The Master in Political, Legal and Economic Philosophy (PLEP) is a Mono-Master Program offered by the Institute of Philosophy at University of Bern.
What is a just society? - What speaks in favour of democracy? - Is there a right to immigration? - What justifies capitalism? - What makes a government legitimate? Citizens of modern societies are faced with a vast variety of questions concerning the relationship between politics, economics, morality, and law. The Master Program in Political, Legal, and Economic Philosophy (PLEP) at the Philosophi
04/08/2026
🔔Registration for this year's compact course is now OPEN on KSL🔔 Students from other Universities are welcome!
We are delighted to welcome Professor Michelle Madden Dempsey for 4 days of thought-provoking and lively sessions on the topic of "Critical Perspectives on Criminal Law".
We hope to see you there!
21/05/2026
Come and celebrate another great semester at the University of Bern's Philosophy Institute! Join your PLEP peers and other members of the Institute for an Apéro on the terrace (if the sun is shining 🌞). Food and drinks will be provided - so please let Sandra know if you're planning to join! We hope to see you there 🥂
07/05/2026
🚨Attention all German-speaking (and German-learning) students 🚨 The latest episode of the Hinterfragt podcast, hosted by Andreas Cassee and Anna Goppel, featuring special guest and speaker from this semester's popular PLEP talk Dr. Mirjam Müller is now available to listen to! In the episode, Andreas, Anna and Mirjam discuss whether unpaid care work associated with alienation? And if so, what can be done about it?
24/02/2026
Join us on April 13th to welcome Dr Mirjam Müller to the institute as she delivers this semester's PLEP talk on the topic "Life-Making vs. Capital: Social Reproduction and Oppression". All are warmly invited - we hope to see you there! 👋
Description: The aim of this talk is to develop a materialist account of oppression grounded in social reproduction theory. I argue that social reproduction is characterised by a specific tension between the aim of life-making and the imperative of capital accumulation. Depending on how social reproduction is related to processes of capital accumulation - whether it is integrated directly as a source of profit, whether it is a pre-condition of capital accumulation, or whether it is pushed towards the margins of the formal economy - the tension takes different shapes. Oppression results as the historically specific response to these tensions.
14/02/2026
Join us this coming Monday at 3pm in the Philosophy Institute Kitchen for PLEP's Semester Start Apero!🍻 Come and say hello to the new PLEP students and catch up with your peers over a drink and snacks! Hope to see you there 👋
08/09/2025
Join us in the Philosophy Institute Kitchen from 3pm on Monday 15th September to welcome the new PLEP students and celebrate the start of the new semester together! Drinks and snacks will be provided. We hope to see you there!🥂
13/08/2025
🔔Registration for this year's Compact Course is open now on KSL🔔 (students from other Universities are welcome!)
We are delighted to welcome Dr Rebecca Buxton for 4 days of insightful and engaging sessions on the topic of "The Ethics of Refuge".
We hope to see you there!
31/03/2025
“The claim that having a right implies that someone else has a ‘correlative’ duty is highly controversial. In this talk, I try to clarify and defend what I take to be the true and highly significant core of this principle.”
Come join this semester’s PLEP talk by our very own Markus Stepanians! ✨
31/03/2025
“The claim that having a right implies that someone else has a ‚correlative’ duty is highly controversial. In this talk, I try to clarify and defend what I take to be the true and highly significant core of this principle.”
Come join this semester’s PLEP talk by our very own Markus Stepanians! ✨
04/02/2025
Mark your calendars for our next PLEP Apéro! We look forward to seeing you all there :)