Course Objectives Readings Classes Requirements Course Outline
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Course Objectives Readings Classes Requirements Course Outline
Course Readings: The following books should be available in the NotreDame Bookstore.
Marc Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, 2nd edition
Harry Collins, Changing Order, 1992 edition
Daniel M. Hausman, The Philosophy of Economics, 2nd edition
Arjo Klamer and David Colander, The Making of an Economist
Bruno Latour, Science in Action
Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational Expectations
This is quite a list, I know. However, you are not expected to read all the books completely, but should use them as helpful reference material. All other readings are included in a course packet obtainable from the copy center. The particular reading assignments are specified in the course outline below.
Classes: You are expected to read the assignments in advance. Believe me, I know it is hard to discipline yourself to do it, but it will make for a more lively class discussion and a more valuable learning experience for all of us. I want to avoid lecturing you on things you know already. The course constitutes for me as well as for you an exploratory exercise and I encourage you to suggest different and additional readings as we progress.
Requirements: Each of you is responsible for the following two assignments, each counting for fifty percent of your grade:
(a) One research paper of 25-35 pages. Too often students write essays while burning the midnight oil and trash the papers after the semester is finished. This is certainly not the best preparation for writing a dissertation! In an attempt to help you write a thorough paper that might be publishable, you are responsible for the following steps in your paper assignment:
| (i) | One paper topic selected in consultation with me, due on October 12. |
| (ii) | One bibliography for your research paper, due on October 26. |
| (iii) | One preliminary paper of 5 pages maximum giving the outline of your argument, due on November 2. |
| (iv) | One class presentation of your work in progress, during week (14). |
| (v) | One final research paper of 25-35 pages, due on Wednesday, December 6 at 5 PM. |
(b) One take-home final exam, due on Wednesday, December 13 at 5 PM.
There will be no extensions or incompletes, really.
August 22
Introduction, no reading assignment
August 24
Arjo Klamer and David Colander, The Making of an Economist, chapters 1-7
August 29
Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, chapters 1-2
August 31
Bruce Caldwell, "Clarifying Popper," Journal of Economic Literature, 1991, (29):1-33
Elias Kahil, "Has Economics Progressed?" History of Political Economy, Spring 1995, (27): 43-87
Richard Rorty, "The Historiography of Philosophy," in Rorty, Schneewind & Skinner, eds. Philosophy in History, pp. 49-75
Keith Tribe, Land, Labour and Economic Discourse, pp. 5-23
September 5
Roger Backhouse, New Directions in Economic Methodology, chapter 1
Daniel Hausman, The Philosophy of Economics, introduction
September 7
Wade Hands, "Thirteen Theses on Progress in Economic Methodology," Finnish Economic Papers, 1990, (3):72-76
Philip Mirowski, "What Are the Questions?" in Roger Backhouse, ed. New Directions in Economic Methodology
September 12
(the verificationists)
September 14
Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, chapter 3
John Stuart Mill, "On the Definition and Method of Political Economy," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
Lionel Robbins, "The Nature and Significance of Economic Science," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
(the "fringe" views)
Karl Marx, "Ideology and Method in Political Economy," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
Thorstein Veblen, "The Limitations of Marginal Utility," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
Max Weber, "Objectivity and Understanding in Economics," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
(the instrumentalists)
September 21
Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, chapter 4
Milton Friedman, "The Methodology ofPositive Economics," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
Herbert Simon, "Testability and Approximation," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
(the realists)
Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, chapter 4
Paul Samuelson, Foundations of Economic Analysis, chapters 1-3
Herbert Simon, "Testability and Approximation," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
October 3
Michel Callon and Bruno Latour, "Don't Throw the Baby out with the Bath School" A Reply to Collins and Yearley" in Andrew Pickering, ed. Science as Practice and Culture
October 5
Harry Collins and Steven Yearley, "Epistemological Chicken," in Andrew Pickering, ed. Science as Practice and Culture
Ernan McMullin, "Introduction," in Ernan McMullin, ed. The Social Dimensions of Science
Andrew Pickering, "From Science as Knowledge to Science as Practice," in Andrew Pickering, ed. Science as Practice and Culture
Steve Woolgar, "Some Remarks about Positionism: A Reply to Collins and Yearley" in Andrew Pickering, ed. Science as Practice and Culture
Harry Collins, Changing Order
Karin Knorr Cetina, "Epistemic Cultures," in History of Political Economy, 1991, (23):105-122
Bruno Latour, Science in Action
Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational Expectations, chapter 1
Roy Weintraub, "Editor's Introduction," inHistory of Political Economy, 1991, (23):101-103
October 10
Wade Hands, "The Sociology of Scientific Knowledge: Some Thoughts on the Possibilities," in Roger Backhouse, ed. New Directions in Economic Methodology
October 12
Philip Mirowski and Esther-Mirjam Sent, "Introduction," in Philip Mirowski and Esther-Mirjam Sent, ed. Science Bought and Sold
Esther-Mirjam Sent, "Economics of Science: Survey and Suggestions," in Journal of Economic Methodology, 1999, (6): 95-124
William A. Brock and Steven N. Durlauf, 1999: "A Formal Model of Theory Choice in Science," in Economic Theory, 1999, (14): 113-130
Partha Dasgupta and Paul David, "Toward a New Economics of Science," in Research Policy, 1994, (23): 487-521
Paula Stephan, "The Economics of Science," in Journal of Economic Literature, 1996, (34): 1199-235
October 24
Gerd Gigerenzer et al., Empire of Chance, chapter 2
October 26
David Hendry, "Econometrics —Alchemy or Science?" Economica, 1980, (47):387-406
Tony Lawson, "Realism and Instrumentalism in the Developmentof Econometrics," in Christopher Gilbert and Neil de Marchi, eds.History and Methodology of Econometrics
Edward Leamer, "Let's Take the Con out of Econometrics," American Economic Review, 1983, (73):31-43
Philip Mirowski, "The Probabilistic Counter-revolution, or how Stochastic Concepts Came to Neoclassical Economic Theory," in Christopher Gilbert and Neil de Marchi, eds. History and Methodology ofEconometrics
Claude Menard, "Why Was There No Probabilistic Revolution in Economic Thought?" in Kruger, ed. The Probabilistic Revolution vol. 2, pp. 139-146
Philip Mirowski, "The Probabilistic Counter-revolution, or how Stochastic Concepts Came to Neoclassical Economic Theory," in Christopher Gilbert and Neil de Marchi, eds. History and Methodology of Econometrics
Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational Expectations, chapter 2
October 31
Emile Grunberg, "Predictability and Reflexivity," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 1986, (45):475-488
November 2
Wade Hands, "Grunberg and Modigliani, Public Prediction," Research in the History of Economic Thought and Method, 1990, (7):207-223
Friedrich Hayek, "The Uses of Knowledge in Society," in Friedrich Hayek, ed. Individualism and Economic Order
Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational Expectations, chapter 3
Nancy Cartwright, "Replicability, Reproducibility, and Robustness: Comments on Harry Collins," History of Political Economy, 1991, (23):143-155
Harry Collins, "The Meaning of Replication and the Science of Economics," History of Political Economy, 1991, (23):123-142
William Dewald et al., "Replication in Empirical Economics," American Economic Review, 1986, (76):587-603
Philip Mirowski, "Three Ways to Think about Testing in Econometrics," Journal of Econometrics, 1995, (67):25-46
November 7
Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, chapter 8
November 9
Bruna Ingrao and Giorgio Israel, The Invisible Hand, chapters 10-11
Alan Kirman, "Whom or What Does the Representative Individual Represent? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1992, (6): 117-136
Abu Rizvi, "Specialisation and the Existence Problem in General Equilibrium Theory," Contributions to Political Economy, 1991, (10): 1-10
Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational Expectations, chapter 4
Marianne Ferber and Julie Nelson, "Introduction: The Social Construction of Economics and the Social Construction of Gender," in Marianne Ferber and Julie Nelson, eds. Beyond Economic Man, introduction
David Moore, "Feminist Accounting Theory as a Critique of What's 'Natural' in Economics," in Philip Mirowski, ed. Natural Images in Economic Thought
Julie Nelson, "The Study of Choice or the Study of Provisioning? Gender and the Definition of Economics," in Marianne Ferber and Julie Nelson, eds. Beyond Economic Man, chapter 3
Esther-Mirjam Sent, "Symmetry in Feminist Economics"
November 14
Mark Blaug, The Methodology of Economics, chapters 6, 14, and 15
November 16
John Elster, "Social Norms and Economic Theory," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1989, (3):99-117
Amartya Sen, "Rational Fools" in Hahn and Hollis,eds. Philosophy and Economic Theory, pp. 87-109
Robert Sugden, "Rational Choice: A Survey," Economic Journal, 1991, (101):751-783
Herbert Simon, "From Substantive to Procedural Rationality," in Hollis and Hahn, eds. Philosophy and Economic Theory, pp. 65-86
Vernon Smith, "Game Theory and Experimental Economics" in Roy Weintraub, ed. Toward a History of Game Theory
Vernon Smith, "Rational Choice," Journal of Political Economy, 1991, (99):877-897
Esther-Mirjam Sent, The Evolving Rationality of Rational Expectations, chapter 5
Esther-Mirjam Sent, "Game Theorists versus Herbert Simon: Playing Games with Bounded Rationality," forthcoming in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
November 21
Samuel Bowles, "What Markets Can — and Cannot —Do," Challenge, 1991:11-16
David Gauthier, "The Market: Freedom from Morality," Morals by Agreement, chapter 4
Daniel Hausman and Michael McPherson, "Economics, Rationality, and Ethics," in Daniel Hausman, ed. The Philosophy of Economics
WEEK (14): STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
November 28
Student presentations, no reading assignment
November 30
Student presentations, no reading assignment
December 5
Review, no reading assignment
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