RIGOROUS REASONING REQUIREMENT
It is the intent of the PPE program to prepare our students to be able to employ rigorous reasoning skills. Such an ability will stand the student in good stead in the world today, which is increasingly reliant on formal, structured discourse in most areas of research, higher education, law and public policy. Many courses offered as part of the PPE major presume at least a passing familiarity with such tools, and several demand a basic level of comfort in such an environment.
A course that teaches formal reasoning and/or quantitative skills that are relevant for the major will fulfill this requirement. Most of the courses that fulfill this requirement are mentioned here; many of these courses will also fulfill the Formal Reasoning and Analysis requirement (for class of 2008 and prior) - though please make sure that you have checked with the College Office (a college advisor) about this. But not all classes that fulfill our requirements fulfill College requirements, and the reverse is also true. To make sure that a course that counts towards the PPE major fulfills a college requirement, check with the College. To make sure that the fulfillment of a College requirement can count towards the major, check with PPE. For example, Music Theory and Musicianship I fulfills the College’s Formal Reasoning and Analysis Requirement, but not our Rigorous Reasoning Pre-requirement.
This 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 fulfilling the Rigorous Reasoning Pre-requirement. For example, Math 104 would fulfil this, but not count towards the major. On the other hand, both PHIL 5 and Econ 103 could be used as electives for the major, and fulfill the Rigorous Reasoning Requirement.