liberty, political voice, economic status, education, health, freedom of expression, access to markets and public spaces as well as institutional behaviour are all fundamentally shaped by gender. This paper aims to introduce students to the various ways in which different understandings of gender impact on contemporary political debates. Lectures will be structured by six themes: Political Representation, Rights, Inequality, Conflict and Violence, Social Movements and Radical Politics and finally Power and the Body. POL19: The politics of the international economy This paper looks at modern politics in the context of the international economy. It considers the political opportunities and the political constraints that participation in different kinds of international economies create in different circumstances. It tries to put today's debates about the nature of the international economy and its implications for modern politics in a historical context and to use that historical understanding of both the arguments about economic life and the decisions governments have made about how to deal with international economic questions and the political reactions those decisions induce to illuminate different aspects of the domestic and international politics of a wide range of modern nation-states today. POL20: The politics of the future, At least since Plato, thinkers in the Western tradition have sought to imagine better worlds. The most famous texts in this tradition include Plato s Republic and Thomas More s Utopia, the latter of which gave this style of thinking a name. This course explores the modern utopian tradition, which originates in the late nineteenth century. We will study accounts of the future produced in Britain and North America from the 1880s to the present. Combining work in political theory, intellectual history, and speculative literature, the course will examine both utopian and dystopian visions. To do so, we will read a sample of important utopian/dystopian speculative writings from William Morris and H.G Wells to Margaret Atwood and William Gibson as well as theoretical literature on the nature and value of utopian thinking. The course will proceeds in a broadly chronological fashion. It is divided into 3 broad periods: ; ; 1970-the present. Each will concentrate on two main themes (though it is important to recognise that these are cumulative, each building on the previous sections). Section I will trace the intellectual and imaginative impact of Darwinism and debates over possible socialist societies. Section II will focus on attempts to make sense of totalitarianism and nuclear war. Section III turns to the potential of bio-technological transformation and of environmental catastrophe. Our aim is to discuss three broad themes: how writers whether novelists, philosophers or public intellectuals (1) imagined alternative social, political, and economic structures; (2) reimagined the self in relation to new technologies and forms of political association; and (3) debated the possibilities and the value of thinking about the future. The course is not intended to be an exhaustive survey of modern Page 11

14 utopianism; rather, the aim is to identify and explore the most significant foci for writing and thinking about the future. POL21: China in the International Order This paper provides an application of international relations and international political economy theories to the case study of China s decline, isolation, and rise in global politics and market over the past century and a half. Reassessing power transition, economic integration, and institution-building theories developed in the Western historical context, the paper prepares students to take a critical view on one of the most systemic shift of our time the rise of China as the world s largest economy with great power aspirations. Combining historical and theoretical perspectives, this course will examine major events and issues that have created pressures and opportunities for China s foreign relations, market expansion, corporate internationalization, military modernization, and influence in international organizations. Selected readings: Andrew Nathan and Andrew S Cobell, China s search for Security (New York: Colombia University Press, 2012) Thomas Christensen, The China Challenge (New York: W.W. Norton, 2015) Aaron Friedberg, A Contest for Supremacy: China, America and the struggle for Mastery in Asia (New York; London: W.W Norton, 2011) History Paper 6: States between states: The history of international political thought from the Roman Empire to the early nineteenth century This paper looks historically at the different ways in which this international space has been constructed. We begin in ancient Rome, with a word, Imperium, that of itself crosses the inside/out divide, being both a word for internal rule and a word for the concrete, external extension of rule the empire ; and we end with intellectual challenges to European conceptions and practices of empire in the early nineteenth century. Importantly, however, the intellectual history of the inter-political or international is not simply the intellectual history of imperial formations. As the paper shows, this dimension of the history of political thought involves all sorts of inter-political concepts, states between states : unions, federations, confederations, composite monarchies, leagues, alliances, friendly states, hostile states; as well as new spaces of inter-political citizenship. History and Philosophy of Science Paper 5: Philosophy of Science This paper considers a series of central questions in the philosophy of science. Topics covered include whether we should believe that our best scientific theories are true, whether there are fundamental laws and what they might be, the role of various forms of simplification and idealisation in science, the nature of hypothesis testing, the pretensions of science to reveal a mind-independent reality, and issues around the alleged unity of the sciences and of scientific method. Page 12

15 History and Philosophy of Science Paper 6: Ethics and Politics of Science, Technology and Medicine Science, technology and medicine play a central role in the modern world. However, there are many on-going political and ethical controversies over the role they ought to play. These include debates over whether, when and how, ethical and political values should shape scientific research and practice, and over when and how scientific results and new technologies should be used. Furthermore, these important disputes relate to more fundamental questions about the relationship between truth, values and objectivity. The aim of this paper is to introduce students to both practical and theoretical debates over the politics and ethics of science and to examine their inter-relationships. Economics Paper 8: History and Philosophy of Economics The paper is intended to help the students fully appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of mainstream economic theories. It aims to do so by teaching them: (i) the major theoretical innovations and debates that have marked the evolution of economics (history of economics); and (ii) the key issues involved in the assessment of different methods of economic investigation (philosophy of economics). At the end of the Paper, students will acquire: (i) the knowledge of the main innovations in economic theory and how they have emerged and evolved in response to real world problems as well as to intellectual debates; (ii) the knowledge of how economic theories have affected the world, not just by reforming economic policies but also by changing the way people look at the world; (iii) the understanding of relative strengths and weaknesses of different methods of investigation in economics; (iv) the appreciation of the importance and also the blind spots of mainstream economic theories; and (v) a more sophisticated understanding of the current debates in economics, based on the knowledge of the historical roots and the philosophical underpinnings of different economic ideas. The paper consists of 30 lectures (16 for the history of economics and 14 for the philosophy of economics). Selected Readings Chang, H-J., Economics: The User s Guide, ch. 4 Medema, S., The Hesitant Hand Rodrik, D., Economics Rules: Why Economics Works, When It Fails & How to Tell the Difference Page 13

16 Administrators If you have queries about a particular subject, or need to notify us of any changes, please contact the relevant Administrator: Politics & International Relations Archaeology / Biological Anthropology (7)67235 Patrycja Koziol ugadmin@polis.cam.ac.uk (3)39288 Anna O Mahony undergraduatesecretary@arch.cam.ac.uk Social Anthropology (3)30908 Jenny Broadway Jcb213@cam.ac.uk Sociology (3)34528 Odette Rogers ohmr3@cam.ac.uk Part I (3)35454 Gillian Dadd gad28@cam.ac.uk Faculty Teaching Administrator (7)69326 Barbora Sajfrtova bs481@cam.ac.uk Page 14