Like other sciences, the study of economics has been shaped by rigorous
arguments and debates that continue to influence economists today. In this fascinating
introduction, Boumans and Davis consider the scientific nature of the methods, logic, and
forms of explanation that underlie economics as a discipline.
JOHN B. DAVIS is Professor of History and Philosophy of Economics and
Co-director of the faculty research programme 'Methodology and History of Economics' at
the University of Amsterdam and Professor of Economics at Marquette University, USA.
MARCEL BOUMANS is Associate Professor and Co-director of the faculty
research programme 'Methodology and History of Economics' at the University of Amsterdam.
Table of Contents
The Received View of Science
Focus 1.1 Axiomatization - Focus 1.2 Models - Focus 1.3 Formalism
Methodologies of Positive Economics
Focus 2.1 Methodologies before Friedman - Focus 2.2 Measurement - Focus 2.3 Experiments
Popper’s Logic of Discovery
Focus 3.1 The Duhem-Quine Thesis - Focus 3.2 Popper’s Situational Analysis - Focus 3.3
Testing
Kuhn and Lakatos
Focus 4.1 Research Programs in Economics - Focus 4.2 Scientific Revolutions in Economics?
- Focus 4.3 Facts
The Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
Focus 5.1 Economics as a Discipline - Focus 5.2 Case Study Research - Focus 5.3 Feminist
Philosophy of Science and Feminist
Political Economy
Rhetoric, Postmodernism, and Pluralism
Focus 6.1 Analogy and Metaphor - Focus 6.2 Paul Feyerabend - Focus 6.3 Realism and Causal
Explanation in Economics
Value Judgements in Economics
Focus 7.1 Logical Positivism and Ordinalist Utility Theory- Focus 7.2 Neutral Science? -
Focus 7.3 Naturalistic Legitimation
230 pages, Paperback