Core modules
In your first year, you will take core introductory modules with each discipline plus a core interdisciplinary module in PPL.
In your second year, you will take an optional core module in each discipline from a list in each department. The remaining 25% of modules can be drawn from any of the three departments, enabling you to focus up to 50% of your modules in one discipline in the second year. Alternatively, you may take optional modules from other departments across the University.
In your final year, you can choose to discontinue one subject, and study 75% of your modules from at least two of the disciplines, including the option to research and write an interdisciplinary PPL dissertation or a dissertation in one subject. The remaining 25% can be chosen from any of the disciplines, or you may take these optional modules from other departments across the University.
Important information
We are planning to make some exciting changes to our Politics, Philosophy and Law (PPL) (BA) degree for 2025 entry. We continually review our curricula to reflect developments in the relevant disciplines to deliver the best educational experience. The core and optional modules will undergo approval through the University's rigorous academic processes. As modules are approved, we will update the course information on this webpage. It is therefore very important that you check this webpage for the latest information before you apply and prior to accepting an offer. Sign up to receive updates.
Year One
Introduction to PPL
This module provides you with an understanding of key concepts, theories, problems and methods in moral, political and legal thinking and how the three interact. You will explore the topics at the intersection of the disciplines, considering both academic and real-life issues. You will build on the legal, philosophical and political science skills learned in your other modules, broadening your studies and building a foundation upon which to make connections in future year. The module shows how the study of politics, philosophy and law intersect and will encourage you to think about what it means to be a PPL student.
Read more about the Introduction to PPL moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Introduction to Philosophy
You'll study a wide-ranging introduction to philosophy, including ancient, continental, moral and political philosophy, followed by epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind and aesthetics, and logic. You'll learn to engage critically with different viewpoints and critically analyse and evaluate arguments central to philosophy.
Read more about the Introduction to Philosophy moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Introduction to Politics
Introduction to Politics gives you a broad overview of the main issues and theoretical perspectives within Politics. You'll learn first to understand and then apply the core concepts of comparative political science and theory to processes, institutions, ideologies and practical policy-making. You'll conduct a comparative study of different political systems and political change, both in writing and in open debate.
Read more about the Introduction to Politics moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Understanding Law in Context
This foundational module aims to provide students with a sound introduction to the study of Law at Warwick. It explores the meaning of Law in Context as a concept and approach. It will also incorporate an understanding of English legal method within the institutional context of the English Legal System and engage with the importance of legal theory in this regard.
Particular attention is given to considering sources of law, the techniques of reading critically both academic material and legal texts (cases and statutes), understanding legal rhetoric, the role of theory, and how to make an argument and essay writing.
Read more about the Understanding Law in Context moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Year Two
Optional cores (at least one full-year module from each department):
Politics and International Studies
Foundations of Political Theory
The aim of this module is to introduce students to some of the foundational arguments and debates in modern (mainly) European political theory, as well as some of the discipline’s most important primary texts. To this end, students will critically examine claims about freedom, equality, democracy, revolution and crisis made by some of the most important political thinkers since about 1640. Key texts will include Hobbes’s Leviathan, Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, Rousseau’s Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Marx and Engels's The Communist Manifesto, Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, Clara Zetkin’s Fighting Fascism, and Franz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth.
The module will also consider how these theories speak to contemporary debates in political theory, such as debates about gender and sexual difference, economic crisis, reparations for colonialism and the resurgence of the far right. The module builds on ideas explored in Introduction to Politics during your first year, and it leads towards the term two module Topics in Political Theory, which deals with present-day arguments about social justice.
Read more about the Foundations of Political Theory moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2023/24 year of study).
and
Topics in Political Theory
Politics considers how the political world operates, and how it ought to operate. In this module, we consider the “oughts” of politics. Building on Foundations of Political Theory, the module examines key thinkers and topics in contemporary normative political theory. The module is divided into two parts: key thinkers in contemporary normative political theory, including John Rawls, Robert Nozick, and Susan Moller Okin; and key topics in contemporary normative political theory, including issues such as immigration, education, representation, microaggressions, and climate change.
Read more about the Topics in Political Theory moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Theories of International Relations
What has happened and what an event of international importance means might seem common sense, such as in the case of the 9/11 attacks or the global financial crisis, but in this module, you will learn to critically examine conventional wisdom about world politics. You will explore different ways of analysing international relations, and what is at stake, exploring theories including those of realism, liberalism, Marxism, constructivism and feminism. Successful completion of this module means that you will be able to describe key assumptions in contemporary theories and analyse their purpose, coherence and inherent contradictions.
Read more about the Theories of International Relations moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Core Issues in Comparative Politics
Why are some countries democratic and others not? Why do people use political violence in some places and at times? What role does populism play in contemporary democracies? Why do different ethnic groups sometimes live together peacefully, and sometimes not? In this module, you will compare political developments in different countries around the world, and apply theoretical knowledge of comparative politics by working on both academic research projects and film projects. Through your studies of a variety of media, you will learn to critically apply theoretical ideas to practical examples, and to gather and analyse the evidence, data and information to support your conclusions.
Read more about the Core Issues in Comparative Politics moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
International Security
This module will provide you with a comprehensive introduction into theories, concepts and practices of international security. You will examine the study of strategy and warfare, debates about the meaning and scope of security, and key security actors, institutions and mechanisms in world politics. By the end of this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge using theoretical debates about security in international relations and their relationship to security practices.
Read more about the International Security moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
States and Markets: An Introduction to International Political Economy
Political economy shows that social orders, and the institutions that comprise them, need to be studied as complex wholes: power relations, states and markets, and how and why a particular social order might work. You will study the classic theorists of political economy and then explore specific themes and issues. Guest lecturers contribute on themes and issues that marry closely with their areas of research interest and expertise. In your studies you will develop good investigative and research skills, including in IT, and learn how to present your arguments in written and spoken form.
Read more about the States and Markets: An Introduction to International Political Economy moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Philosophy
Ethics
We evaluate each other’s actions constantly. Maybe your friend broke a promise, or you protest against a government welfare policy. But what makes these moral claims true? You will use the tools of philosophy to illuminate these questions. You will study theories of what makes things right or wrong (normative ethics) and more basic questions – is anything right or wrong anyway (metaethics)? Studying this module will provide you with knowledge and skills useful to the exploration of ethical and political questions in your further study.
Read more about the Ethics moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
and
Applied Ethics
Should I be able to buy your ‘spare’ kidney? You might think that if you are willing and I have the money then there is no harm involved. But if you were desperate, does that mean I would be taking advantage of you? These are the sorts of questions you will cover in Applied Ethics, answering them in systematic ways. For example, we may ask about our duties to animals, whether it’s permissible to have children and what is it that’s bad about death, among other questions. You will engage in debate on these and other questions arising in normative ethics and clarify and articulate your own standpoint on such issues.
Read more about the Applied Ethics moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
History of Modern Philosophy
You will discover the metaphysical and epistemological ideas of great Empiricist philosophers Locke, Berkeley and Hume on substance, qualities, ideas, causation and perception. You will then explore Kant's ideas, including metaphysics, space, self-awareness, causation, scepticism and freedom. You will develop skills in critical engagement, articulating your own views of the relative strengths and weaknesses of these arguments and interpreting key philosophical ideas.
Read more about the History of Modern Philosophy moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Law
Law, State and the Individual
The module provides a critical overview of the institutional and theoretical aspects of the law, alongside a deeper appreciation of its relationship to state and individuals.
In giving attention to related sources of law (like Acts of Parliament, common law rules, conventions) and foundational concepts (like the legislative supremacy of Parliament, the rule of law and separation of powers), the module aims to emphasise critical reading and understanding of academic material and legal texts (cases and statutes), and also the dynamic extra-legal dimension of politics and economics that give rise to legal contestation in the first place.
Read more about the Law, State and the Individual moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Criminal Law
You will develop an understanding of the general principles of criminal law and its operation within society, coupled with an awareness of the social and political forces that influence the scope of the law and its enforcement. You will encounter basic concepts of the structure of English Criminal Law, and some knowledge of procedures, theories, and scholarly debates, so as to understand and discuss legal arguments and policy. You will also gain insights as to the historical, political and social context of criminal law, so as to engage in reflections about its role in society. In your studies, you will be expected to assess and present arguments for and against in open debate and work collaboratively with your peers on specific tasks.
Read more about the Criminal Law moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
Tort Law
You will examine the law of civil liability for wrongfully inflicted damage or injury: the law of tort. We emphasise the processes and techniques involved in judicial (as opposed to legislative or administrative) law-making; the relevance and responsiveness of doctrines thus developed to society’s actual problems; and the policies and philosophies underlying the rules. As well as acquiring knowledge of the application of these technical areas of law, you will develop skills of legal reasoning and critical judgement, with particular reference to insurance, loss spreading, developing medical knowledge, professional standards and consumer protection. Work is undertaken independently and in debate and collaboration with your peers.
Read more about the Tort Law moduleLink opens in a new window, including the methods of teaching and assessment (content applies to 2024/25 year of study).
You may choose optional modules either from within the PPL departments or from departments across the University.
Final Year
In your final year, you can truly tailor your module choices to your own interests. There are no required modules, and you can focus on two of the subjects or all three. You’ll be able to choose from the full range of approved options in each department, and again have the option to take courses from other departments across the university.
You can also choose to write a final year dissertation in the field of your choice: Philosophy, Politics, Law, or a PPL interdisciplinary dissertation. Applying your knowledge and skills to independent research can help you stand out to employers or allow you to pursue an area of particular interest in greater depth.
Optional modules
Optional modules can vary from year to year. Example optional modules may include:
- Philosophy of Terrorism and Counterterrorism
- Issues in Political Theory
- Politics of Globalisation
- War in the 21st Century
- Comparative Human Rights
- Legal Issues of Brexit
- Medicine and the Law
- Philosophy of Religion
- Public Policy for 21st Century Challenges
- Law and the International Business Environment
- History of the Philosophy of Law
- Philosophy of Evil
- Democracy: Authority and Resistance
