A Realist Philosophy of Economics 9781529234435

Table of contents :
Front Cover
A Realist Philosophy of Economics
Copyright information
Dedication
Table of Contents
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Extended Preface: A Realistic Attitude to the Economy
Prologue: Mittermaier’s Conceptual Framework
1. A revolutionary goal, modestly presented
2. Primary components
3. Facts
3.1 Ex ante and ex post facts
3.2 Causal and casual facts
3.3 Confusing ex ante and ex post facts
4. Induction
5. Institutions
6. Genetic understanding
7. Logically valid conceptual argument
7.1 A methodology for scientific reasoning
8. Extending the framework
9. Conclusion
Notes
References
1 Institutions and the Empirical Content of Economics
1.1 The question of institutions
1.2 Three aspects of institutions
1.2.1 Consistent conduct
1.2.2 Consistent conduct as a fragment of the whole
1.2.3 Consistent conduct as empirical orientation
1.3 On the empirical content of economics
1.3.1 Theory without empirical content
1.3.2 Empirical constraints versus empirical past
1.3.3 Observer perspective versus operating subject perspective
1.4 Purview of the following chapters
1.5 Plan of the following chapters
Notes
2 Ex Post and Ex Ante Facts
2.1 A brief indication of the distinction
2.2 Plan of the chapter
2.3 The deterministic presupposition
2.4 The deterministic presupposition in economics
2.5 The free-will argument
2.6 The complexity argument
2.7 The impersonal perspective in the deterministic presupposition
2.7.1 Explanation and prediction
2.7.2 Chance and coincidence
2.8 Outline of a sceptic conceptual framework
2.9 The selection and testing of hypotheses: two aspects of the problem of induction
2.10 The philosophy of science applied to economics
Notes
3 Structure and Equilibrium
3.1 The line of investigation
3.2 Causal facts in practical applications
3.3 Deterministic notions and axiomatic constructs in equilibrium theory
3.4 Behavioural equations and ex post and ex ante facts
3.5 Some enquiries into the data of economic models
3.5.1 Static equilibrium without casual data
3.5.2 Static equilibrium in a temporal context
3.5.3 Comparative statics and ceteris paribus assumptions
3.5.4 The demand curve
3.5.5 Demand in an exchange economy
3.5.6 Some irreducible data
3.5.7 The variability of parametric data
Notes
4 Rational Action
4.1 Maximizing behaviour
4.2 Consistent preferences
4.3 Means and ends
4.4 A short synthesis
4.5 Action as a logical category
4.6 Beliefs and preferences in ex post and ex ante contexts
Notes
5 Variant Conceptions of Preferences
5.1 New and old paradigms
5.2 Marshall
5.3 Menger
5.4 Walras
5.5 Choice without utility
5.6 Consistent preferences in ordinary discourse
5.7 Ordinal preference fields
5.8 Complementarity and similarity
5.8.1 The definition of a good
5.8.2 A formal analysis of consistency
Notes
6 The Genetic Understanding and Institutions
6.1 Explanation and induction
6.2 The method of Verstehen as a form of the genetic understanding
6.3 The abstract genetic understanding in economics
6.4 Consistent choice and institutions
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index