Philosophy of economics studies topics such as public economics, behavioural economics, rationality, justice, the history of economic thought, rational choice, the appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions and processes, the status of highly idealized economic models, and the ontology of economic phenomena and the possibilities of acquiring knowledge of them. It is useful to divide the field into three subject matters that can be regarded respectively as branches of action theory, ethics (or normative social and political philosophy) and philosophy of science: economic theories of rationality, welfare and social choice defend substantive philosophical theses of evident interest to those working in action theory and social and political philosophy, while economics is of special interest to epistemologists and philosophers of science both for its detailed peculiarities and because it shares many overt features of the natural sciences while its subject matter consists of social phenomena.
Facts
Central QuestionSourced to the subject's own accountWhat is economics, and what is the nature of its foundational concepts, such as economic value, rationality and a market? 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether economic theories must be empirically verifiable, whether economics can claim the status of an exact science comparable to the natural sciences, and whether economic theories can properly be said to state laws. 1 Key DebateSourced to the subject's own accountWhether economics should be pursued as an a priori deductive science built on premises presumed philosophically true, the praxeology of Ludwig von Mises and the Austrian School, or through the mathematical modeling and hypothesis-testing that ground mainstream neoclassical economics. 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Philosophy and Economics (Wikipedia)
Source Philosophy and Economics (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Philosophy and Economics (Wikipedia)
WikipediaScope section
Philosophy and economics studies topics such as public economics, behavioural economics, rationality, justice, history of economic thought, rational choice, the appraisal of economic outcomes, institutions and processes, the status of highly idealized economic models, the ontology of economic phenomena and the possibilities of acquiring knowledge of them.
Methodology and epistemology discussion
How can or should we prove economic theories, for example, must every economic theory be empirically verifiable? How exact are economic theories and can they lay claim to the status of an exact science, for example, are economic predictions as reliable as predictions in the natural sciences, and why or why not? Another way of expressing this issue is to ask whether economic theories can state laws.
Non-mainstream economic thinking section, on praxeology
Praxeology: a deductive theory of human action based on premises presumed to be philosophically true (following the analytic-synthetic distinction of Immanuel Kant). Developed by Ludwig von Mises within the Austrian School, is a self-conscious opposition to the mathematical modeling and hypothesis-testing to validate neoclassical economics.
Associated With: Political Philosophy, Three subject matters discussion
It is useful to divide philosophy of economics in this way into three subject matters which can be regarded respectively as branches of action theory, ethics (or normative social and political philosophy), and philosophy of science.
Associated With: Value Theory, Three subject matters discussion
It is useful to divide philosophy of economics in this way into three subject matters which can be regarded respectively as branches of action theory, ethics (or normative social and political philosophy), and philosophy of science.
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