Economics and Philosophy & Ethics BA

ECONOMICS BA (HONS)

This is an exciting time to study Economics: great ideological debates, policy decisions and technological changes are taking place that impact our lives, ranging from the direction of globalisation and international trade and trade restrictions, to trends in economic inequality, the environment and climate change, the gender pay-gap, migration flows, economic integration, financial crises, and the challenges posed by the recent Covid-19 and global conflicts crises.

Our Economics programme will delve into an in-depth study of real economic issues like the above, based on a solid foundation of an eclectic economic theory, and an understanding of how economic policy is formulated. This will enable students to gain the analytical and critical evaluation skills needed to recognise how national and global issues affect a society’s welfare.

The course is designed to provide students with the experience, knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the job market, by putting a strong emphasis on analytical, quantitative and research skills highly valued by employers. It will also develop a student’s ability to apply the concepts, theories and quantitative methods to business and public policy decisions, in a diverse range of settings. As we believe your ability to gain meaningful employment after you graduate is really important, there is also a strong focus on helping you to develop your more general and transferable employability skills. 

In this course, students will study a range of areas, including Quantitative Methods, Econometrics, Intermediate Micro and Macroeconomics, History of Economic Thought, Banking & Finance, and International Economics and Finance.

PHILOSOPHY & ETHICS

Philosophy and Ethics explores the big questions of life and morality: on what basis do we judge things good or evil? It challenges you to examine your assumptions, opinions and worldview. Do we need to believe in God for life to have meaning – or have the arguments for the existence of God broken down? What does it mean to be human? Do we have free will, or is our life completely determined?

Through close attention to the primary texts of philosophers such as Plato, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant and Nietzsche, our Philosophy and Ethics degree will help you learn to analyse and evaluate arguments, and to compose and communicate your own ideas in a reasoned way. You will have a grounding in the foundational questions of philosophy. As you progress, you will look in depth at philosophy of religion, political philosophy, applied ethics and issues of human personhood, artificial intelligence, ecology and animality.

Liverpool is a great place to study philosophy: the city famously wears its heart on its sleeve, and is home to a rich web of cultures that explore the human condition through humour, art and performance. The Liverpool Hope team has developed a programme that aims to be contemporary and timely, especially in the field of applied ethics. And in a city that has been riven with sectarian strife in its past, the innovative approaches that the team takes to thinking about religion in the modern world are highly topical. 

This degree will help you to develop your professional capacity by equipping you with the intellectual skills and perspectives needed to face the ethical and ideological challenges of the contemporary world. Such skills are essential for careers that require you to grasp with complex and often conflicting ideas across a whole range of professions.