-
1229Collective and Individual Rationality: Some Episodes in the History of Economic ThoughtDissertation, City, University of London. 2002.This thesis argues for the fundamental importance of the opposition between holistic and reductionistic world-views in economics. Both reductionism and holism may nevertheless underpin laissez-faire policy prescriptions. Scrutiny of the nature of the articulation between micro and macro levels in the writings of economists suggests that invisible hand theories play a key role in reconciling reductionist policy prescriptions with a holistic world. An examination of the prisoners' dilemma in game …Read more
-
526Methodology and policy prescription in economic thought: A response to Mario BungeJournal of Socio-Economics 32 (2): 219-226. 2003.Bunge (2000) distinguishes two main methodological approaches of holism and individualism, and associates with them policy prescriptions of centralism and laissez-faire. He identifies systemism as a superior approach to both the study and management of society. The present paper, seeking to correct and develop this line of thought, suggests a more complex relation between policy and methodology. There are two possible methodological underpinnings for laissez-faire: while writers such as Friedman…Read more
-
359This paper forms part of a research project investigating conceptions of the relationship between micro-level selfseeking agent behaviour and the desirability or otherwise of the resulting macro-level social outcomes in the history of economics.
-
348“Collective and individual rationality: Maynard Keynes's methodological standpoint and policy prescription”Research in Political Economy 20 187-215. 2002.In a world of partially overlapping and partially conflicting interests there is good reason to doubt that self-seeking behaviour at the micro-level will spontaneously lead to desirable social outcomes at the macro-level. Nevertheless, some sophisticated economic writers advocating a laissez-faire policy prescription have proposed various 'invisible hand' mechanisms which can supposedly be relied upon to 'educe good from ill'. Smith defended the 'simple system of natural liberty' as giving the g…Read more
-
167Two rhetorical strategies of laissez-faireJournal of Economic Methodology 11 (3): 341-357. 2004.To understand the work of economic theorists it is often helpful to situate it in the context of the rhetorical strategy they were pursuing. Two ontologically distinct rhetorical strategies of laissez-faire may be distinguished by the way they articulate the individual interest with the general interest. A reductionist approach, exemplified by Friedman and Lucas, suggests that the properties and behaviour of an entity can be understood in terms of the properties and behaviour of the constituent …Read more
-
86Modeling Rational Agents: From Interwar Economics to Early Modern Game Theory, Nicola Giocoli, Edward Elgar, 2003, x + 464 pages (review)Economics and Philosophy 22 (1): 159-166. 2006.
-
61methodology both of neoclassical and Austrian economics, as well as other approaches, from New Keynesianism to analytical Marxism. Yet there is considerable controversy as to what the phrase means. Moreover, the methodologies of those to whom the theoretical practice of MI is ascribed differ profoundly on the status of the individual economic agent: economics.
-
52Epistemology, observed particulars and providentialist assumptions: The fact in the history of political economyStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 31 (2): 353-361. 2000.
-
51Hayek Revisited consists of papers presented at four conferences held by the Ludwig von Mises Institute between 1993 and 1996 ‘in honour of Hayek’s] ideas’ xi), and, according to the front flap, the purpose of the volume is ‘to celebrate’, ‘to celebrate … and pay testament to’ Hayek’s contribution. The very first phrase of the Introduction speaks of “The awesome scope of..
-
49Dialectics and the Austrian School? The search for common ground in the methodology of heterodox economicsJournal of Philosophical Economics 1 (2): 151-173. 2008.In a recent paper (Denis, 2004b) I argued that the neoclassical use of the concept of equilibrium was guilty of a hypostatisation: an equilibrium which is only an abstraction and extrapolation, the logical terminus of a component process taken in isolation, is extracted and one-sidedly substituted for the whole. The temporary is made permanent, and process subordinated to stasis, with clearly apologetic results. I concluded by suggesting that this hypostatisation exemplified the contrast between…Read more
-
45The invisible hand of God in Adam SmithResearch in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology 23 (A): 1-32. 2005.writings, however, reveals a profoundly medieval outlook. Smith is preoccupied with the need to preserve order in society. His scientific methodology emphasises reconciliation with the world we live in rather than investigation of it. He invokes a version of natural law in which the universe is a harmonious machine administered by a providential deity. Nobody is uncared for and, in real happiness, we are all substantially equal. No action is without its appropriate reward – in this life or the n…Read more
-
42Hayek’s Challenge: an Intellectual Biography of F. A. Hayek (review)Review of Political Economy 18 (4): 579-583. 2006.Hayek’s Challenge is subtitled ‘an intellectual biography’ of Hayek, and the publisher describes it as ‘the first full intellectual biography’ of Hayek (front flap). But Caldwell himself appears to disagree: it was ‘never my goal’ to write ‘a comprehensive intellectual biography’ (177, note 10). Further, the book has a ‘secret title’: Caldwell’s Challenge (4). To assess what Caldwell has done, it is important to be very clear about what he was trying to do. Caldwell spells out in detail, in enga…Read more
-
41The hypostatisation of the concept of equilibrium in neoclassical economicsIn Valeria Mosini (ed.), Equilibrium in Economics: Scope and Limits, . 2007.The concept of equilibrium has long been a focus for dissent between orthodox and heterodox schools of thought in economics. The paper explores the meanings of ‘equilibrium’ and attempts to tease apart salient appropriate and inappropriate modes of deployment of the concept. Under far-from-equilibrium conditions, equilibrium is not even an approximate description of the condition of the system, but an abstraction – a state of affairs which might obtain should a process under consideration run to…Read more
-
18For many economists, including those who have made the most marked contribution to the development of the discipline, their work has to be understood in the context of the rhetorical strategy they were pursuing – what they wanted to persuade us of and how they wanted to do it. The paper identifies two fundamental rhetorical strategies of laissez-faire resting on entirely distinct ontological foundations. What distinguishes these two strategies is the way they articulate the individual with the g…Read more
-
8Two Rhetorical Strategies of Laissez-FaireJournal of Economic Methodology 11 (3): 341-357. 2004.For many economists, including those who have made the most marked contribution to the development of the discipline, their work has to be understood in the context of the rhetorical strategy they were pursuing – what they wanted to persuade us of and how they wanted to do it. The paper identifies two fundamental rhetorical strategies of laissez-faire resting on entirely distinct ontological foundations. What distinguishes these two strategies is the way they articulate the individual with the g…Read more
-
3Two rhetorical strategies of laissez-faireDepartment of Economics, City University London. 2003.For many economists, including those who have made the most marked contribution to the development of the discipline, their work has to be understood in the context of the rhetorical strategy they were pursuing – what they wanted to persuade us of and how they wanted to do it. The paper identifies two fundamental rhetorical strategies of laissez-faire resting on entirely distinct ontological foundations. What distinguishes these two strategies is the way they articulate the individual with the g…Read more
-
City University LondonRetired faculty
City, University Of London
Department Of Economics
Alumnus, 2002
Seattle, Washington, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy of Social Science |
Other Academic Areas |
Areas of Interest
Social and Political Philosophy |
Philosophy of Social Science |
Other Academic Areas |