Essays on the Methodology and Discourse of Economics

336 Pages·1992·32.278 MB·English

by  Warren J. Samuels (auth.)

ESSAYS ON THE METHODOLOGY AND DISCOURSE
OF ECONOMICS
Also by Warren 1. Samuels and published by Macmillan
ESSAYS IN THE HISTORY OF HETERODOX POLITICAL
ECONOMY
ESSAYS IN THE HISTORY OF MAINSTREAM POLITICAL
ECONOMY
ESSAYS ON THE ECONOMIC ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
Volume 1: Fundamentals
Volume 2: Applications
Essays on the
Methodology and
Discourse of
Econoillics
Warren J. Samuels
Professor of Economics
Michigan State University
M
MACMILLAN
© Warren J. Samuels 1992
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1992
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
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or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London W1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1992 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire R021 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-12373-5 ISBN 978-1-349-12371-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-12371-1
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
To the many teachers and authors who have made
me sensitive to considerations of the epistemological
credentials (and limits) which statements can have
and of the discursive nature and subtle nuances of all
intellectual work
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction
PART I ECONOMICS AS DISCOURSE
'Truth' and 'Discourse' in the Social Construction of
Economic Reality: An Essay on the Relation of Knowledge
to Socioeconomic Policy 11
2 The Idea of the Corporation as a Person: On the Normative
Significance of Judicial Language 29
3 Machlup on Knowledge: Science, Subjectivism and the
Social Nature of Knowledge 49
4 A Critique of the Discursive Systems and Foundation
Concepts of Distribution Analysis 62
PART II METHODOLOGY, POLICY, AND THE SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
5 An Essay on the Nature and Significance of the Normative
Nature of Economics 85
6 Determinate Solutions and Valuational Processes:
Overcoming the Foreclosure of Process 92
7 The Methodology of Economics and the Case for Policy
Diffidence and Restraint 108
8 Economics as a Science and its Relation to Policy: The
Example of Free Trade 130
9 The Knight~Ayres Correspondence: The Grounds of
Knowledge and Social Action 154
10 On Some Fundamental Issues in Political Economy: An
Exchange of Correspondence
(with James M. Buchanan) 201
vii
Vlll Contents
PART III VALUES AND IDEOLOGY IN ECONOMICS
11 Ideology in Economics 233
12 The Historical Treatment of the Problem of Value
Judgements: an Interpretation 249
13 You Cannot Derive 'Ought' From 'Is' 261
14 A Necessary Normative Context of Positive Economics? 266
PART IV REASONING IN ECONOMICS
15 On the Attribution of Causality and Responsibility in
Macroeconomics
(with Jeff E. Biddle) 275
16 Of Lookout Cows and the Methodology of Economics 288
17 Economics and Theology: The Fundamental Common
Problem 292
18 The Pareto Principle: Another View 298
19 Two Concepts of Politicization 311
20 The Pervasive Proposition, 'What Is, Is and Ought to Be':
A Critique 315
Name Index 331
Subject Index 332
Acknowledgements
The author and publishers wish to thank the following publishers, editors
and co-authors for permission to reprint material:
"'Truth" and "Discourse" in the Social Construction of Economic Reality:
An Essay on the Relation of Knowledge to Socioeconomic Policy', Journal
of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 13 (1991), pp. 511-24.
'The Idea of the Corporation as a Person: On the Normative Significance of
Judicial Language', in Warren J. Samuels and Arthur S. Miller (eds),
Corporations and Society: Power and Responsibility (Westport: Green
wood Press, 1987) pp. 113-129.
'Machlup on Knowledge: Science, Subjectivism and the Social Nature of
Knowledge', Research in the History of Economic Thought and Meth
odology, vol. 3 (1985), pp. 243-55.
'A Critique of the Discursive Systems and Foundation Concepts of Distri
bution Analysis', Analyse & Kritik, vol. 4 (October 1982), pp. 4-12.
'An Essay on the Nature and Significance of the Normative Nature of
Economics', Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 10 (Spring 1988),
pp.347-54.
'Determinate Solutions and Valuational Processes: Overcoming the Fore
closure of Process', Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, vol. 11 (Sum
mer 1989), pp. 531-46.
'The Methodology of Economics and the Case for Policy Diffidence and
Restraint', Review ofS ocial Economy, vol. 47 (Summer 1989), pp. 113-33.
'Economics as a Science and its Relation to Policy: The Example of Free
Trade', Journal of Economic Issues, vol. 14 (March 1980), pp. 163-85.
Reprinted from the Journal ofE conomic Issues by special permission ofthe
copyright holder, the Association For Evolutionary Economics.
'The Knight-Ayres Correspondence: The Grounds of Knowledge and So
cial Action', Journal of Economic Issues, vol. 11 (September 1977),
pp. 485-525. Reprinted from the Journal of Economic Issues by special
permission of the copyright holder, the Association For Evolutionary
Economics.
ix
x Acknowledgements
With James M. Buchanan, 'On Some Fundamental Issues in Political
Economy: An Exchange of Correspondence', Journal of Economic Issues,
vol. 9 (March 1975), pp. 15-38. Reprinted from the Journal of Economic
Issues by special permission of the copyright holder, the Association For
Evolutionary Economics.
'Ideology in Economics', in Sidney Weintraub (ed.), Modern Economic
Thought (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977)
pp.467-84.
'The Historical Treatment of the Problem of Value Judgments: An Interpre
tation', in Robert A. Solo and Charles W. Anderson (eds), Value Judgment
and Income Distribution (New York: Praeger, 1981) pp. 57-69.
'You Cannot Derive "Ought" From "Is"', Ethics, vol. 83 (January 1973),
pp. 159-62. Copyright 1973 by The University of Chicago. All rights
reserved.
'A Necessary Normative Context of Positive Economics?', Journal of
Economic Issues, vol. 15 (September 1981), pp. 721-7. Reprinted from the
Journal of Economic Issues by special permission of the copyright holder,
the Association For Evolutionary Economics.
With Jeff E. Biddle, 'On the Attribution of Causality and Responsibility in
Macroeconomics', Methodus, No.1 (December 1989), pp. 9-13.
'Of Lookout Cows and the Methodology of Economics', Journal of Eco
nomic Issues, vol. 22 (September 1988), pp. 853-67. Reprinted from the
Journal of Economic Issues by special permission of the copyright holder,
the Association For Evolutionary Economics.
'Economics and Theology: The Fundamental Common Problem', Eco
nomic Forum, vol. 15 (Summer 1984), pp. 1-7.
'The Pareto Principle: Another View', Analyse & Kritik, vol. 3 (August
1981), pp. 124--34.
'Two Concepts of "Politicization''', Social Science, vol. 55 (Spring 1980),
pp.67-70.
'The Pervasive Proposition, "What Is, Is and Ought to Be": A Critique' , in
William S. Milberg (ed.), The Megacorporation and Macrodynamics
(Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 1991), pp. 273-85.
Note: the reprinted materials appear as in the original publications except
that minor alterations have been made to the style and presentation for the
purpose of publishing this collection of readings in book form.