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The underlying problem behind modern mainstream economics: A philosophy of science perspective
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School of Business |
Bachelor's thesis
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en
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23+6
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This paper analyses the most common critique issued towards modern mainstream economics, being that it adheres to neoclassical values. After unpacking the critique, along with defining neoclassical economics, it was apparent that modern economics is not inherently neoclassical, and the underlying problem being critiqued was in fact the use of mathematical deductivism in the discipline (a problem of misattribution and mislabelling on behalf of the critique). By unpacking the philosophy of science perspective that mathematical deductivism supports, being positivism, and the alternative perspective of critical realism, it is shown that this use of mathematical deductivism is problematic due to its predictive nature, a dangerous endeavor considering philosophy of science ideas on ontology, along with the flawed image of social reality that it paints. Going forward, economic research should define what constitutes their contextual social reality, take the relevant ontological and metaphysical insights discovered, and construct appropriate methodology for this context. This for example could be via the use of mixed methods.