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Lawson on Veblen on social ontology
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Copyright Year | 2015 |
| Description | Book Name: What is Neoclassical Economics? |
| Abstract | Tony Lawson’s “What is this ‘school’ called neoclassical economics?” draws on Thorstein Veblen’s original use of “neoclassical economics” to critically interpret contemporary employment of the term, and argue for jettisoning the category of neoclassical economics altogether on the grounds that its use obfuscates effective critique of mainstream economics (Lawson, Chapter 1; also cf. Lawson, 2003: 184-217). The looseness with which he believes the term and category have been generally applied has, in his view, allowed a whole range of disparate arguments about neoclassicism to compete for attention, resulting in a failure on the part of many commentators to see what is fundamentally problematic about mainstream economics. However, Veblen is hardly only valuable to Lawson, because his initial conception of the term and category is an obvious starting point. His primary value resides in his evolutionary approach to science and associated critique of what he regarded as a primitive metaphysics of science particularly in the economics of his own time. Lawson regards this critique as close to his own critique of mainstream economics and sees a discussion of Veblen’s view of neoclassicism as an opportunity to refocus contemporary discussion about the nature of neoclassicism on its untenable metaphysical preconceptions. His arguments are specifically directed at self-identified heterodox economists who, in his view, too often fail to see that the real source of economics’ current problems lies not at the level of its substantive theorizing-that is, the content of economic doctrines-but at the level of methodology and social ontology-the study of the nature of social reality. Veblen used the term “metaphysics,” but the term “ontology” has essentially the same meaning. In Lawson’s language, then, the problem that Veblen identified remains the chief problem of mainstream economics today, namely, that it operates with a deficient social ontology. I am broadly sympathetic to this argument and think that recourse to Veblen’s evolutionary thinking is a helpful way to examine what is deficient in mainstream economics’ social ontology. In this chapter I will attempt to contribute to their approach by further discussing some of the more important themes they emphasize. |
| Related Links | https://api.taylorfrancis.com/content/chapters/edit/download?identifierName=doi&identifierValue=10.4324/9781315659596-11&type=chapterpdf |
| Ending Page | 193 |
| Page Count | 45 |
| Starting Page | 149 |
| DOI | 10.4324/9781315659596-11 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited |
| Publisher Date | 2015-11-19 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Book Name: What Is Neoclassical Economics? History and Philosophy of Science Veblen Arguments Lawson Ontology Neoclassical Evolutionary Contemporary Critique of Mainstream |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Chapter |
