Modern economies are often criticised and often praised for being capitalist, but it is far from clear what capitalism really is, let alone whether it is good or bad. We will address capitalism from several perspectives: the history of economies that are described as capitalist, the pure and modified theory of competitive markets, and the complex reality of today's economies. How should this modified, real-world capitalism be evaluated? Is it a good thing, the source of unprecedented modern prosperity and freedom? Or it is an evil system that destroys communities, worships greed and pointless consumption, and oppresses the poor? We'll try to think about what makes an economy good, and to what extent our modern post-industrial economies actually and potentially have - or can have - that economic goodness. Topics for discussion will include inequality, the profit motive, globalisation, and environmental destruction.
Ethical Capitalism: A Critical Introduction
This is an In-person course which requires your attendance to the weekly meetings which take place in Oxford.
Overview
Programme details
Course starts: 1 Oct 2024
Week 1: The history of capitalism - from Marx to Google, with some words about the "work ethic".
Week 2: The theories of capitalism: capitalists' appropriation of surplus value, competitive markets regulating profits, optimising everything through the price system, the sociology of the rentier system.
Week 3: Contemporary capitalist reality: regulation of everything, bureaucracy everywhere, the drift towards oligopoly, the power of central planning.
Week 4: The non-capitalist economy: how the other half lives in healthcare, education, military, public works, and research. The welfare state and the capitalist ethic.
Week 5: Capitalism and the administrative state: the power elites of big business, the many roles of experts, the government-industry-military-eduction complex, the lords of finance.
Week 6: Socialism as an alternative to capitalism: what is socialism today? Do we have it? Do we want more of it? The questions of intra-generational and intergenerational justice.
Week 7: The economic good: what should we be trying to achieve in our labour, consumption, distribution, and use of natural resources?
Week 8: A sketch of an ethical history of capitalism: the early shame, the triumph of the American century, the 21st century's discontent of the rich and the striving of the poor.
Week 9: Ethical questions: Is small beautiful? Whose good matters most? How does the planet fit in?
Week 10: Reprise: Is some sort of capitalism the least bad economic system?
Recommended reading
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.
There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.
Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO, the library catalogue.
Preparatory reading
- The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before its Triumph / Albert Hirschman
- Capitalism, Alone: The Future of the System That Rules the World. / Branko Milanovic
- The Corporation: A Critical, Multi-Disciplinary Handbook / Grietje Baars and Andre Spicer
- Capitalism, Socialism, Democracy / Joseph Schumpeter
Digital Certification
To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Fees
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course Fee | £285.00 |
| Take this course for CATS points | £30.00 |
Funding
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Tutor
Mr Edward Hadas
Edward Hadas is a Research Fellow at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University. He also teaches philosophy, economics, and social theory to visiting American undergraduates. He is the author of Money, Finance, Reality, Morality (2022) and Counsels of Imperfection: Thinking through Catholic Social Teaching (2020).
Course aims
To explore the nature and goodness of "capitalism"
Course objectives:
- To understand how capitalism has developed.
- To understand the key elements of the modern capitalist economy.
- To analyse what economies should do for people and for the the planet.
- To evaluate how well the contemporary economy does what it should.
Teaching methods
The class will be taught as a mixture of informal lectures and discussion. PowerPoint outlines will be emailed to students after each class.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
- Know what has been and is meant by "capitalism".
- Start to understand how to analyse complex and ethically ambiguous systems.
- Accept that apparently simple ethical questions often do not have clear answers.
Assessment methods
Students will be assessed on the basis of their essay, with some attention paid to participation in classroom discussions.
Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.
Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form
Application
To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)
Level and demands
No prior knowledge of economics or ethics is required for this course. There will be almost no mathematics. Students will be expected to follow and participate in a classroom discussion, as well as writing an academic essay on a topic of their choice.
The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)
To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.