Scientific Imperialism : Difficulties in Definition, Identification, and Assessment

Peer reviewe

Puzzled by Idealizations and Understanding Their Functions

Idealization is ubiquitous in human cognition, and so is the inclination to be puzzled by it: what to make of ideal gas, infinitely large populations, homo economicus, perfectly just society, known to violate matters of fact? This is apparent in social science theorizing (from J. H. von Thunen, J. S. Mill, and Max Weber to Milton Friedman and Thomas Schelling), recent philosophy of science analyzing scientific modeling, and the debate over ideal and non-ideal theory in political philosophy (since John Rawls). I will offer a set of concepts and principles to improve transparency about the precise contents of idealizations (in terms of negligibility, applicability, tractability, and early-step status) and their distinct functions (such as contributing to minimal modeling, benchmark modeling, and how-possibly modeling).Peer reviewe

Filosofía y metodología de la economía

Este documento analiza las siguientes cuestiones: 1) La metodología de la economía y su actual institucionalización. 2) La definición de Economía. 3) Las perspectivas de los economistas acerca de la Economía, sus métodos y justificación. 4) Comprobación y progreso: Popper y Lakatos.5) Los modelos y sus supuestos. 6) Persuasión retórica y verdad. 7) La Economía como un recurso para la Filosofía de la Ciencia. 8) Expansionismo explicativo y relaciones interdisciplinares.

'The methodology of positive economics' (1953) does not give us the methodology of positive economics

It is argued that rather than a well defined F-Twist, Milton Friedman's 'Methodology of positive economics' offers an F-Mix: a pool of ambiguous and inconsistent ingredients that can be used for putting together a number of different methodological positions. This concerns issues such as the very concept of being unrealistic, the goal of predictive tests, the as-if formulation of theories, explanatory unification, social construction, and more. Both friends and foes of Friedman's essay have ignored its open-ended unclarities. Their removal may help create common ground for more focused debate in economics.Unrealistic assumptions, predictive tests, truth, as-if, unification, social construction,

Diagnosing McCloskey

The diagnosis focuses on McCloskey's concept of rhetoric (persuasion of one's audience in a morally purified conversation), his theory of truth (constrained coherence), and his conception of the social organization of economics (morally self-regulated marketplace of ideas). His theory of truth appears as an "elite theory" (beliefs of the elite of the profession as the constraint) and an "angel theory" (ethics of speech as the constraint). These notions cannot accommodate McCloskey's own assessments of current economics. It is suggested that elites and angels be dropped from the concepts of rhetoric and truth, and a distinction be made between truth and plausibility.

Two portraits of economics

This is an assessment of two recent philosophical accounts of the nature of economics, those given in Alexander Rosenberg's Economics - Mathematical Politics or the Science of Diminishing Returns? (1992) and in Daniel Hausman's The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics (1992). The focus is on how they portray the predictive capabilities of economics and the links between economic theory and empirical evidence. Some major suggestions of the two books are found wanting in interesting ways. Examples are Rosenberg's explanation of the predictive weakness of economics in terms of its folk psychological roots and his depiction of economics as a branch of political philosophy and applied mathematics; and Hausman's claim that the 'economists' deductive method' is appropriate while 'economics as a separate science' is not.economics, prediction, folk psychology, deductive method, separate-ness, dogmatism,