Epistemology of economics

Zeitschrift Für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 8 (1):144-162 (1977)
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Abstract

Methodological disputes in economics have been with us since Mill and Senior fought over the nature of economic science in the first half of the 19th Century. Progress has been extremely slow, and there is good reason for this as the present essay hopes to show. Three important methodological positions are examined critically: the “ultra-empiricism” of T.W. Hutchison, the “moderate empiricism” of Milton Friedman, and the “extreme a priorism” of Lionel Robbins and Ludwig Von Mises. The argument between Guttierrez and Block inTheory and Decision over praxiology is discussed in connection with the last mentioned position. The paper concludes that “extreme a priorism,” though very much out of fashion is not without its resources. The work of the contemporary German philosopher, Paul Lorenzen, is enlisted to bolster this position.

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References found in this work

Tautology and testability in economics.Joseph Agassi - 1971 - Philosophy of the Social Sciences 1 (1):49-63.
The extraordinary claim of praxeology.Claudio Gutiérrez - 1971 - Theory and Decision 1 (4):327-336.

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