Book contents
- The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics
- The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Introduction
- Part I Introduction: Content, Structure, and Strategy of Mainstream Economics
- Part II Theory Assessment
- 9 Inexactness in Economic Theory
- 10 Mill’s Deductive Method and the Assessment of Economic Hypotheses
- 11 Methodological Revolution
- 12 Karl Popper and Imre Lakatos
- 13 The Inexact Deductive Method
- 14 Casting off Dogmatism
- Part III Conclusion
- Appendix An Introduction to Philosophy of Science
- References
- Index
11 - Methodological Revolution
from Part II - Theory Assessment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2023
- The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics
- The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Introduction
- Part I Introduction: Content, Structure, and Strategy of Mainstream Economics
- Part II Theory Assessment
- 9 Inexactness in Economic Theory
- 10 Mill’s Deductive Method and the Assessment of Economic Hypotheses
- 11 Methodological Revolution
- 12 Karl Popper and Imre Lakatos
- 13 The Inexact Deductive Method
- 14 Casting off Dogmatism
- Part III Conclusion
- Appendix An Introduction to Philosophy of Science
- References
- Index
Summary
In the second half of the Twentieth Century, Mill’s deductive method was criticized by defenders of more positivistic or modernist views of economic methodology, which I criticize in chapter 11. A number of economists, including Terence Hutchison, Paul Samuelson, Fritz Machlup, Milton Friedman, and Tjallings Koopmans argued that Mill’s deductive method is insufficiently empirical and that economic models should be judged by the agreement of their implications with economic outcomes. Yet they rarely practiced what they preached. This chapter thus highlights the methodological schizophrenia of many economists, in which methodological pronouncements and practice contradict one another.
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- Information
- The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics , pp. 277 - 301Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023