Contemporary Philosophy

If you are more interested in the current social and political issues relating to philosophy then contemporary philosophy may be a good choice for your dissertation!

Example contemporary philosophy dissertation topic 1:

The present global economic crisis: A new Kuhnian paradigm shift?

As a twentieth century philosopher Kuhn coined the concept ‘paradigm shift’ – when there is a change of basic assumptions. Within the field of economics two substantive paradigm shifts can be noted within the twentieth century. The first was the move to Keynesianism and its resultantly becoming the principle doctrine of economic policy making. The second was in the early 1970s when monetarism not only replaced Keynesianism but also debased elements of the basic assumptions that had underlined it, namely, that both fiscal and monetary policies were important in stabilising inflation. This dissertation questions, given the perceived failings of monetarism through the present economic global crisis whether, in applying the paradigm shift concept of Kuhn, a new eco-political reality is emerging in which the base assumptions of monetarism (like Keynesian before it) have also been found wanting.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Colander, D., Holt, R. and Rosser, B. (2004). ‘The changing face of mainstream economics’, Review of Political Economy, Vol. 16(4), pp. 485-499.
• Fine, B. (2002). ‘Economics imperialism and the new development economics as Kuhnian paradigm shift?’, World Development, Vol. 30(12), pp. 2057-2070.
• Korhonen, J. (2002). ‘The dominant economics paradigm and corporate social responsibility’, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Vol. 9, pp. 66-79.