Re: reading lists in methodology/HET
Several people were interested in reading lists in above. I've wiped
the names off.
A course syllabus in included below.
It is offered warts and all and has to be understood in the context
in which it has been offered - taught to undergraduate honours class
(probably low-level gradualy material in the US); last taught 1992;
includes some local and eccentric reference material.
Evan Jones Economics Sydney University
[log in to unmask]
CAUTION: WHAT FOLLOWS IS LENGTHY
University of Sydney
Economics III(P) Hons
First Semester 1992
Methodology in Economics and Political Economy
This course is a one semester seminar programme, being a comparative
examination of issues in methodology in economics and political economy. It
deals
briefly both with some traditional debates within mainstream economics, and
also
with methodological differences within and across different schools of
thought in political economy. Insofar as mainstream 'histories of economic
thought' convey
past controversies as the unerring ascendancy of truth over falsehood,
leading inexorably to the glorious status quo which is asymptotically
approaching
intellectual perfection, this programme can be seen as an alternative
history of
economic thought.
In principle, the predominant emphasis is upon issues in methodology
per se, and not on questions of epistemology ('upstream') or of conceptual
frameworks and subject matter ('downstream'). These three 'levels' are
unavoidably
interrelated, and discussion will inevitably concern epistemology and
conceptual
structure, but the latter issues will not be pursued systematically.
Ultimately, of
course, conceptual structure and subject matter is of dominant
significance. Discussion
of methodological issues has to be seen as instrumental in gaining
perspective in that domain.
Methodological issues are elusive. Nevertheless, a certain patience
generates rewards because new intellectual directions and academic
controversy are
permeated with methodological considerations. There are numerous traps:
* the language itself is unstable, with temporal variations in the meaning
of labels
* there is a need to distinguish between the self-advertisements in matters
methodological and the practices of various schools (watch what they
do rather than what they say)
* one needs to distinguish between the methodological program of the
innovators themselves (Marx, Keynes) and the principles of the
disciples/school
that follows (Marxism, Keynesianism)
* some schools (Keynesianism, post-Keynesianism, neo-Marxism,
econometrics) have been lax in providing statements on methodological
underpinnings and
a certain speculation is called for in these arenas
* the sociological determinants of disiplinary orientation, which
defy any reasonable methodological principles, are of major significance
Several journals give more than passing attention to methodological
issues (typically in inverse proportion to their status) and could be
consulted for
additional reading
In particular, see:
Journal of Economic Issues (JEI) - 330.105/2
History of Political Economy (HOPE) - 320.9 (Wolst)
Philosophy of the Social Sciences - 300.105/1
American Journal of Economics and Sociology (AJES) - 330.5/8
Journal of Post-Keynesian Economics (JPKE) - 330.15605/2
Kyklos - 305/55 (Wolst)
Theory and Society - 301.05/43
History and Theory - 901/1816
Theory and Decision - 300.105/2
References listed below are to be used as basis for seminar
presentations and seminar papers. Starred items (*) are to be read by all
participants.
Weeks
1. Introduction
Outline of the scope of the course and seminar allocation
2. Beginnings - Developments in the Philosophy of Knowledge
(Epistemology) and the Methodological Underpinnings of Early Political
Economy
The beginnings of 'political economy' and its context: developing
philosophical
visions (Bacon, Descartes, etc) and the methodological borrowings of early
political
economy. What sense(s) underlie the use of the label 'law' for the
attempted
systemisation of human behaviour? Note the concept of 'natural' law and its
theological underpinnings.
* Robert Brown, The Nature of Social Laws, 1984, Ch.2 (omit 56-58)
* Phyllis Deane, The State and the Economic System, Oxford Univ.
Press, 1989, Ch.3
- Deane, op.cit., Chs. 1,2,4
- Brown, op.cit., Intro (omit bottom of p.17 - mid p.20)
* S. Zamagni, 'economic laws', in J. Eatwell, et.al., The New
Palgrave Dictionary, p.52
3. Background Developments in Anglo-European (Mainstream) Philosophy of
Science
Is there an appropriate 'scientific' method for interpreting human
behaviour?
Developing fashions within orthodoxy in appropriate method -
inductivism/verificationism; falsificationism (Popper); paradigms and
revolutionary transformation - non-falsifiable? (Kuhn); 'research
programmes' - falsifiable paradigms? (Lakatos)
Note: This mainstream tradition has generated the language of methodological
exchange. In general, however, the exchange exists at the level of
desiderata rather
than a representation of evolving practices (with the possible exception on
Kuhn).
* D. Hausman, "Economic Methodology and the Philosophy of Science", in G.
Winston & R. Teichgraiber (eds), The boundaries of economics, (Cambridge
Univ.
Press, 1988) (general overview)
* Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, Cambridge U.P. 1980, pp.1-17;
29-40
- Bruce Caldwell, Beyond Positivism, Ch.5 (on Popper, Kuhn &
Lakatos; ignore Feyerabend)
* John Naughton, "Revolution in Science: 200 years on", New
Scientist, 5 August 1982 (in defense of Kuhn)
- H. Katouzian, Ideology and Method in Economics, Macmillan, 1980, p.47-
55
4/5. The Construction and Cementing of a Rationalist (Apriorist)
tradition in
Economics.
* P. Deane, "The Scope and Method of Economic Science", Economic
Journal, 93, March 1983 (the social context)
a. The Cementing of Apriorism: merging Ricardo (axiomatic reasoning),
individualism
(from liberalist ideology) and the calculus (technique, marginalist
conceptual agenda) in the Neoclassical age
- D O'Brien, The Classical Economists, Clarendon 1975, pp.66-74 (the
pluralism of method amongst the classical economists)
* N. Georgescu-Roegen, "Methods in Economic Science", JEI, 13,2, 1979, esp.
pp.317-321.
- Lowe, On Economic Knowledge, Chs.4 & 8.
- Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, Ch.3 (19th century economists'
apriorist method confronts the prevailing wisdom of 'verificationism')
- T.W. Hutchison, The Significance and Basic Postulates of Economic Theory,
Macmillan, 1938, Ch.3
- M. Blaug, "Economic Method in One Easy Lesson", in Economic History and
the History of Economics, Wheatsheaf, 1986
b. the Robbins reconstruction (revives apriorism against 1930s attacks,
and sets the
apriorist agenda for neoclassical dominance of post-1945 textbooks)
* Lionel Robbins, An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic
Science, Macmillan, 1935, Ch.4
c. Friedman's instrumentalism (Friedman re-reconstructs apriorism
against further attacks, especially those directed at the 'realism' of
axioms;
prediction as the true test of a theory, drawing on 'falsificationist'
principles to defend
by hyperbole an unrepentant apriorist tradition)
- Hutchison, Knowledge and Ignorance in Economics, Blackwell, 1977, Ch.2
* Caldwell, Beyond Positivism: Economic Methodology in the Twentieth
Century, Allen & Unwin, 1982, Ch.8
* Charles Wilber, "Empirical Verification and Theory Selection: The
Keynesian-Monetarist Debate", JEI, 13,4, 1979
6. Econometrics
* C. Wilber, "Emirical Verification and Theory Selection: The Keynesian-
Monetarist Debate", Journal of Economic Issues, XIII/4, Dec. 1979 (is
falsification possible?)
* I. Stewart, Reasoning and Method in Economics, McGraw Hill, 1979, Ch.9
(rudiments of econometrics)
- O. Hamouda & J. Smithin (eds), Keynes and Public Policy After Fifty
Years;
Vol.2: Theories and Method, Edward Elgar, 1988, Chs. 1 & 2 (Keynes,
econometrics and macroeconometric model-building)
- P.Mirowski, "The Probabilistic Counter-Revolution, or How Stochastic
Concepts came to Neoclassical Economic Theory", Oxford Economic Papers, 41,
1989,
217-235 (the attack on neoclassical determinism)
7. Classical Marxism (Economics): on which profound disagreement exists
as to
underlying method
- G. Lichtheim, Marxism, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, Intro., Part 1, Ch.1
and Part 2, Chs.1,2 (philosophical and contextual backdrop)
* J. Farr, "Marx's Laws", Political Studies, XXXIV, June 1986 (Marx's
method
as 'historical realism')
- E. Mandel, Marx's Capital I, Penguin, 1976, Intro. Sec.2; or: Late
Capitalism,
Verso 1975, pp.13-24 & 39-43 (a dialectic of the logico-abstract and
the concrete-historical).
- D. Sayer, "Method and Dogma in Historical Materialism".
Sociological Review, 23/4 1975, 779-91 (the logico-abstract and the
concrete
historical as separate spheres of explanation)
- M. Godelier, "Structure and Contradiction in capital", in R. Blackburn
(ed),
Ideology in Social Science, Fontana, 1972 (apriorist: the logico-abstract
dominates
the concrete-historical).
8/9. Historical/Evolutionary Knowledge
a. the German historical school
* entries: German Historical School; English Historical School;
Methodenstreit, J. Eatwell, et.al., The New Palgrave Dictionary,
Macmillan, 1987
* H. Betz, "How does the German Historical School Fit?", HOPE, 20,3, 1988;
or:
- Ben Seligman, Main Currents in Modern Economics, Free Press, 1962, Vol.1,
Ch. 1.i,ii,iii
b. the English historical school
* G. Koot, English Historical Economics 1870-1926, Cambridge U.P., 1987,
Intro. & Conclusion
Gerard Koot, "H.S. Foxwell and English Historical Economics", JEI,
11,3, Sept.1977
c. Institutionalism (general)
* Charles Wilber & Robert Harrison, "The Methodological Basis of
Institutional Economics: Pattern Model, Storytelling, and Holism", JEI,
12,1,1978;
or:
* Daniel Fusfeld, "The Conceptual Framework of Modern Economics",
JEI, 14,1, March 1980, pp.28-43
- Joseph Dorfman, "The Role of the German Historical School in American
Economic Thought", American Economic Review, 45, May 1955
- C. Hession, John Kenneth Galbraith and his Critics, Mentor, 1972, Ch.8
- Lowe, On Economic Knowledge, Ch.3
10. Keynes, Keynesianism, Neo-Keynesianism - Methodological break or
mainstream diversion?
- Adolph Lowe, On Economic Knowledge, Ch.9 (the conceptual agenda)
* Rod O'Donnell, Keynes: Philosophy, Economics and Politics,
Macmillan, 1987, Ch.10; also pp.172-182
- Anna Carabelli, On Keynes's Method, St. Martin's, 1988, Chs.9,13
11. Feminism
* S. Gunew, "Feminist Knowledge: Critique and Construct", in Gunew (ed),
Feminist Knowledge, Routledge, 1990; or: E.Gross, "What is Feminist
Theory?", in C. Pateman & E. Gross (eds), Feminist Challenges, Allen &
Unwin, 1986
* Sandra Harding, "Is There a Feminist Method?", in Harding (ed), Feminism
and Methodology, Open Univ. Press, 1987
- Sandra Harding, Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?, Cornell Univ Press,
1991, Ch.12
- M. Mies, "Towards a methodology for feminist research", in Gloria Bowles
&
Renate Klein (eds), Theories of Women's Studies, Routledge & Kegan Paul,
1983
- Carole Pateman, "The Fraternal Social Contract: Some Observations on
Patriarchal Civil Society", in Pateman, The Social Contract, Polity, 1988
(out of
political theory)
- Michele Barrett, Women's Oppression Today: Problems in Marxist Feminist
Analysis, Verso, 1980, Ch.1; or; Zillah Eisenstein (ed), Capitalist
Patriarchy and the
case for Socialist Feminism, Monthly Review Press, 1979, Ch.1 (a marxist
feminism?)
12. The Sociology of Knowledge in Economics I - Academia
* Deane, "The Scope and Method of Economic Science", op.cit.
* J. Brett, "Our Hidden Thinkers", The Australian, January 25, 1992
- A. Kadish, Oxford Economists in the Late Nineteenth Century, Clarendon
Press, 1982, Ch.9
- E. Jones, "The Socialisation of the Economics Profession", mimeo, 1981
- Evan Jones & Frank Stilwell, "Political Economy at the University of
Sydney", in Brian Martin et.al. (eds), Intellectual Suppression, Angus &
Robertson,
1986
- Joseph Spengler, "Exogenous and Endogenous Influences in the Formation
of Post-1870 Economic Thought...", in R. Eagly (ed), Events, Ideology, and
Economic
Theory, Detroit, 1968
13. The Sociology of Knowledge in Economics II - the Broader
Environment
* Ted Wheelwright, "Where do 'Correct' Economic ideas Come From?", in
Wheelwright, Capitalism, Socialism or Barbarism?, ANZ, 1978
* E. Jones, "Truth and the Written Word", Honi Soit #25, Oct 16 1990
* E. Mendelsohn, in Mendelsohn et.al, Social Production of Scientific
Knowledge, Reidel, 1977, Intro. (the social context of the 'birth' of
modern science)
- Mao Tse-Tung, Oppose Book Worship, Foreign Languages Press, 1966
- Sandra Harding, Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?, Ch.2
14. Summing Up
General discussion.
Evan Jones
February 1992
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