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About Philosophy and Economics

Philosophy and Economics is a two-year master's programme at the University of Vienna with a strong focus on interdisciplinary work from day 1. The programme is a joint enterprise by the department of philosophy and the department of economics, and features three areas of specialisation:

In Philosophy, History and Methodology of Economics, you develop a deeper philosophical and historical understanding of the discipline of economics.

In Rationality and Decision, you use philosophical and economic insights to gain a profound understanding of human decision-making.

In Ethics, Welfare and Justice, you acquire philosophical and economic knowledge and skills that enable you to develop your own position on what an ethically good economy looks like.

In the course of the programme, you will develop a unique combination of knowledge and analytical skills in the area of philosophy and economics. The programme allows you to specialise according to your interests and future plans, and to prepare for careers in the public and private sector, as well as in academic teaching and research.

 

Recommended preliminary Readings

The following texts showcase some of the research in philosophy and economics at the University of Vienna:

You can get a more detailed picture of philosophy and economics by reading some of the following books:

  • Reiss, Julian, 2013. Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction. Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy. New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Binmore, Ken, 2009. Rational Decisions. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Hausman, Daniel, Michael McPherson, and Debra Satz, 2016. Economic Analysis, Moral Philosophy, and Public Policy. Cambridge University Press. 

For more in-depth study, we recommend the following texts for the different fields of specialisation:

Philosophy, History and Methodology of Economics:

  • Morgan, Mary S. 2012. The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press.

  • Hausman, Daniel (ed.) 2008. The Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology. 3rd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press.

  • Kincaid, Harold, and Don Ross, eds. 2009. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.

  • Mäki, Uskali, ed. 2012. Philosophy of Economics. Handbook of the Philosophy of Science, Volume 13. Amsterdam: North Holland is an imprint of Elsevier.

Rationality and Decision:

  • Bicchieri, Cristina. 1993. Rationality and Coordination. Cambridge Studies in Probability, Induction, and Decision Theory. Cambridge; New York, USA: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hollis, Martin. 1998. Trust within Reason. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press.

  • Searle, John R. 2001. Rationality in Action. The Jean Nicod Lectures 2000. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Ethics, Welfare, and Justice:

  • Satz, Debra 2010. Why some things should not be for sale : the moral limits of markets. New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Nozick, Robert. 2013. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group.
  • Cohen, G. A. 2000b. If You're an Egalitarian, How Come You're So Rich? Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
  • Nussbaum, Martha Craven, Amartya Sen, and World Institute for Development Economics Research, eds. 1993. The Quality of Life. WIDER Studies in Development Economics. Oxford: New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press.

 

Our Team

P&E Team

(left to right) Felix Pinkert, Justin Leduc, Jeanne Pang, Boris Staykov

 

© Joseph Krpelan/ University of Vienna