Change and Continuity in Economic Methodology and Philosophy of Economics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Economic Methodology ◽  
Philosophy Of Economics

An ‘Inexact’ Philosophy of Economics?

1997 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger E. Backhouse
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Experimental Economics ◽  
Framing Effect ◽  
Economic Methodology ◽  
Systematic Account ◽  
Philosophy Of Economics ◽  
Economics Literature ◽  
Critical Commentary ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics (ISSE) (Hausman, 1992) represents the most ambitious attempt to provide a systematic account of economic methodology since the first edition of Blaug's The Methodology of Economics (1980). As such, it has been the subject of extensive critical commentary (for example, Blaug, 1992b; Backhouse, 1995; Miller, 1996; Hahn, 1996; Mäki, 1996). For all the attention it has received, however, some important aspects of the book's thesis have not been developed properly. Two important ones are (1) what might be called, following the terminology used in the experimental economics literature, the ‘framing effect’ of Hausman's definition of economics, and (2) the significance of Hausman's claim that economists are committed to developing economics as a ‘separate’ science. To understand these points it is important to make explicit the position from which Hausman approaches the philosophy of science.

Book Reviews

2009 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-177
Keyword(s):  
Cape Town ◽  
Economic Methodology ◽  
University Of Alabama ◽  
University Of Wisconsin ◽  
Philosophy Of Economics ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

Don Ross of University of Cape Town and University of Alabama at Birmingham reviews “The Philosophy of Economics: An Anthology” by Daniel M. Hausman,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Twenty-six papers comprise a third edition that explores the philosophy of economics, including classic texts and essays examining specific branches and schools of economics. Papers focus on classic discussions; positivist and Popperian views; ideology and normative economics; branches and schools of economics and their methodological problems; and new directions in economic methodology. Hausman is Herbert A. Simon Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Selected bibliography; index.”

An Economic and Jurisprudential Genealogy of Corporate Law. By Michael J. Whincop. [Aldershot: Ashgate. 2001. xviii, 222, (Bibliography) 20 and (Index) 5 pp. Hardback £45. ISBN 1–84014–773–3.]

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 463-492
Author(s):  
John Armour
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Law ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Economic Methodology ◽  
Evolutionary Account ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Intuitive Appeal ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law

Economic analysis has recently gained a high profile in English company law scholarship, not least through its employment by the Law Commissions and its resonance with the Company Law Review. This approach has taught us much about how company law functions in relation to the marketplace. Whincop’s book is, however, the first attempt to use economic methodology not only to explain how the law functions, but also to provide an evolutionary account of why the history of English company law followed the path it did. The result is a thesis that, whilst complex, has a powerful intuitive appeal for those familiar with Victorian company law judgments.

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