Politics, Philosophy and Economics

Politics, philosophy and economics is one of the most celebrated undergraduate degree combinations in the UK, bringing together three disciplines that are concerned with the most fundamental questions about how societies organise themselves, how we should think about justice and the good life, and how material resources are allocated and markets function. The combination is genuinely synergistic: political analysis is enriched by philosophical rigour and economic understanding; economic reasoning is deepened by philosophical interrogation of its assumptions and political awareness of its social contexts; philosophical ethics gains traction when applied to the real choices that governments and economies face.

At the University of Stirling, this four-year programme with a year abroad develops your understanding across all three disciplines in a programme that values breadth and integration over narrow specialisation. You will study political theory and comparative politics, the history of philosophy and contemporary moral and political philosophy, and the analytical tools of micro and macroeconomics alongside their applications to real-world questions. A year abroad gives you the opportunity to study one or more of these disciplines in a different academic and political context, broadening your intellectual formation and your sense of the international dimensions of the questions the degree addresses.

The skills this combination develops are genuinely powerful and widely applicable: rigorous argument, evidence-based analysis, the ability to move between formal reasoning and contextual interpretation, and an understanding of institutions, incentives and ideas that is relevant to almost every sector of professional life.

Graduates go on to careers in government and public policy, law (with further professional training), management consultancy, finance, international organisations, journalism, think tanks, the civil service, development agencies and a wide range of other fields. PPE is widely regarded as one of the degrees that most strongly prepares graduates for leadership and analytical roles. Further study in politics, philosophy, economics or public policy is also common.