The economic world view : studies in the ontology of economics
Title:
The economic world view : studies in the ontology of economics
Author:
Mäki, Uskali.
ISBN:
9780521801768
9780521000208
Publication Information:
Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Physical Description:
xvi, 400 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Contents:
Economic ontology : what? why? how? / Uskali Mäki -- The empirical presuppositions of metaphysical explanations in economics / Harold Kincaid -- Quality and quantity in economics : the metaphysical construction of the economic realm / Scott Meikle -- The normative core of rational choice theory / Russell Hardin -- The virtual reality of homo economicus / Philip Pettit -- Expressive rationality : is self-worth just another kind of preference? / Shaun Hargraves Heap -- Agent identity in economics / John B. Davis -- Chances and choices : notes on probability and belief in economic theory / Jochen Runde -- Essences and markets / John O'Neill -- The metaphysics of microeconomics / Alex Rosenberg -- Ontological commitments of evolutionary economics / Jack Vromen -- Is macroeconomics for real? / Kevin D. Hoover -- The possibility of economic objectivity / Don Ross and Fred Bennett -- Ceteris paribus laws and socio-economic machines / Nancy Cartwright -- Tendencies, laws, and the composition of economic causes / Daniel M. Hausman -- Economics without mechanism / John Dupré -- Sargent's symmetry saga : ontological versus technical constraints / Esther-Mirjam Sent -- Two models of idealization in economics / Alan Nelson -- The way the world works (www) : towards an ontology of theory choice / Uskali Mäki.
Abstract:
The beliefs of economists are not solely determined by empirical evidence in direct relation to the theories and models they hold. Economists hold 'ontological presuppositions', fundamental ideas about the nature of being which direct their thinking about economic behaviour. In this volume, leading philosophers and economists examine these hidden presuppositions, searching for a 'world view' of economics. What properties are attributed to human individuals in economic theories, and which are excluded? Does economic man exist? Do markets have an essence? Do macroeconomic aggregates exist? Is the economy a mechanism, the functioning of which is governed by a limited set of distinct causes? What are the methodological implications of different ontological starting points? This collection, which establishes economic ontology as a coordinated field of study, will be of great value to economists and philosophers of social sciences. -- Back cover.
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