Understanding the rationality principle in economics as a functional a priori principle.
Since the early days of economics, the rationality principle has been a core element of economic theorizing. It is part of almost any theoretical framework that economists use to generate knowledge. Despite its central role, the principle's epistemic status and function continue to be debated betwee...
| Publicado en: | Synthese Vol. 198; pp. 3329 - 3359 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Springer Nature
Jun2021 Supplement 14
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=151025632&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 151025632 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2021 Supplement 14 vid: 198 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 151025632 10.1007/s11229-020-02730-z ppf: 3329 ppct: 30 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 684KB tig: atl: Understanding the rationality principle in economics as a functional a priori principle. aug: au: Herfeld, Catherine affil: Institute of Philosophy, University of Zurich, Zürichbergstrasse 43, 8044, Zurich, Switzerland su: A priori Status (Law) Rationalism Empiricism sug: subj: A priori Status (Law) Rationalism Empiricism keyword: First principles in economics First principles in science Pragmatic theory of the a priori Rationality principle in economics ab: Since the early days of economics, the rationality principle has been a core element of economic theorizing. It is part of almost any theoretical framework that economists use to generate knowledge. Despite its central role, the principle's epistemic status and function continue to be debated between empiricists and rationalists, and a clear winner is yet to emerge. One point of contention is that we cannot explain the principle's special status in light of clear evidence against its empirical validity and the continuous conceptual changes it undergoes. In this paper, I argue that we should think of the rationality principle as a functional a priori principle along the lines of a pragmatic theory of constitutive elements recently put forward by David Stump. Such an approach would explain the principle's persistence and changing status. More generally, the pragmatic theory of constitutive elements in science offers a viable alternative to rationalism and empiricism that allows for approaching the debate about the status and function of the rationality principle in economics. It provides a new framework and starting point to think about the usefulness of a central first principle in economics in a constructive way. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2021. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2021 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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