PPE Courses Fall 2006
PPE - 036 LAW & ECONOMICS Persico
MW 2-3:30PM
CROSSLISTED ECON 36
The relationship of economic principles to law and the use of economic analysis to study legal problems. Topics will include: property rights and intellectual property; analysis of antitrust and economic analysis of legal decision making.
PPE - 101 NATURE OF REASONING Sillari
MWF 3-4PM
The Course explores inductive and deductive reasoning principles, as well as the common biases and mistakes that mar individual reasoning processes. The course will also explore practical reasoning -- i.e. decision-making -- both from normative and descriptive viewpoints.
PPE - 110 INTRO TO DECISION THEORY Sen
MWF 10-11AM
The course will provide an introduction to models of human decision making. One of the primary purposes of the course is to provide a set of basic tools that will help the student translate qualitative uncertainty into numbers. A substantial amount of the course will deal with the theory of rational choice in the presence of objective and subjective uncertainty. Rational choice under uncertainty is by far the most used theory of decision making, and its applications are widespread in economics, finance, political science, law, managerial decision making, the economics of health care, and artificial intelligence. The course will use examples heavily from each of these fields (and also fun “paradoxes” such as the Monty Hall Puzzle) in providing an introduction to the basic foundations of decision making. We will also look at the shortcomings of the theory: both from intuitive and empirical perspectives.
PPE - 180 ANAL METH ECON, LAW MED GERSTENHABER
TR 12-1:30PM
CROSS LISTED: MATH-180
Elementary applications of decision analysis, game theory, probability and statistics to issues in accounting, contracting, finance, law, and medicine, amongst others.
PPE - 270 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW STAFF
401 LEC MW 2-3PM
CROSS LISTED: PSCI-271
402 REC F 2-3PM
403 REC F 2-3PM
404 REC R 11-12 NOON
405 REC R 12-1PM
406 REC F 10-11AM
407 REC M 12-1PM
This course explores the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in political struggles over the distribution and uses of power in the American constitution a system. Issues include the division of powers between the state and national governments, and the branches of the federal government; economic powers of private actors and governmental regulators; the authority of government to enforce or transform racial and gender hierarchies; and the powers of individuals to make basic choices, such as a woman's power to have an abortion. We will pay special attention to how the tasks of justifying the Supreme Court's own power, and constitutionalism more broadly, contribute to logically debatable but politically powerful constitutional arguments. Readings include Supreme Court decisions and background materials on their historical and political cont.
PPE - 299 INDEPENDENT STUDY SEN
PERMISSION NEEDED FROM DEPARTMENT
PPE - 301 DIRECTED HONORS RESEARCH SEN
PERMISSION NEEDED FROM DEPARTMENT
PPE - 377 PHIL & THE CONSTITUTION FREEMAN S
TR 10:30-12NOON
CROSS LISTED: PHIL-377
The aim of this course is to investigate the philosophical background of our constitutional democracy. What is the appropriate role and limits of majority legislative rule? How are we to understand First Amendment protections of freedom of religion, speech, and assembly? What is the conception of equality that underlies the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause? Is there a right of privacy implicit in the Constitution? Do rights of property deserve the same degree of protection as other constitutional rights? To investigate these and other constitutional issues, we will read from both Supreme Court opinions and relevant philosophical texts.
PPE - 417 GAME THEORY BICCHIERI C
CROSS LISTED: PHIL-417
The course will introduce students to non-cooperative game theory and experimental games. The first part of the course will focus on the basic elements of non-cooperative game theory. The second part will cover the experimental literature on social dilemmas, trust and ultimatum games. The format will consist of lectures, student presentations, and discussions.
PPE - 475 SOCIAL CHOICE AND DEMOCRATIC THEORY NAGEL J
401 SEM F 2-5PM
CROSS LISTED: PSCI-475
The purpose of the seminar will be to explore two radically different images of democratic politics that have emerged from social choice theory, the formal study of how individual preferences aggregate to make collective decisions. This course is intended primarily as a capstone senior seminar for majors in Political Science or Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. It will also be suitable for senior majors in related programs, such as Economics or Philosophy. In addition, graduate students in Political Science are welcome. Other interested students should confer with the instructor before enrolling.
402 S/T BEH.LAW & ECONOMICS BARON J
PERMISSION NEEDED FROM INSTRUCTOR
CROSS LISTED: PSYC-253
Economic theory has invaded legal scholarship and law schools, in the form of "Law and economics." But the psychology of judgments and decisions has invaded economic theory, showing that people do not follow the classic model of economic rationality. Many legal scholars, such as Cass Sunstein, claim to have started a new field called "Behavioral law and economics," which explores the implications of psychology for legal theory. This seminar will review basic readings in law and economics and then the recent review of the relevance of psychology. Topics include risk regulation, liability, and regulation of political behavior.
403 BEHAVIORAL ETHICS BICCHIERI C
Prerequisite: an ethics course
Only fourth year PPE students will be admitted
Philosophy grad participation by permission
Behavioral Ethics is a research seminar directed at PPE students with an interest in psychology, philosophy, social and cognitive science. Our focus will be on identifying and discussing issues of philosophical significance raised by recent work in psychology, evolutionary game theory, experimental economics and behavioral decision making. In particular, the seminar will explore the psychological underpinning of fairness, cooperation
and trust behaviors.