scholarly journals Social Science Principles in the Light of Scientific Method. With Particular Application to Modern Economic Thought.

Social Forces ◽  
1942 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 403
Author(s):  
Earle Eubank ◽  
Joseph Mayer
2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Duhs

Whereas economics is sometimes presented as the social science and indeed as imperialistic social science, the argument here is quite opposite. It is in fact economics itself which has been colonised by one or another political philosophy. Different schools of economic thought rest their foundations in different political and social philosophies, and this causes their proponents to orient their policy recommendations around differing definitions of ‘freedom’, ‘rationality’, ‘equality of opportunity’ and teleology. It is the a prioris of their implicit philosophies which gives distinctive character to their respective economic theories, and which define their approaches to ethical controversies in economics. Three broad schools of thought are identified in what follows. Chicago School economic imperialists base their response to questions of values and ethics in economics on the underlying philosophy of libertarianism. That philosophy is unacceptable to institutionalist economists, however, since for them people are not meaningfully free to do as they please, unless they are already free from various external constraints. A third set of economists, dubbed radicals, reject the conception of the nature of mankind which is implicit in orthodox economics, and consequently adopt a different view towards values and ethics in economics via their commitment to a different understanding of teleology, rationality and the conception of scientific method.


Our quest for prosperity has produced great output but not always great outcomes. The list of concerns is growing and familiar. Fundamentally, when it comes to well-being, fairness, and the scope of our humanity, the modern economic system still leaves much to be desired. In turn, trust in business and the liberal market system (aka “capitalism”) has been declining and regulation has been rising. A variety of forces—civic, economic, and intellectual—have been probing for better alternatives. The contributions in this volume, coauthored by eminent philosophers, social scientists, and a handful of thoughtful business leaders, are submitted in this spirit. The thrust of the work is conveyed in the volume’s titular question: Capitalism Beyond Mutuality? Mutuality, or the exchange of benefits, has been established as the prime principle of interaction in addressing the chronic dilemma of human interdependence. Mutuality is a fundament in the social contract approach and it serves us well. Yet, to address the concerns outlined here, we must help evolve an economic paradigm where mutuality is more systematically complemented by reasoned and elective morality. Otherwise the state will remain the sole (if inadequate) protector and buffer between market and society. Hence, rather than just regulate power we must also educate power. Philosophy has a natural role, especially when education is the preferred vehicle of transformation. Accordingly, the essays in this volume integrate philosophy and social science to outline and explore concrete approaches to these important concerns emanating from business practice and theory.


Studia Humana ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-36
Author(s):  
Pedro J. Caranti

AbstractMartín de Azpilcueta and his fellow Spanish Scholastics writing and teaching at the University of Salamanca during Spain’s Golden Age are rightly pointed to by historians of economic thought as being major contributors toward, if not outright founders of modern economic theory. Among these is the theory of time-preference for which Azpilcueta has repeatedly been given the credit for discovering. However, this discovery is a curious one given how the same man, Azpilcueta, condemned usury in general during his whole life. If Azpilcueta did in fact discover this theory and fully understand its implications, we would reasonably expect him to have questioned his support for the ban on charging an interest on a loan. This paper, therefore, challenges the claim that Azpilcueta understood and revived time-preference theory and shows how his understanding was much more nuanced, and, at times, inconsistent.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Vallois

The late 19th century saw the multiplication of statistical studies on Jewish populations. This literature is now known as “Jewish Statistics” or “Jewish Social Science” (JSS). This article focuses on the articles published in der Zeitschrift für Demographie und Statistik der Juden (Journal for Demography and Statistics of the Jews, ZDSJ). The ZDSJ was the main journal in JSS and appeared from 1905 until 1931. Existing scholarship on JSS has either focused on the influence of Zionism (Hart, 2000) or eugenics and race theory (Efron, 1994). This article proposes to relate JSS to the history of economics and statistics. As suggests the intellectual profile of the main contributors to the ZDSJ, we argue that JSS was a by-product of the German historical school in economics. Though JSS was intended to a mostly Jewish audience, its organization and methods were clearly inspired by those of German economists.


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