Ricardian Inference: Charles S. Peirce, Economics, and Scientific Method

37 Pages Posted: 31 Jul 2017 Last revised: 21 Feb 2018

See all articles by Kevin D. Hoover

Kevin D. Hoover

Duke University - Departments of Economics and Philosophy

James R. Wible

University of New Hampshire - Department of Economics

Date Written: July 10, 2017

Abstract

Standard histories of economics usually treat the “marginal revolution” of the midnineteenth century as both supplanting the “classical” economics of Smith and Ricardo and as advancing the idea of economics as a mathematical science. The marginalists – especially Jevons and Walras – viewed Cournot’s (1838) book on mathematical economics as a seminal work on which they could build. Surprisingly, the scientist, philosopher, and logician Charles S. Peirce discovered Cournot before the marginalist economists and possessed a deeper appreciation of his mathematical approach. While Peirce’s contributions to economics are limited, the influence of economics on his philosophy is subtle and not well understood. In a number of fragments, Peirce, who, despite Ricardo’s lack of mathematical form, nonetheless regarded him as a paradigmatic mathematical economist, refers to “Ricardian inference,” as a fundamental contribution to scientific method. Two, perhaps complementary, options are explored as to exactly what Peirce meant by Ricardian inference. On the one hand, he associates Ricardo with the “primipostnumeral syllogism,” which is a sort of generalization to uncountably infinite sets of what Peirce calls Fermatian inference (often referred to as mathematical induction). On the other hand, he holds up Ricardo as an exemplar of the “analytical method,” which is Peirce’s name for a hybrid form connecting analogy, abduction, and induction. On either account, economics plays a larger and more fundamental role in Peirce’s philosophy of science than is generally understood.

Keywords: Charles S. Peirce, David Ricardo, Antoine Augustin Cournot, Ricardian Inference, Analogy, Abduction, Induction, Economics, Transfinite Cardinals

JEL Classification: B4, B41, B10, B16, B31

Suggested Citation

Hoover, Kevin D. and Wible, James R., Ricardian Inference: Charles S. Peirce, Economics, and Scientific Method (July 10, 2017). CHOPE Working Paper No. 2017-10, Economic Research Initiatives at Duke (ERID) Working Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3010204 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3010204

Kevin D. Hoover (Contact Author)

Duke University - Departments of Economics and Philosophy ( email )

213 Social Sciences Building
Box 90097
Durham, NC 27708-0204
United States

James R. Wible

University of New Hampshire - Department of Economics ( email )

Durham, NH 03824
United States

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