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Taking Absurd Theories Seriously: Economics and the Case of Rational Addiction Theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Ole Rogeberg
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Abstract

Rational addiction theories illustrate how absurd choice theories in economics get taken seriously as possibly true explanations and tools for welfare analysis despite being poorly interpreted, empirically unfalsifiable, and based on wildly inaccurate assumptions selectively justified by ad-hoc stories. The lack of transparency introduced by poorly anchored mathematical models, the psychological persuasiveness of stories, and the way the profession neglects relevant issues are suggested as explanations for how what we perhaps should see as displays of technical skill and ingenuity are allowed to blur the lines between science and games.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 71 , Issue 3 , July 2004 , pp. 263 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

This work was financed by the Norwegian Research Council through a Ph. D. grant from HERO (Health Economics Research Programme at the University of Oslo). Thanks to two anonymous referees, my thesis supervisors (Professors Michael Hoel and Aanund Hylland at the University of Oslo) and Morten Nordberg for comments.

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