Evolutionary realism: a new ontology for economics

Dopfer, Kurt; Potts, Jason

doi:10.1080/13501780410001694127

Cited by 86 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The renaissance in evolutionary economics in the past two decades has brought with it a great deal of theoretical developments and interdisciplinary import (Dopfer and Potts 2004).…”

Section: Why An Evolutionary Approach In Economics?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship Between Inflation and Real Economic Growth in Rwanda

Nkikabahizi

Ndagijimana

Musabanganji

2017

Frontiers in African Business Research

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“…The renaissance in evolutionary economics in the past two decades has brought with it a great deal of theoretical developments and interdisciplinary import (Dopfer and Potts 2004).…”

Section: Why An Evolutionary Approach In Economics?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship Between Inflation and Real Economic Growth in Rwanda

Nkikabahizi

Ndagijimana

Musabanganji

2017

Frontiers in African Business Research

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“…1) for a more detailed discussion. 2 A dualistic ontology is often justified with reference to the Cartesian divide between the Geisteswissenschaften (humanities)-to which economics is considered to belong-and the sciences, see the discussion in Herrmann-Pillath (2001) and Dopfer and Potts (2004). these basic assumptions about reality cannot be subjected to a test, they are sometimes classified as metaphysical. They are part of a researcher's informal world view and will therefore be dubbed her or his 'ontological stance'.…”

Section: Why Ontology and Heuristics Matter And Methodology Matters Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

What is specific about evolutionary economics?

Witt¹

2008

J Evol Econ

185

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Ever since an "evolutionary" perspective on the economy has been suggested, there have been differing, and partly incommensurable, views on what specifically this means. By working out where the differences lie and what motivates them, this paper identifies four major approaches to evolutionary economics. The differences between them can be traced back to opposite positions regarding the basic assumptions about reality and the proper conceptualization of evolution. The same differences can also be found in evolutionary game theory. Achievements of the major approaches to evolutionary economics and their prospects for future research are assessed by means of a peer survey.

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“…This has led to a growing literature on the ontology of evolutionary economics (Foss 1994, Herrmann-Pillath 2001, Hodgson 2002, Dopfer and Potts 2004, Vromen 2004, Hodgson and Knudsen 2006, Witt 2008. For these and other reasons the primary focus of this essay is on ontology.…”

Section: Philosophical Differences Broadly Consideredmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Philosophical Perspective on Contemporary Evolutionary Economics

Hodgson

2011

The Elgar Companion to Recent Economic Methodology

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There has been a remarkable growth in evolutionary economics since the 1980s. But despite this outward success there has been inner disagreement on fundamental issues including the building blocks of evolutionary theory and the very meaning of 'evolution' itself. This essay provides a philosophical perspective on both the defining agreements and ongoing disputes within evolutionary economics. Its primary emphasis is on ontology. It shows that some major disputes derive not from incompatible propositions but the choice of different levels of analysis. A route toward reconciliation of different viewpoints is thus exposed. The aim of this article is to examine the philosophical communalities and divergences that have been revealed in the literature. Seven sections follow. The first sketches the historical background. It notes that despite the looseness and imprecision of the term 'evolution', there is an identifiable international network or 'college' of 'evolutionary economists' whose work can be placed under philosophical scrutiny. The second section considers the philosophical differences in broad terms and directs attention to ontology as the basis of much relevant agreement and dispute. The third section considers a number of ontological communalities in evolutionary economics. It is followed by two sections on ontological divergences. Of these, the fifth section outlines the ontology of complex population systems. This lays the ground for the discussion of generalised Darwinism in the sixth section. The final section shows that some of the key disputes within evolutionary economics derive not from incompatible propositions but from different levels of abstraction within a single ontological framework. A strategy for the reconciliation of apparent differences is thus revealed.

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Evolutionary realism: a new ontology for economics

Cited by 86 publications

References 13 publications

Relationship Between Inflation and Real Economic Growth in Rwanda

Relationship Between Inflation and Real Economic Growth in Rwanda

What is specific about evolutionary economics?

A Philosophical Perspective on Contemporary Evolutionary Economics

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