Ethics and Economics - JEM020

• Anglický název: Ethics and Economics
• Český název: Ethics and Economics
• Zajišťuje: Institut ekonomických studií (23-IES)
• Fakulta: Fakulta sociálních věd
• Platnost: od 2016 do 2018
• Semestr: zimní
• E-Kredity: 6
• Způsob provedení zkoušky: zimní s.:
• Rozsah, examinace: zimní s.:2/2, Zk [HT]
• Počet míst: 97 / 97 (97)
• Minimální obsazenost: neomezen
• 4EU+: ne
• Virtuální mobilita / počet míst pro virtuální mobilitu: ne
• Stav předmětu: vyučován
• Jazyk výuky: angličtina
• Způsob výuky: prezenční
• Další informace: http://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=3695
• Poznámka: předmět je možno zapsat mimo plán; povolen pro zápis po webu; při zápisu přednost, je-li ve stud. plánu
• Garant: doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
• Vyučující: doc. Ing. Tomáš Cahlík, CSc.
• Třída: Courses for incoming students

Anotace

čeština

Lecture notes for this course are on:

https://ssrn.com/abstract=6201978

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 approaches are explained in lectures, topics are discussed in seminars.

There are no required prerequisites for this course.

Poslední úprava: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (19.03.2026)

Literatura

Lecture notes for this course are on:

https://ssrn.com/abstract=6201978

Recommended readings for each week are specified in the syllabus.

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

 

Poslední úprava: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (19.03.2026)

Sylabus

čeština

Week 1: Ethics as Practical Philosophy

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

Recommended 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”
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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

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

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”
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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

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

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”
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

 

Recommended Readings:

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

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

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, Post Keynesian Economics and Justice

• Theory of Choice
• Labor Market and Justice
• Inflation and Justice
• Seminar:
• Exercising of moral reasoning on “The Ethics of War and Peace”
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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

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:
• Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Terrorism and Torture”
• Recommended Readings – Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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

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

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: Self-realization

• Freedom
• The Sense of Life and Happiness
• The Easterlin Paradox
• Seminar:
• Exercising of Moral Reasoning on the “Same Sex Marriage and Surrogate Motherhood “
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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 )

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:
• Exercising of Moral Reasoning on  “Freedom of Speech”
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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

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:
• Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Animals Ethics”
• Recommended Readings - Promotion

Recommended Readings:

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

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:
• Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “Environment”
• Recommended Reading - Promotion

Recommended 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:
• Exercising of Moral Reasoning on “ICT and AI development”

 

Week 12: Ethics, People and Society

• Marketing, Sophists and Socrates
• Breaking the GDP Fascination
• Christianity and Morality
• Seminar
• Ethics Codes
• CFA Ethics Code
• Charles university Code of Ethics

Recommended 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) 

Poslední úprava: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (11.06.2025)

angličtina

• • • Week 1

      • Introduction to the course (Linking Ethics and Economics.  Institutions, Organizations and Ethics)
      • Consequentialist x Categorical Reasoning
      • Ethical Pre-Understanding of Real Situations
      • Empiricist Ethics (Empiricism. Hedonism. David Hume. Utilitarianism)
      • Moral reasoning: sound and valid arguments
      • Utility in Economic Models
      • What is Ethics? (Ethics as Practical Philosophy. Forms of Ethics)

      Required Reading:

      Max Weber: Politics as Vocation (Can be found on web) e.g. http://anthropos-lab.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Weber-Politics-as-a-Vocation.pdf

    • Week 2
      

      • Philosophy - Selected Topics
      • Philosophy of Science
      • Philosophy of Social Science
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on Legality of Drugs

      Required Reading:

      John Stuart Mill - Utilitarianism (e.g. https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/mill1863.pdf )

      Optional Readings:

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

      https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/against-the-legalization-of-drugs/

       

    • Week 3
      

      • Philosophy of Social Science - Continued
             Macrosocial Science and Functionalism
             Moral Questions and Social Science
      • Philosophy of Economics
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on abortion

      Required Reading:

      Milton Friedman - The Methodology of Positive Economics (e.g. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnx0c3puZ2F3b25nfGd4OjE3MDM2MDQ3OWRmZWE1NTY )

      Optional Readings:

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

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

       

    • Week 4

      • From Personal to Social and Economic Ethics

                     Human Person in Human Relations
                     Human Relations in Institutional Intermediation

                     Social and Economic ethics

      • Comparison of methodological and theoretical bases of Neoclasical Synthesis and Postkeynesian Economics
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on migration

      Required Reading:

      Ludwig von Mises: Human Action - Introduction (Economics and Praxeology, The Epistemological Problem of a General Theory of Human Action, Economic Theory and the Practice of Human Action, Résumé) (e.g. https://cdn.mises.org/Human%20Action_3.pdf )

      Optional Readings:

      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
      

      • Theory of Choice
      • Immanuel Kant and Categorical Reasoning
      • Thomas Aquinas and Conscience
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on "helping to the poor"
      • Comparison of different approaches: Ethical Egoism, Social Contract approach, Utilitarianism and Christian approach

      Required Reading:

      Friedrich August von Hayek: Law, legislation and Liberty - Chapter 7 (General Welfare and Particular Purposes) (e.g. https://libsa.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/hayek-law-legislation-and-liberty.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

       

    • Week 6

      • Four Levels for Judgement of Rules
      • Iterative Relation between Individual Rules and Social Norms
      • Psyche – Psychological and Philosophical Insight
      • Social Stability - Giving Reasons to Ethical Norms
      • Are there some universal human rights?
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on the ethics of war and peace

      Required 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)

      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 7

      • Constitutional Economics I
        • Origin
        • Constitutional Contract
        • The Contractarian Birth of State
        • Postconstitutional Contract
        • Public Goods and Common Resources
      • Selfrealization and Freedom I
      • Exercising of financial analysts ethics: Ethics Codes, CFA Ethics Code, CFA Standards of Professional Conduct
         

      Required Reading:

      Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (1785) (e.g. https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blog.nus.edu.sg/dist/c/1868/files/2012/12/Kant-Groundwork-ng0pby.pdf )

    • Week 8

      • Constitutional Economics II
        • Status Quo
        • Contractual Changes in the Status Quo
        • Dual Capacity of State
        • Order as Public Goods
        • Order as Public Capital Goods
        • Are we not governed too much?
        • What can we do with that?
      • Redistributive Role of the State
      • Selfrealization and Freedom II
        • Guilt and Shame
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on terrorism and torture

      Required Reading:

      Karl Raimund Popper: The Open Society and Its Enemies Vol. 1 - Chapter 1 (Historicism and the Myth of Destiny) and Chapter 9 (Estheticism, Radicalism and Utopianism) (e.g. on https://epdf.pub/the-open-society-and-its-enemies-the-spell-of-platoa93dec0c92690f48572982c5940e421739524.html (download as Full Text)

      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 9:

      • Virtue
      • Fairness, Labour Market and Inflation
        • Mainstream Approach
        • Postkeynesian Approach
          • Labour Demand
          • Labour Supply
          • Competing Claims Model of Inflation
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on animals and environmentalist ethics

      Required Reading:

      Aristotle: The Politics - Book 1 (e.g. http://files.libertyfund.org/files/819/0033-02_Bk_SM.pdf )

    • Week 10

      • Justice
      • Happiness
      • Sense
      • Selected Economic Topics  with Stressed Ethical Dimension" (System of Natioonal Accounts and Distribution of GDP,Measuring Income, Job and Wealth Distribution, Economics of Happiness, New Institutional Economics and Trust, Economics and Family, Economics and Gender)
      • Exercising of moral reasoning on family, marriage and household

      Required Reading:

      • Alisdair MacIntyre: After Virtue (e.g. https://epistemh.pbworks.com/f/4.+Macintyre.pdf ), Chapter 14: "The Nature of the Virtues"
        

        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 11

        • Democracy

        Required Reading:

        Hannah Arendt: Philosophy and Politics (https://zetesisproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/arendt-phi-and-politics.pdf)

      • Week 12

        • Miscellaneous
          • Marxist Ethics
          • Psyche once more
            • Psychoanalysis
            • Etology and Konrad Lorenz
          • Nietsche and his hammer
          • Material value ethics
          • Existentionalist Ethics
          • Ethics of discours
        • Exercising of moral reasoning on ICT development

        Required Reading:

        Bertrand Russel: The Elements of Ethics (1910) (http://fair-use.org/bertrand-russell/the-elements-of-ethics)

Poslední úprava: Cahlík Tomáš, doc. Ing., CSc. (14.11.2020)