CALL FOR PAPERS 
 
Dear fellow scholars, 
 
We are holding the biennial conference of the french =ABAssociation 
Charles= 
  
GIDE pour l=92etude de la pensee economique=BB next Fall (22, 23 & 24= 
 September  
2005) in University of Lille I (North of France) on the topic =ABDo Laws  
exist in Economics? =BB. 
 
If there are no laws, or if there is no unified body of laws constituting 
a= 
  
system, to what extend can economics be considered as a science or an art? 
If there are laws, what are they and how does economics constitute 
itself  
by bringing them to light, testing their empirical validity and endowing  
them with a rational basis? 
These questions suggest a number of tracks. For instance : 
Semantic track : to what extent do the attribution of an economist=92s 
name= 
  
to a law or the association of economists=92 names with other terms= 
 (effects,  
equilibrium=85) reveal the place the discipline attributes in its= 
 development  
to the history of economic thought? 
Historical track: what are the great and small laws that economists have  
formulated during modern times and how have their representations of these= 
  
evolved? Malthus=92 Law, Engel=92s Law,  Say=92s Law or Walras=92 Law, the= 
 law of  
supply and demand, etc=85 
Analytical track: in what sense have some of these great or small laws  
constituted signs of opposition or mutual recognition between different  
schools and doctrines? 
Philosophical track: how did economics break free of morality and moral  
laws  on justice and on justice and benevolence  in affirming a domain  
where only the =91law of self interest=92 rules? How did it break free 
of  
politics in affirming the existence of a sphere, independent of any  
monetary institution where the =91Law of value=92 only rules? 
 
If you are interested in presenting a paper, please open the website of 
the= 
  
conference : http://www.univ-lille1.fr/clerse/lois/ and follow the  
instructions for the submission of an abstract of about 3 pages. The  
deadline for submissions is : 8 December 2004. 
Paper proposals must provide information about the author (name, 
address,  
institutional affiliation) and the title of the contribution. 
 
Arnaud Berthoud & Bernard Delmas, USTL (Universite de Lille 1) 
 
Contact: [log in to unmask] 
 
Mailing Address: 
Colloque Charles Gide, 
c/o Veronique Testelin, 
Universite de Lille 1, bat. S.H. 2 
Faculte des sciences Economiques et sociales 
59655 Villeneuve d=92Ascq Cedex    FRANCE