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37Equilibrium and Macroeconomics, Frank Hahn, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1984, viii + 397pp (review)Economics and Philosophy 2 (1): 148. 1986.
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918 Two models of idealization in economicsIn Uskali Mäki (ed.), The Economic World View: Studies in the Ontology of Economics, Cambridge University Press. pp. 359. 2001.
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2To a reader voyaging through the Meditations for the first time, Descartes' proofs for the existence of God can seem daunting, especially the argument of Meditation III, with its appeal to causal principles that seem arcane, and to medieval doctrines about different modes of being and degrees of reality. First-time readers are not alone in feeling bewildered. Many commentators have had the same reaction. In an attempt at charity, some of them have tried to tame the complexity of Descartes' discussion by .. (review)In Stephen Gaukroger (ed.), The Blackwell Guide to Descartes' Meditations, Wiley-blackwell. pp. 2--104. 2006.
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81A Companion to Rationalism (edited book)Wiley-Blackwell. 2005.This book is a wide-ranging examination of rationalist thought in philosophy from ancient times to the present day. Written by a superbly qualified cast of philosophers Critically analyses the concept of rationalism Focuses principally on the golden age of rationalism in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries Also covers ancient rationalism, nineteenth-century rationalism, and rationalist themes in recent thought Organised chronologically Various philosophical methods and viewpoints are …Read more
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39Meditations on First Philosophy with Selections from the Objections and Replies (review)Teaching Philosophy 10 (4): 353-355. 1987.
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109The Correspondence Between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and René Descartes (review) (review)Journal of the History of Philosophy 46 (4): 642-643. 2008.Descartes’s correspondence with Elisabeth is among the most important we have for understanding the philosophical thought of a canonical figure. Elisabeth’s perspicacious queries drew forth Descartes’s very famous elaboration of mind/body union. The correspondence also contains the bulk of Descartes’s important statements on morality—a topic touched on only briefly in his books. It seems likely that this part of the correspondence helped set Descartes on the course that resulted in his last book…Read more
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88How Many Worlds?British Journal for the History of Philosophy 19 (6). 2011.British Journal for the History of Philosophy, Volume 19, Issue 6, Page 1201-1212, December 2011
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27Average explanationsErkenntnis 30 (1-2). 1989.Good scientific explanations sometimes appear to make use of averages. Using concrete examples from current economic theory, I argue that some confusions about how averages might work in explanations lead to both philosophical and economic problems about the interpretation of the theory. I formulate general conditions on potentially proper uses of averages to refine a notion of average explanation. I then try to show how this notion provides a means for resolving longstanding philosophical probl…Read more
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41Descartes on the limited usefulness of mathematicsSynthese 196 (9): 3483-3504. 2019.Descartes held that practicing mathematics was important for developing the mental faculties necessary for science and a virtuous life. Otherwise, he maintained that the proper uses of mathematics were extremely limited. This article discusses his reasons which include a theory of education, the metaphysics of matter, and a psychologistic theory of deductive reasoning. It is argued that these reasons cohere with his system of philosophy.
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31Book Review:The Philosophy of Economics: On the Scope of Reason in Economic Inquiry. Subroto Roy (review)Ethics 101 (4): 883-. 1991.
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86Some issues surrounding the reduction of macroeconomics to microeconomicsPhilosophy of Science 51 (4). 1984.This paper examines the relationship between modern theories of microeconomics and macroeconomics and, more generally, it evaluates the prospects of theoretically reducing macroeconomics to microeconomics. Many economists have shown strong interest in providing "microfoundations" for macroeconomics and much of their work is germane to the issue of theoretical reduction. Especially relevant is the work that has been done on what is called The Problem of Aggregation. On some accounts, The Problem …Read more
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