Should Economists Pay Attention to Philosophers?

Abstract

Two recent books evaluating modern economics from the standpoint of the philosophy of science are examined: Hollis and Nell, Rational Economic Man, and Rosenberg, Microeconomic Laws. The former, severely critical of orthodox economics, advocates a philosophy of radical rationalism and construes Marxian economics to be its necessary consequent. The latter, adopting an empiricist philosophy of science, concludes that orthodox microeconomics rests on sound foundations. The paper goes on to make some remarks on the role of the philosophy of science as a scholarly discipline.