Economia politica: impostazioni a confronto

The article comments on the contributions by Aldo Montesano and Roberto Cellini in this number, in particular focussing on the evolution of economic thought and the changing definitions of economics and of political economy. It is here argued that the historical evolution of the discipline should induce economists to abstain from providing a precise definition of their science; and this conclusion is reinforced by the observation that contrasting assessments of the discipline and of its content matter make such a definition even more problematic. The article argues that economists even disagree on what Schumpeter called the pre-analytical vision of society and the economy, and it is therefore obvious that they developed alternative definitions of what economics is.