Tempered Steele? On the Merits of Critical Realism and the ‘Ontological Turn’ in Economics
(2011): Critical Review, 23: 207-30
30 Pages Posted: 14 Dec 2014
Date Written: 2011
Abstract
The discipline of economics can benefit a more explicit, systematic and sustained concern with ontology, that is, with the philosophical analysis of the nature of the social world. Contrary to the argument advanced in an article recently published in Critical Review (Steele 2005), the ontological analysis provided by critical realism can assist in the development of fruitful economic analysis in a number of ways: (i) by helping to identify research methods suitable for analysing economic issues; (ii) by promoting the development of key substantive economic concepts; and (iii) by helping to reveal and resolve inconsistencies in existing research.
Keywords: Economics, ontology, critical realism
JEL Classification: B00, B40, B41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation