Suchergebnisse
"Olaf L. Müller"
Titel: Autodetermination in Microeconomics. A Methodological Case Study on the Theory of Demand
Autor: Olaf L. Müller
Seite: 319-345
Abstract: My philosophical case study concerns textbook presentations of the theory of demand. Does this theory contain anything more than just a collection of tautologies? In order to determine its empirical content, it must be viewed holistically. But then, the theory implies false factual claims. We can avoid this result by embracing the theory's normative character. The resulting consequences will be illuminated with the new autodetermination thesis recently proposed in the philosophy of physics by Oliver Timmer. Applying his ideas to the theory of demand reveals that the statements of this discipline simultaneously concern both values and acts.
Philosophical and Methodologial Issues in Economics
2004 (26) Heft 2
Guest-Editors: Mark S. Peacock / Michael Schefczyk
Editorial
The 'dismal science of economics', as it was once called, has a mixed reputation. Some praise its clarity and elegance whilst others bewail its futility; others laud the precision of its mathematical form whereas others still descry the source of its irrelevance and unrealism in just this form. Many feel that precision and mathematisation are bought at a price too high, namely unrealistic assumptions, empty models with little or no explanatory power, unreliable predictions and a general state of...