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Second Karl Mittermaier Symposium on the History and Philosophy of Economics



Johannesburg, 15 – 16 August 2022

“Finding Better Ways of Doing Economics”

*Call for Papers*



*If [philosophy of economics] i**s worth doing at all, it must be done in
an attempt to gain new insights that will allow one to do better
economics.* (Mittermaier
1989)



The Second Karl Mittermaier Symposium on the History and Philosophy of
Economics will be held in Johannesburg on the 15ᵗʰ and 16ᵗʰ of August 2022.


Karl Mittermaier distinguished clearly between the subject matter of
economics and the tools employed in economics; much has been accomplished
in developing the tools, but less in understanding the subject matter. The
very tools of economics are now employed in different fields of
investigation, so we have an *imperialism of economics*. The objective
pursued here is to develop new ways and new intellectual tools to look at
the subject matter.


Invited speakers include: Pascal Bridel, Melissa Vergara Fernández, Andreas
Freytag, Nils Goldschmidt, Alan Kirman, Uskali Mäki, Alain Marciano,
Nobantu Mbeki, Rod O'Donnell, Amos Witztum.

We welcome contributions from researchers working in various streams of
economics and philosophy, relevant to the conference theme. In particular,
we encourage contributions in the areas of research suggested by
Mittermaier and listed below:

o  Realism and Nominalism in Economics

Pareto wrote in a letter “I am the most nominalist of nominalists”. A
nominalist attitude was also expressed by J.S. Mill when he made the point
that “all definitions are definitions of words only”. This contrasts with
the view that some definitions are definitions of things. The nominalist
attitude gives rise to a view that the universal terms we use in economic
theory are not about things but only words as labels. How influential has
this nominalist attitude and the rejection of realism been in economics?


o  Market Order in History of Economic Thought

Classical Liberalism was only peripherally concerned with the efficient
allocation of resources. Instead, the question of market order had to do
with rewarding productive activities and discouraging predatory activities.
Today, this question is at least as important as it was at the time of
classical liberalism. Furthermore, whereas markets had been considered in
older economics traditions as a natural phenomenon, markets can also be
understood as having an ideal form that is being promoted.


o  Conceptual Framework for Facts

Economic statistics are mostly records of past events, and as such they are
“ex post” facts. “Ex ante” facts in economics are harder to come by and
where theory portrays preferences, for instance, as “ex ante” facts, they
really are just “ex post” facts dressed up as “ex ante” facts. One
commentator has recently observed that “economic models which, while
admirably internally consistent, seem to be *devoid of empirical content*”
(Kirman).

That humans need to ingest food for survival may count as an “ex ante” fact.
A record of the times when they actually did ingest food is a record of “ex
post” facts. That individuals prefer more wealth to less may be an “ex
ante” fact, but a record of their consumption is a record of “ex post”
facts. What about institutions? Can they figure as “ex ante” facts? A
fuller treatment of these questions can be found in *The Empirical Content
of Economics *(Mittermaier), which can be obtained by return mail by
writing to [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>

Perhaps relevant is the idea of “background facts” found in John D
Norton’s *Material
Theory of Induction *(November 2021): “what separates the good from the bad
inductive inferences are background facts— the matter of the inference, as
opposed to its form. To put it another way, we locate what authorizes an
inductive inference not in some universal, formal schema but in facts that
prevail in the domain of the inference.” (p 23). An example of background
facts found in the book is that “matter has weight”. Are there “background
facts” in the economic domain? Are “background facts” analogues to “ex
ante” facts?


We invite submissions of abstracts (300 words maximum) for proposed papers
on these themes by *10** June 2022. *Please send abstracts to
*[log in to unmask]*. <[log in to unmask]>Replies will be sent out by 19
June 2022.  Additional information can be obtained from *[log in to unmask]*
<[log in to unmask]>.


The Symposium will be held in-person. No registration fees apply.


*Organising committee: *Samantha Ashman (U. Johannesburg), Chadwin Harris
(U. Johannesburg), Jérôme Lange (U. Witwatersrand), Michael Stettler (U.
Johannesburg)