After a significant amount of additional research and some initial difficulties in actually getting my thoughts down on paper, my book project, Evolutionary Social Theory is now well underway, with two draft chapters essentially complete. I have an official contract with Routledge and I'm working on a two year timeline with a goal of approximately … Continue reading Evolutionary Social Theory: Progress
Tag: Pragmatism
Further thoughts on mathematical formalism in Economics
In a recent entry, I offered a brief, and consequently simplified explanation of why formalism in mathematics and logic per se is not the cause of the perceived (accurately in my view) lack of realism in mainstream economics. This is not to say, however, that the emphasis in mainstream economics on formal mathematical is particularly … Continue reading Further thoughts on mathematical formalism in Economics
Evolutionary Political Economy and Philosophy
In this entry I will lay out a short, preliminary sketch of some philosophical problems in Evolutionary Political Economy. The reader may wish to note that this is part of a planned book length project on evolutionary political economy and that the problems I am writing about today are intended to form at least part … Continue reading Evolutionary Political Economy and Philosophy
Can anything go?
The title of this blog post, is of course, a reference to Paul Feyerabend's famous (or if you prefer, infamous) slogan "anything goes". But a careful reading of Feyerabend shows that he didn't really mean literally, "anything goes". My immediate goal however is not to defend or critique Feyerabend per se, at least not today. … Continue reading Can anything go?
Initial Reflections on today’s exchange.
I had a great discussion/exchange of views today with my friend and colleague in the English and Humanities Department, Mich Niyawalo, on The Economic Consequences of the Peace. I can say quite honestly that I learned a bit from Mich's presentation and our conversation afterwards. Professor Niyawalo will be providing me with a written text … Continue reading Initial Reflections on today’s exchange.
Post-Modernism’s cul de sac.
The original title of this post "Should Post Modernism Die?" created misunderstanding and has now been changed to better reflect the point I was trying to make. Critiques of "Post Modernism" are not limited to the right or popular culture. For example, see Chomsky's Critique of Focault or the response of multiple Pragmatists such as Hilary … Continue reading Post-Modernism’s cul de sac.
Economic Consequences: Chapter 2
I want to begin my analysis of Chapter 2 with a couple of prefatory comments. We can read a work such as Economic Consequences of the Peace as a work unto itself. Alternatively, we can permit ourselves the luxury of putting the work into the larger context of the body of the author's work. Both have … Continue reading Economic Consequences: Chapter 2
Does economics need axiomatic foundaions?
In my previous posts on secular stagnation I noted the common threads between the New Classical effort to build macroeconomics on the foundations of neo-Walrasian general equilibrium theory and the ways in which mainstream Keynesians have found themselves in a decades long cul de sac of ad hoc reasoning. While I agree with the arguments … Continue reading Does economics need axiomatic foundaions?
Citizen Rat 