What are we up to?. Issue 1 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vromen, Jack
• Is Part Of: Journal of economic methodology. Volume 28:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 31
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Economic methodology -- philosophy of economics -- naturalism -- foundationalism; Codes: b4; Economics -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 330.072
• DOI: 10.1080/1350178X.2020.1868768
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-178X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Even though one of the founding aspirations of our field was to foster mutually beneficial exchanges between economics and philosophy, economists never paid much attention to our work. Now that practicing economists are increasingly engaging in explicit methodological reflections, we can no longer comfort ourselves with the idea that economists are simply not interested in discussions of methodological issues. What is new on our side of the fence is that some of us commend economists not to be distracted by the sort of philosophical ideas we discuss in our work. While no one openly opposes this, it is clear that others in our field strongly disagree with this. I argue that what is ultimately at stake are different views on what philosophy of economics is all about, what it should be and what it should do. I also argue that these fundamental disagreements are better discussed openly than being kept under the carpet.