BA and Bsc,`Double Licence’ in Economics and Philosophy, University of Lorraine, France
The “double licence économie et philosophie” (undergraduate BA degree in philosophy and Bsc degree in economics)” is a new diploma which has been welcoming its students for 3 years. Students follow the economics course at the Faculty of Economics and the philosophy course at the Faculty of Philosophy. They hold a bachelor’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.. Part of the lessons take place in English. The Economics and Philosophy degree is supported by two research units (the BETA in economics and the Poincaré Archives in philosophy) and on the economics and philosophy seminar of the the “Grand-Est Economics and Philosophy webinar” (University of Lorraine, University of Reims and University of Strasbourg). Our strategy is to develop our international Erasmus relations as well as relations with masters in economics and philosophy in other universities.
BA and BSc, ‘Double Licence’ in Economics and Philosophy, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Since 2017, the Department of Philosophy at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the Sorbonne School of Economics in the same university have been offering a double degree (‘double licence’) in economics and philosophy. Students from the European Union are admitted to this selective programme (20 students in the first year) via the Parcoursup online platform. Teaching is mainly in French. Part of the lessons take place in English. This 6-semester programme combines the core subjects of the philosophy curriculum with those of the economics curriculum and leads to the award of two diplomas at the end of the three years. The programme heads in 2023-2024 are Claire Pignol (Economics) and Magali Bessone (Philosophy). Incoming Erasmus mobility students are welcome and can also access political science courses (in French). Each year, a research workshop is organised, bringing together students from all three years, PhD candidates, and senior researchers. Since 2022, this workshop has been organised in association with the similar programme offered by Université de Lorraine.
MA PPE and research at University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
At the master level, three masters enclose a PPE approach and are supported by three research centers with strong PPE interests.
- In the department of philosophy, the master “Philosophie et société” (directed by Magali Bessone) delivers courses in Political philosophy, economic philosophy, etc., and offers one specialization in Philosophy and Economics. It is supported by ISJPS-Phico, a research center in philosophy and law, with a strong pole of economic philosophy (5 members), and which organizes the PPE research seminar “Nosophi.”
- In the department of economics, the master “History of economic thought” (directed by Nathalie Sigot) provides several seminars at the intersection of philosophy and economics (e.g. utilitarianism, the Scottish and French Enlightenment, institutionalism, gender). In addition, most of the courses in the programme examine the relationship between economics and politics, leading to questions about the gradual transition from political economy in the eighteenth century to economic science as it dominates economics today. It is supported by PHARE, a research center in history and philosophy of economics, which has long been organizing “the Philosophy and Economics Afternoon Seminar.”
- In the department of economics, the master “Economics and social sciences: Epistemology, Methods, Theories” (directed by Jean-Sébastien Lenfant) focuses on the epistemology of economics and on the recent history of the discipline. It offers a training programme that allows students to question the changing and complex relations between economics and other disciplines, both to understand the conditions of knowledge production and use in the academic sphere and to shed light on the normative dimensions and political uses of theories. It is supported by REHPERE the Network on the Epistemology and History of Recent Economic Thought, which has long been organizing “the Epistemology Circle.”
Lessons are mainly in French but all these programmes endeavour to invite internationally renowned professors (philosophers, economists, historians and political scientists, etc.).
MA PPE Sciences Po Lille, France
Sciences Po Lille offers a 2 year long Master’s programme in Philosophy, Politics and Economics with courses and seminars provided by tenured professors from Sciences Po Lille, the department of philosophy of the University of Lille and Université Libre de Bruxelles. The students are selected on the basis of their academic performances, their motivation and English proficiency. It is a wholly integrated teaching and research programme taught in English and French. The two first semesters deliver fundamental courses on Justice Economics, Economic Philosophy and Methodology, Postcolonial Studies, Applied Ethics, Political Theory and Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, History of Economic Ideas. The third semester is structured around research seminars, one on Ecological Issues, another on Contemporary Ethical Issues, and a third one on the methodology of writing research dissertation and papers. The fourth semester is courseless, with only one monthly research seminar, and is devoted to finalizing the writing of their Master’s thesis. Students are also involved in collective works like organizing a conference, publishing a journal, etc. The research center (GRAPPES – Groupe de Recherche et d’Analyse des Pensées et Philosophies Économiques) organizes a monthly research seminar with the participation of the students. We organize this year the 6th International Conference of Economic Philosophy from June 29 to July 1st 2024 on the Economic Philosophy in the Age of the Anthropocene.
Master of Political Engineering, Saint-Etienne School of Economics, France
The MA program in Political Engineering (directed by Stephane Gonzalez) at the Saint-Etienne School of Economics, awarded by Université Jean Monnet, is open to students with backgrounds in economics, social sciences, or mathematics. This program is designed to develop and fully utilize tools for evaluation, data analysis, and decision support systems. Our students are trained to apply these tools to a wide spectrum of economic, political, and strategic problems faced by modern decision-makers.
Although this Master program considers issues of political philosophy and political science, it places a strong emphasis on formal and data tools. It provides a course on the “Philosophy of Economics and Normative Economics” in the second year of the Master’s program (taught by Antoinette Baujard), and offers a multitude of courses related to Artificial Intelligence and Game Theory, which focus on matters of justice, redistribution, and individual or collective decision-making.
We believe students from our Political Engineering program could greatly benefit from exchanges to programs with a strong Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) focus in Europe. Similarly, students from PPE programs may wish to specialize in decision tools by studying for a semester or a year in Saint-Etienne. We are open to proposals.
Research: Decision, Rationality & Interaction group (DRI) in Paris
Decision, Rationality & Interaction (DRI) is a research group that combines scholars from different institutions and disciplines and is based at the Institut d’Histoire et de Philosophie des Schiences et des Techniques (IHPST) of University Paris 1. It was founded in 2008 by Ph. Mongin and M. Cozic and focuses on a wide range of topics in the overlap of Economics and Philosophy, notably decision theory, social choice and social welfare, normative economics and formal epistemology, relying on conceptual as well as technical methods. DRI hosts research projects and organises seminars. It functions as a platform for researchers from the Paris area and beyond, such as J. Baccelli (U. Oxford), D. Bonnay (Paris-Ouest University), M. Cozic (Lyon 3 University), F. Dietrich (CNRS & Paris School of Economics), B. Hill (CNRS & HEC Business School), and M. Pivato (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).
Research: Economic Philosophy and Theory research group, University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne
The “Economic Philosophy and Theory research group” at the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (France) is composed of five tenured assistant/associate/full professors and several PhD students. Part of our work is at the intersection of economics and philosophy, and more specifically tackles issues articulating normative economics and moral/political philosophy. We are currently working on the preparation of a research project related to the possibility of a liberal epistocracy. We also work on the recent history of economics and the social sciences, with a focus on feminist and Marxian economics. We organize a research seminar on a monthly basis, and, with colleagues from the universities of Lorraine and Strasbourg, the “Grand-Est Economics and Philosophy webinar,” where we regularly invite colleagues from abroad. In 2025, we will organize and host the 7th International Conference of Economic Philosophy.
Research: PPE at GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne, France
Some of our colleagues of our CNRS center GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne have a strong PPE focus, including: social choice theory, normative economics and political philosophy, democratic studies, science and society issues, decision theory, behavioral issues and freedom. We rely either on formal, conceptual and behavioral approach. The group includes, among others: Antoinette Baujard, Federica Ceron (U. Saint-Etienne), Aurélien Baillon (Emlyon) and Benoît Tarroux (U. Lyon 2).
The University of Saint-Etienne and the Lyon collegium provide positions of invited professors (from 1 to 10 months), for which we welcome professors in politics, philosophy and economics (e.g., M. Braham, C. Binder, J. Ferreira, T. Grune-Yanoff have already been invited).
Our research axis comprises about 10 tenured professors or associate professors and several PhD students. Some of us have developed for many years a research program on philosophy and economics (organization of the 2nd international conference in Economics and Philosophy in France in 2014, proceedings of the conference published in a Routledge book and a special issue of Revue de Philosophie Economique, …). We are also now involved in the organization of the seminar “Grand-Est Economics and Philosophy webinar,” with the laboratory Regards of the University of Reims.
PPE Network in Europe 