Abstract

This paper is concerned with the puzzling divorce that exists between writing on economic methodology and work by philosophers of science. After documenting the extent and nature of the separation and making some disparaging comments about the quality of much of the literature on economic methodology, this essay argues that the divorce results from the differences between the aims of philosophers of science, who are concerned to learn about knowledge acquisition in disciplines such as economics, and the more immediately practical aims of writers on economic methodology, who want to improve the practice of economics. Even with the transcendence of logical positivism or logical empiricism, this separation should persist, although communication between philosophers and eonomists should improve and collaboration increase.