1st Edition
The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Economics
The most fundamental questions of economics are often philosophical in nature, and philosophers have, since the very beginning of Western philosophy, asked many questions that current observers would identify as economic. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Economics is an outstanding reference source for the key topics, problems, and debates at the intersection of philosophical and economic inquiry. It captures this field of countless exciting interconnections, affinities, and opportunities for cross-fertilization.
Comprising 35 chapters by a diverse team of contributors from all over the globe, the Handbook is divided into eight sections:
I. Rationality
II. Cooperation and Interaction
III. Methodology
IV. Values
V. Causality and Explanation
VI. Experimentation and Simulation
VII. Evidence
VIII. Policy
The volume is essential reading for students and researchers in economics and philosophy who are interested in exploring the interconnections between the two disciplines. It is also a valuable resource for those in related fields like political science, sociology, and the humanities.
1. Introduction Conrad Heilmann and Julian Reiss
Part I: Rationality
2. History of Utility Theory Ivan Moscati
3. The Economics and Philosophy of Risk H. Orri Stefánsson
4. Behavioral Welfare Economics and Consumer Sovereignty Guilhem Lecouteux
5. The Economic Concept of a Preference Kate Vredenburgh
6. Economic Agency and the Subpersonal Turn in Economics James D. Grayot
Part II: Cooperation and Interaction
7. Game Theory and Rational Reasoning Jurgis Karpus and Mantas Radzvilas
8. Institutions, Rationality, and Coordination Camilla Colombo and Francesco Guala
9. As If Social Preference Models Jack Vromen
10. Exploitation and Consumption Benjamin Ferguson
Part III: Methodology
11. Philosophy of Economics? Three Decades of Bibliometric History Francois Claveau, Alexandre Truc, Olivier Santerre, and Luis Mireles-Flores
12. Philosophy of Austrian Economics Alexander Linsbichler
13. Representation Hsiang Ke-Chao
14. Finance and Financial Economics: A Philosophy of Science Perspective Melissa Vergara-Fernández and Boudewijn de Bruin
Part IV: Values
15. Values in Welfare Economics Antoinette Baujard
16. Measurement and Value Judgements Julian Reiss
17. Reflections on the State of Economics and Ethics Mark D. White
18. Well-Being Mauro Rossi
19. Fairness and Fair Division Stefan Wintein and Conrad Heilmann
Part V: Causality and Explanation
20. Causality and Probability Tobias Henschen
21. Causal Contributions in Economics Christopher Clarke
22. Explanation in Economics Philippe Verreault-Julien
23. Modeling the Possible to Modeling the Actual Jennifer S. Jhun
Part VI: Experimentation and Simulation
24. Experimentation in Economics Michiru Nagatsu
25. Field Experiments Judith Favereau
26. Computer Simulations in Economics Aki Lehtinen and Jaakko Kuorikoski
27. Evidence-Based Policy Donal Khosrowi
Part VII: Evidence
28. Economic Theory and Empirical Science Robert Northcott
29. Philosophy of Econometrics Aris Spanos
30. Statistical Significance Testing in Economics William Peden and Jan Sprenger
31. Quantifying Health Daniel M. Hausman
Part VIII: Policy
32. Freedoms, Political Economy, and Liberalism Sebastiano Bavetta
33. Freedom and Markets Constanze Binder
34. Policy Evaluation Under Severe Uncertainty: A Cautious, Egalitarian Approach Alex Voorhoeve
35. Behavioral Public Policy: One Name, Many Types. A Mechanistic Perspective Till Grüne-Yanoff
36. The Case for Regulating Tax Competition Peter Dietsch
Biography
Conrad Heilmann is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Erasmus School of Philosophy, Co-Director of the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE), and Core Faculty of the Erasmus Initiative Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He works on rational choice theory, fairness, finance, and other topics in the philosophy of economics.
Julian Reiss is Professor of Philosophy at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, and Head of the Institute of Philosophy and Scientific Method. He is the author of Causation, Evidence, and Inference (Routledge, 2015), Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction (Routledge, 2013), Error in Economics: Towards a More Evidence-Based Methodology (Routledge, 2008; Erasmus Philosophy International Research Prize), and more than 60 papers in leading philosophy and social science journals and edited collections.
Economics has shaped our world through the influence its ideas have had on business behaviour and government policies. As this climate of ideas is clearly changing, there could not be a better time to explore the philosophy of economics. This Handbook is an important contribution to interrogating economics and asking how the discipline could be set on firmer ethical and philosophical foundations.
Diane Coyle, University of CambridgeThis handbook is a unique reference on the philosophy of economics, with a very comprehensive coverage and an impressive slate of contributors, many of them belonging to a generation of emerging scholars in the field. It nicely integrates questions of rationality, ethics, and methodology, and it firmly establishes the intimate connection between philosophy and economics, two disciplines which share many traits and interests. A most useful resource for researchers and students interested in the field.
Marc Fleurbaey, Paris School of EconomicsHandbooks manifest progress and growth of a research field. Since the Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Economics (2009) and Philosophy of Economics / Handbook of the Philosophy of Science (2012) about a decade ago, there have been many important new developments in the field. Here we have a wonderfully enriched variety of topics presented to us by an impressive group of a new generation of experts.
Uskali Mäki, University of HelsinkiHandbooks are in fashion; this one addresses both philosophers’ questions about economics and economists’ engagement with philosophy. Its 35 chapters range from discussions of the hard, but shared, issues of ethics and values, to the equally difficult practical problems about how economics gets done on the scientific frontier. An invaluable companion piece for both disciplinary communities, and for those who practice in both.
Mary S. Morgan, London School of Economics