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Solve the world’s problems

The programme studies human behaviour and social phenomena.

It combines:

  • The analytical reasoning of philosophers
  • The social insight of scholars of politics
  • The methodological rigour of economists

Students begin with a grounding course in each of the three core disciplines. Study progresses to small and intellectually intense interdisciplinary seminars and to advanced independent research.

Our core disciplines

Why the hedgehog?

''The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.' The writer Isaiah Berlin quotes this ancient saying to draw a contrast between two kinds of intellectual style.

In some of our work in PPE, we are like foxes – we use many tools to work on a range of problems. At other times, we are like hedgehogs – we use a single powerful lens to illuminate most of human experience. Read more about the hedgehog

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