Master 2025/2026

Economics and Morality

Type: Elective course (Politics. Economics. Philosophy)

Delivered by: School of Sociology

When: 1 year, 4 module

Open to: students of all HSE University campuses

Instructors: Safi Shams

Language: English

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course will introduce students to major debates in the social sciences on the entanglements of economic and moral issues. Is the economy an objective sphere separate from moral issues? Is the economy strictly a calculative, utilitarian domain of action, or is economic action inherently moral? Is affirmative action a valid moral correction to market behavior? Are justifications for the welfare state (or the lack of it thereof) primarily economic or moral? Are there specific moral problems raised by the financial sector? Is usury (rent) inherently immoral? Does that depend on the management of the financial sector? Is the dominance of banking a threat to sovereignty, or is it a natural outcome of economic development? These are among the questions that we will deal with in this course. Students will read a range of text from philosophy and the social sciences that reflect the emergence and resurgence of debates where moral and economic issues dovetail.