Teaching plan for the course unit

 

 

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General information

 

Course unit name: Economics and Philosophy

Course unit code: 366743

Academic year: 2025-2026

Coordinator: Francisco Javier San Julian Arrupe

Department: Department of Economic History, Institutions and Policy and World Economy

Credits: 6

Single program: S

 

 

Estimated learning time

Total number of hours 150

 

Face-to-face and/or online activities

60

 

-  Lecture with practical component

Face-to-face

 

45

 

-  Seminar

Face-to-face

 

15

Supervised project

40

Independent learning

50

 

 

Recommendations

 

  • The History of Economic Thought
  • Macroeconomics
  • Microeconomics

 

 

Competences / Learning outcomes to be gained during study

 

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Ability to work in a team (capacity to collaborate with others and contribute to a common project, capacity to work in cross-disciplinary and multicultural teams).

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Critical reasoning and commitment to the plurality and diversity of social realities.

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Concern for sustainability (capacity to assess the social and environmental impact of actions taken in a particular setting and capacity to adopt integrated and systemic approaches).

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Understanding of the history and development of economic ideas and of current economic realities in different territorial settings.

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Ability to produce critical analyses of economic theories and models.

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  • Ability to appreciate the history and development of economic ideas, as well as current economic realities in different territorial contexts. This competency includes: knowledge of the various economic doctrines used by economists, past and present, and understanding of the analytical foundations of each.

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  • Ability to apply acquired knowledge and analytical skills to problem-solving in academic and professional contexts.

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  • Ability to interpret complexity, diversity, and pluralism as the foundation for the functioning of inclusive and democratic societies.

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  • Ability to interpret economic phenomena from the perspective of political economy, including the ability to identify and understand economic institutions and their functioning within specific historical, ideological, and political contexts, and to recognise the inherent dynamics of power.

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  • Ability to operate in globalised environments. This competency includes: ability to analyse international markets and organisations. Ability to assess the importance and implications of the development of functional areas and the internationalisation strategies of organisations. Ability to identify and evaluate public and private actions aimed at facilitating the integration of entities into a globalised environment. Understanding of the implications of government policies designed to promote business competitiveness and internationalisation.

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  • Ability to use physical and digital bibliographic resources.

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  • Ethical commitment (capacity for critical and self-critical thinking/capacity to demonstrate attitudes consistent with ethical and professional principles).

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  • Sustainability (capacity to assess the social and environmental impact of actions within one’s field/ capacity to express integrated and systemic perspectives).

 

 

Learning objectives

 

Referring to knowledge

What is Economic Science?

The answer lies in the various assumptions, techniques and methods of argumentation used by economists. This course critically examines and analyses these foundations, exploring key questions about the nature and practice of economics. Topics include the diversity of perspectives on economics as a science and their implications; the sociological dimensions of the discipline and the academic community; methodological challenges in economic research, including evidence, induction, deduction and testing; the role and impact of different types of assumptions; the relationship between economic models and reality; various forms of explanation and their methodological foundations; and the criteria used to evaluate the research outcomes. These topics are studied both independently and in relation to different areas of economic research, with particular attention to their historical development.

 

Analyse and understand the philosophical foundations of economic science and the main schools of economic thought, both orthodox and heterodox.

 

Acquire the tools necessary for the critical evaluation of economic policies, including their design and implementation.

 

Referring to abilities, skills

Apply the language, reasoning, and analytical tools of economists to examine ideas in economic thought throughout history.

 

Identify different trends and schools of economic thought, recognising the continuity of certain ideas and their philosophical underpinnings to the present day.

 

Apply acquired knowledge and skills to the analysis and resolution of economic problems.

 

Develop communication skills through class participation and teamwork.

 

Referring to attitudes, values and norms

Cultivate independent learning and personal responsibility in the acquisition and application of knowledge.

 

 

Teaching blocks

 

1. The Vienna Circle and Logical Empiricism

2. Economics: an inductive or deductive science?

3. Karl Popper and the rise of the hypothetical-deductive approach to science

4. Economics and statistics

5. Research on the economic cycle: the rise of modelling

6. Kuhn and Lakatos

7. John Maynard Keynes and Jan Tinbergen: the dramatist and the model maker

8. Methodologies in positive economics. Milton Friedman and the Cowles Commission for Research in Econometrics: structural models and the "as if" methodology

9. Modelling between reality and abstraction: thought experiments in economics

10. Experimentation in economics

11. Simulation with models

12. Rhetoric and the sociology of scientific knowledge

13. Economics as a social and political science

 

 

Teaching methods and general organization

 

1. On campus learning activities

The course combines lectures and practical sessions.

— Lectures: Focused on clarifying key concepts and providing theoretical foundations (45 hours).
— Practical sessions: Include presentation and discussion of selected readings, as well as activities linked to continuous assessment (15 hours).

Practical sessions may involve splitting groups into two smaller subgroups to enhance interaction and participation.

2. Independent and directed learning activities

— Independent study: Students are expected to review and synthesise course materials to consolidate understanding (50 hours).
— Directed study: Preparation of readings for class discussion and study for continuous assessment tasks and the final examination (40 hours).

Note: As part of the Faculty of Economics and Business’s ongoing teaching quality enhancement project (led by the RIMDA Unit and the Vice-Rectorate for Teaching and Academic Planning), teaching methods for some groups may differ from those described above. Details of any such variations will be published on the Virtual Campus at the beginning of the semester.

 

 

Official assessment of learning outcomes

 

The material covered in lectures, practical exercises, assigned tasks, and discussions of the required readings are assessed as follows:

  • Continuous assessment exams held at various points during the course: 100% of the final grade.


The continuous mode of assessment requires students to attend classes on a regular basis.

Students who do not pass the continuous mode of assessment are entitled to sit the repeat assessment examination, in accordance with the Faculty’s regulations, on the date established by the Academic Board.

 

Examination-based assessment

Students who do not wish to be assessed continuously may opt for the single mode of assessment. Single assessment is based on compulsory examination, graded on a ten-point scale.

Students who do not pass the continuous mode of assessment are entitled to sit the repeat assessment examination, in accordance with the Faculty’s regulations, on the date established by the Academic Board.

 

 

Reading and study resources

Check availability in Cercabib

Book

Blaug, Mark. 1994. The methodology of economics or how economists explain. 2nd ed ed, Cambridge surveys of economic literature. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

  Optional reading.

Catāleg UB (1a ed., 1980)  Enllaç
Versiķ en castellā (1a ed., 1985)  Enllaç

Davis, John Bryan, D. Wade Hands, and Uskali Mäki. 1998. The handbook of economic methodology. Cheltenham, UK: E. Elgar.

  Optional reading.

Disponible al CCUC/PUC  Enllaç

Boumans, Marcel , John Bryan  Davis, Mark  Blaug., Harro  Maas, and Andrej Svorencik. 2010. Economic methodology : understanding economics as a science. Basingstoke [England]; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

Morgan, Mary S. 2012. The World in the Model: How Economists Work and Think. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.

  Optional reading.

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

Maas, Harro. 2014. Economic Methodology: A Historical Introduction. New York: Routledge.

Catāleg UB  Enllaç

Chapter

Friedman, Milton. 1953. Essays in Positive Economics. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press. Pp 3-43.

  Optional reading.

Catāleg UB (1966)  Enllaç
Versiķ en castellā (1967)  Enllaç

Article

Gibbard, Allan, and Hal R. Varian. 1978. "Economic Models."  The Journal of Philosophy 75 (11):664-677.

  Optional reading.

McCloskey, Donald N. 1983. "The Rhetoric of Economics."  Journal of Economic Literature 21 (2):481-517.

  Optional reading.