Ethics and Economics - JEM020
Title: Ethics and Economics
Czech title: Ethics and Economics
Guaranteed by: Institute of Economic Studies (23-IES)
Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
Actual: from 2023
Semester: winter
E-Credits: 6
Examination process: winter s.:
Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/2, Ex [HT]
Capacity: 185 / 185 (1000)
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: yes
Virtual mobility / capacity: yes / 20
Key competences: critical thinking, data literacy
State of the course: taught
Language: English
Teaching methods: full-time
Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan
enabled for web enrollment
priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
Guarantor: doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
Teacher(s): doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
Jan Mošovský, M.Sc.
Yermone Sargsyan, M.Sc.
Mgr. Dimitra Spyropoulou
Class: Courses for incoming students
Incompatibility : JPB338
Is incompatible with: JPB368, JPB338
Examination dates   WS schedule   Noticeboard   
Files Comments Added by
download LNWeek1EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the First Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek10EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Tenth Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek11EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Eleventh Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek2EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Second Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek3EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Third Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek4EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Fourth Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek5EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Fifth Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek6EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Sixth Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek7EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Seventh Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek8EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Eighth Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
download LNWeek9EE.pdf Lecture Notes for the Ninth Week doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
Annotation -
There are no required prerequisites for this course.

This course is interdisciplinary: different concepts from moral and political philosophy, methodology, social sciences, economics and finance are used for discussing many relevant topics. Used concepts are explained in lectures, relevant topics specified in the syllabus are discussed in seminars.

This course is also part of the inter-university programme prg.ai Minor. It pools the best of AI education in Prague to provide students with a deeper and broader insight into the field of artificial intelligence.
More information is available at https://prg.ai/minor.
Last update: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (09.11.2023)
Aim of the course -

By the end of this course students will be able to discuss different topics with understanding of relevant concepts from moral and political philosophy, methodology, social sciences, economics and finance.
Last update: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (03.09.2021)
Literature -

Lecture notes for each week  will be accessible each week after the Friday online seminar.

Required readings for each week are specified in the syllabus, homeworks are based on required readings.

 

Recommended videos:

Harvard Justice course:   justiceharvard.org

Yale open course "The Moral Foundations of Politics":   https://oyc.yale.edu/political-science/plsc-118/lecture-1

 

Recommended Readings:

Buchanan, James: The Limits of Liberty (Between Anarchy and Leviathan)

Mappes, T.A., Zembaty J.S., DeGrazia, D.: Social Ethics - Morality and Social Policy. McGraw Hill 2012

Rachels, J., Rachels, S.: The Elements of Moral Philosophy. McGraw Hill 2015

Rachels, J., Rachels, S.: The Right Thing to Do. McGraw Hill 2015

Rosenberg, A: Philosophy of Social Science

Last update: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (27.08.2024)
Teaching methods -

Both seminars and lectures are in the classroom 109, Opletalova building.

"Virtual mobility" and "4EU+" students can attend both lectures and seminars online, upon request, in MS Teams. Online seminars are in different time than insite seminars, 

Last update: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (27.08.2024)
Requirements to the exam -

Grading:

  • Homeworks (40 %, related to required readings, 8% for each homework). There are five homeworks: in the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th week. You put the pdf file with your homework into the SIS UK (starting menu, part Education, icon with four persons), till Sunday 23:55 of the relevant week. Homeworks sent by e-mail are not accepted. The SIS does not allow you to enter your homework after the deadline. In each homework, you write two critical appraisals of required readings from the previous two weeks. Each critical appraisal is structured into 4 paragraphs as follows: Paragraph introducing your appraisal, paragraph with strong (what you agree with) points of appraised reading, paragraph with weak (what you do not agree with) points of appraised reading and paragraph concluding your appraisal. The expected length of each appraisal is 1 page, but feel free to write more.
  • Three online midterm tests (10 % each) and online final test (30 %) in Moodle. You must be registered in Moodle on:

https://dl3.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=547

1st midterm test: November 1st, 2024 (the whole day)

2nd midterm test: November 29th, 2024 (the whole day)

3rd midterm test: January 3rd, 2025 (the whole day)

Final tests will be on January 9th at 2:00 p.m., on January 16th at 2:00 p.m., on January 30th at 2:00 p,m, and on February 13th at 2:00 p.m.

There are no retakes for midterm tests, you just lose the points. According to our study rules, you have two retakes for the final test.

After summarizing all points, our standard grading scale will be applied:

0-50 (F), 51-60 (E), 61-70 (D), 71-80 (C), 81-90 (B), 91-100 (A)

Last update: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (11.10.2024)
Syllabus -

Week 1: Ethics as Practical Philosophy

  • Human Person and Social Structures
  • Ethics and Economics
  • Miscelaneus about Ethics
  • Seminar:
    • Moral Reasoning
    • Required Reading – Promotion

Required Reading:

Plato: The Republic. 2nd Book. (Can be found on web)

 

Week 2: Justice and Coordination

  • Where the Notion of Justice Comes from
  • Virtues
  • Coordination
  • Seminar:
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Legality of Drugs”
    • Required Reading - Promotion

Required Reading:

Alisdair MacIntyre: After Virtue.  Chapter 14: "The Nature of the Virtues"

(https://epistemh.pbworks.com/f/4.+Macintyre.pdf )

Optional Readings:

http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/viceCrime/m6/nadelmann%20-%20the%20case%20for%20legalization.htm

https://www.commentary.org/articles/james-wilson/against-the-legalization-of-drugs

 

Week 3: Utilitarianism and Justice

  • Empiricist Enlightenment
  • Utilitarianism
  • Utilitarianism  in Current Economics
  • Seminar:
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Abortion”
    • Required Reading - Promotion
    • Discussion of the 1st homework

 Required Reading:

Jeremy Bentham: An Introduction to the Principles of Moral and Legislation. Chapters 1-4.

(https://www.econlib.org/library/Bentham/bnthPML.html)

Optional Readings:

http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/Phil160,Fall02/thomson.htm

http://faculty.polytechnic.org/gfeldmeth/45.marquis.pdf

 

Week 4: Economics as a Social Science

  • Individuals and Social Structure
  • Definition of Economics and Coherent Schools of Contemporary Economics
  • Selected Topics from the Philosophy of Economics
  • Seminar:
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Helping to the Poor” and “Migration”
    • Required Reading - Promotion

 

Required Reading:

Ludwig von Mises: Human Action. Introduction  and Chapter I "Acting Man" 

 (https://cdn.mises.org/Human%20Action_3.pdf )

Optional Readings:

https://www.jefftk.com/rachels-2013-immorality-having-children.pdf

http://users.manchester.edu/Facstaff/SSNaragon/Online/texts/425/Sen,%20PropertyHunger.pdf

http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles_pdf/living_on_a_lifeboat.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/05/magazine/the-singer-solution-to-world-poverty.html

 

Week 5:  Neoclassical Synthesis, Postkeynesian Economics and Justice

  • Theory of Choice
  • Labour Market and Justice
  • Inflation and Justice
  • Seminar:
    • Exercising of moral reasoning on “The Ethics of War and Peace”
    • Required Reading - Promotion
    • Discussion of the 2nd  homework

Required Reading:

David Hume: The Treatise of Human Nature. Book 3 “Morals”, Part 2 “Justice and injustice”, from 1 to 6

https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/hume1740book3.pdf

Optional Readings:

http://www2.hawaii.edu/~freeman/courses/phil100/14.%20The%20Ethics%20of%20War%20and%20Peace.pdf

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/wp-content/files_mf/1428085978JohnRawls.pdf

 

Week 6:  Immanuel Kant, Psyche and Conscience

  • Immanuel Kant
  • Psyche
  • Conscience
  • Seminar:
    • Required Reading – Promotion
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Terrorism and Torture”

Required Reading:

Immanuel Kant: Toward Perpetual Peace, Introduction, Section 1, Section 2.

https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/kant1795_1.pdf

Optional Readings:

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2002/11/27/0000184966

http://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1163&context=facpub

 

Week 7: Selfrealization

  • Freedom
  • The Sense of Life and Happiness
  • The Easterline Paradox
  • Seminar:
    • Required Reading - Promotion
    • Discussion of the 3rd  homework
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on the “Same Sex Marriage and Surrogate Motherhood “

Required Reading:

Friedrich August von Hayek: Law, Legislation and Liberty - Volume 1, Chapter 4 "The Changing Concept of Law"

(https://libsa.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/hayek-law-legislation-and-liberty.pdf )

Optional Readings:

https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5933&context=lalrev

https://newrepublic.com/article/103297/for-better-or-worse-gay-straight-marriage

 

Week 8: Social Stability, Order and Liberty

  • Iterative Relation between Personal Rules and Social Norms
  • Social Stability - Giving Reasons to Ethical Norms
  • Order x Liberty
  • Seminar:
    • Required Reading – Promotion
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on  “Freedom of Speech”

Required Reading:

John Stuart Mill: On Liberty. Chapters 1 and 2. (https://www.econlib.org/library/Mill/mlLbty.html)

Optional Readings:

https://bigthink.com/thinking/is-speech-violence/

 

Week 9: Constitutional Economics

  • Constitutional Economics and the Protective Function of the State 
  • Productive and Distributive Functions of the State
  • Contractual Changes in Status Quo
  • Seminar:
    • Required Reading - Promotion
    • Discussion of the 4th  homework
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Animals Ethics”

Required Reading:

This time, it is about listening to James Buchanan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=178aognlYHA

Optional Readings:

https://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1200,Spr07/singer.pdf

https://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1200,Spr07/cohen.pdf

 

Week 10: Justice and Democracy

  • Justice as Fairness
  • Libertarianism
  • Democracy and Majority Voting
  • Seminar:
    • Required Reading – Promotion
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Environment”

Required Reading:

Jurgen Habermas: Between Facts and Norms - Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy: Chapter 3.2 "Moral Norms and Legal Norms: On the Complementary Relation between Natural Law and Positive Law" (https://teddykw2.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/jc3bcrgen-habermas-between-facts-and-norms.pdf)

 

Week 11: Democratic Justice

  • Democratic Justice Theory
  • Democratic Justice Applications
  • Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy
  • Seminar:
    • Discussion of the 5th homework
    • Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “ICT and AI development”

 

Week 12: Ethics, People and Society

  • Marketing, Sophists and Socrates
  • Postmodern World, Stoicism and Epicureanism
  • Godness, Goodness and Christianity
  • Seminar
    • Ethics Codes
    • CFA Ethics Code
    • Charles university Code of Ethics

Optional Reading:

CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conducts (just 2 pages) (please find on https://www.cfainstitute.org/pages/index.aspx  under EthicsAndStandards) 

Last update: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (25.10.2024)