the truth of their assumptions. Unrealistic assumptions are frequently imposed because the effects are taken to be …

comparison of the relative costs associated with each strategy. The classical discussion about the 'realism of assumptions' in …

critics of his essay, almost everyone now recognizes his essay as a prime example of what I called instrumentalism. Most … economists, who when questioned about their views of methodology, will agree with Friedman's instrumentalism but only if Friedman …'s name is not mentioned. But many of those same economists will claim to disagree with instrumentalism when it is explicitly …

Exposition and defense of postmodernism in regards to epistemology and language in economics. Centers on truth versus … tools and truth versus story while emphasizing social constructivism, methodological pluralism, and multiplicity of truth …. Affirms quest for confident knowledge but emphasizes limitations with regard to results understood as truth. Defends and puts …

This paper investigates the varieties of reductionism and realism about causal relations in macroeconometrics. There … is argued that there is a continuum of possible positions between realism and reductionism for both the questions, but …

inseparable from predominant social activities contra critical realism. For example, the predominance of commodity exchange … alternative analyses to critical realism of event regularities ('closures'), of 'depth', and of 'tendencies'. …