Rigorous Reasoning Pre-requirement
It is the intent of the PPE program to prepare our students to employ rigorous reasoning skills. Such an ability will help the student in today's world, which is increasingly reliant on quantitative data and formal analyses in most areas of consulting, research, banking, higher education, law or public policy. Many courses offered as part of the PPE major presume a familiarity with such tools, and several demand proficiency.
The courses that fulfill this pre-requirement are mentioned here.
The Rigorous Reasoning is a pre-requirement, so a credit earned while meeting this criterion does not count for one or more of the 16 credits needed for the major, unless the course taken is a course that counts towards the major as well as the Rigorous Reasoning pre-requirement. For example, Math 104 would fulfill the pre-requirement, but does not count towards the major. On the other hand, both PHIL 5 and PPE 110 could be used as electives for the major, and also fulfill the Rigorous Reasoning pre-requirement.
Students who are interested in going to law school are advised to take a class in logical reasoning. Students interested in studying public policy or international issues are advised to take a class in statistics.
Students interested in Choice and Behavior should take a class in logic, mathematics, decision theory or statistics. Students interested in distributed justice or globalization should take a class in statistics or statistics for economists. For a full set of which classes are recommended for which theme, please go here.
Finally, many classes which count for our Rigorous Reasoning also count for the College's Formal Reasoning or Quantitative Data Analysis. These classes are mentioned below:
College Requirement of Formal Reasoning:
Math 104: Calculus, Part 1
Math 114: Calculus, Part 2
Math 115: Calculus, Part 2
PPE 110: Introduction to Decision Theory
Math 180: Analytical Methods in Economics, Law, and Medicine
Phil 5: Introduction to Formal Logic
College Requirement of Quantitative Data Analysis
Stat 101: Introductory Business Statistics
Stat 102: Introductory Business Statistics
Stat 111: Introductory Statistics
Stat 112: Introductory Statistics
Econ 103. Statistics for Economists
Soc 120: Social Statistics