This is a very libby subject. Meaning, it focuses on liberals like adam smith and js mill, definitely to a fault. They talk about marx and lenin a little (cringe) but the class is defintely focused on reformism. So, all you salties might find it more worthwhile to go out and sell some newspapers instead! Get back to work! The lecturer is really nice to students in classes and a lot of their writing is featured in the course (the course is based around their’s and a colleague’s textbook). Their writing is very generous in that they explain lots of technical philosophical terms in a very accessible way and are clear and transparent about why they’re discussing certain things, why they make certain moves in their writings etc.. I don’t agree with their politics and think they get some pretty serious things about socialism wrong, but they’re at least very familiar with the political philosophy discipline. Class discussion was okay, we had a mix of socialists, economic students, pro-capitalists etc.. Course material included some basic theory, basic economics and some applied ethics (like price gouging, elder care, birth rates, environment, colonialism etc.). This was another class where lectures weren’t made available and I ended up having to fork out like 1/5th of my net worth to get an appointment with my psychiatrist to get an aap to get an exception cause of a class clash (kind of ironic for a class about the ethics of capitalism!). so, that sucked. Also had trouble getting an extension on two occasions which was very fucking stressful (despite having an aap) and im pretty sure the reason they gave me for disallowing them was bullshit. So, be careful with extension related stuff.

Ethics of Capitalism was enjoyable and covered political economy in an entertaining and interesting way. Presented by Dan Halliday, the course took the form of studying a book published by him in the same name. Due to this, there was significant overlap between the readings and lectures. The topics presented on were very interesting, relating to capitalism and the political implications of markets, broad rather than comprehensive, an overview each week of a different interesting area. The course is assessed on the basis of two 2000-word essays, though due to Dan taking all tutorials, were marked by external tutors. This was a weakness of the course, and I was unsatisfied with the amount of feedback and lack of clarification for improvement. The tutorials also taken by Dan, and were delicious and spicy, with people taking alternate and opposing stances. I would recommend this course to anyone who might be interested in the political and philosophical implications of markets and capitalism, though hope the marking situation can be improved.

Contrary to the other reviewers, I personally did not enjoy this subject as much as I thought I would. The first few weeks on market order were interesting, but after that it got a bit dry and repetitive. The subject felt like it glossed over a number of topics at a basic level without really delving into anything. The assessments were relaxed, but I also felt that they were perhaps too simple.

Genuinely the best class I’ve taken so far, super well run, light and extremely interesting reading and assessments are very well designed and fun to write. Absolutely perfect for those majoring in politics as well

Most enjoyable philosophy subject I've done so far. It was so interesting learning about the history of capitalism, economics of today, the wrongs about capitalism (and whether it's actually capitalism or just the status quo of that country) etc. It's a good subject just to understand a bit more about life! Also, the assessments are very fair and simple to do.

Really fun subject! It's not only a philosophy subject, but I learnt a whole whole lot about the political economy while doing it. Highly recommend this to anyone who wishes to learn about the key issues in the ethics of capitalism (and other economical systems for that matter!). Only thing that was a bit lacking was the tutorials, hence the 4/5 :)

Best subject I took at university by far! Dan is a really entertaining and knowledgable lecturer. The assessments were well explained and lots of help was available from the tutor. The content was interesting and always related back to the real world, which is refreshing for a philosophy subject.