Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

1.       To provide students with a thorough knowledge of the moral concerns that bear on when markets are and are not a justifiable form of economic organisation.
2.       To help students relate these concerns to real-world examples of market practices that test the moral boundaries.
3.       To guide students in the use of methods from political philosophy and their role in theorising a persuasive position on economic justice.
4.       To support students improving their skills in developing sustained, logically coherent, and persuasive written arguments that propose solutions to contemporary market challenges.

Outline Of Syllabus

•       This module examines the moral issues that arise in the use of markets as a form of economic organisation, giving particular attention to the limits of markets and exploring why some goods and services should not be for sale or purchase. It approaches this by considering arguments from literature in political philosophy and economic ethics in support of markets, such as appeals to efficiency, innovation, and prosperity, and in objection to the expansion of market logic into various spheres of social life, such as concerns around exploitation, commodification, sustainability, and market externalities. It illuminates these arguments by investigating their bearing on a range of contested markets, asking questions such as: Should states allow markets in organs, commercial surrogacy, and sex? Should consumers boycott goods produced under exploitative conditions, and what responsibilities do corporations have in ensuring fair labour practices? Are carbon emissions trading schemes an effective tool for combating climate change, or do they unjustly commodify the environment? How should states regulate and distribute pharmaceutical innovation? How do markets for harmful goods such as tobacco challenge ethical principles, and should states restrict or eliminate them altogether?How do digital platforms, artificial intelligence, and technological development affect what constitutes fair employment?
By engaging with these debates, students will develop a nuanced understanding of the ethical dimensions of markets and their impact on social and economic justice. This module is essential for anyone interested in exploring the intersection of morality, economics, and global responsibility.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Knowledge outcomes
By the end of the module, students should have knowledge of:
-       A range of, and the distinction between, empirical and moral considerations pertaining to markets as a mode of economic organisation.
-       Current controversies and debates about the limits of markets and their bearing on a range of contemporary cases of contested markets.
-       Methods and approaches to form critical arguments about the permissibility of markets and their use in practice

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should have:
-       The ability to source, analyse, and reconstruct arguments on markets as a mode of economic organisation.
-       The ability to utilise appropriate methods to assess moral claims and the structure of moral arguments.
-       The ability to relate abstract ideas to real-world examples of contested markets.
-       The ability to research, develop, and write sustained and coherent arguments on the limits of markets.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Setting research and reading activities connects students with literature that elaborates moral ideas about the defence and limits of markets, providing them with an insight to the core knowledge aims of the module and illuminating the topic areas on the module to which authors apply these ideas.

Small group teaching provides students with the opportunity to form perspectives on the issues and readings in exchanges with staff and peers, to deepen their knowledge of the key ideas through dialogue and questions, and to further understanding by raising questions.

The essay assessment serves two of the module’s aims: it directs students to undertake research into literature on the moral limits of markets and allows them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of these issues and their skills in written argument.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essay assessment serves two of the module’s aims: It directs students to undertake research into literature on the moral limits of markets and allows them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of these issues and their skills in written argument.

General Notes

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