This essays explores various aspects of Tony Lawson's claim that the discipline of economics would benefit from a more explicit, systematic and sustained concern with ontology, that is with (philosophical analysis of) the nature of (what exists in) the social world, than it has hitherto displayed

The discipline of economics can benefit a more explicit, systematic and sustained concern with ontology, that is, with the philosophical analysis of the nature of the social world. Contrary to the argument advanced in an article recently published in Critical Review (Steele 2005), the...

This paper examines the influence exerted on the thought of F.A. Hayek by the work of the biologist and founder of systems theory, Ludwig von Bertalanffy. It is argued first of all that Bertalanffy provided Hayek with a conceptual framework in terms of which he could articulate the philosophical...

We address the challenge of attempting to advance a strong and consistently subjectivist view of economic agency without simultaneously undermining the possibility of providing a coherent account of social institutions and socio-economic order. The argument is presented as a case study and...

This article explores the notions of order and process to which Friedrich Hayek subscribed. It is argued that a satisfactory understanding of Hayek’s conceptions of ‘order’ and ‘process’ — and in particular a clear understanding of those how the two concepts relate to each other in...

This paper compares and contrasts the hermeneutic turn advocated by Don Lavoie in this 1985 essay on The Interpretive Dimension of Economics with the ontological turn that was gathering momentum amongst other groups of heterodox economists at about the same time. It is argued that an explicit...

This paper develops a Hayekian perspective on Herbert Gintis, and Dirk Helbing's, attempts to develop a unified analytical approach to the social sciences. Like Hayek, Gintis and Helbing view both the economy, and also the human mind, as a complex adaptive system. Their emphasis on emergence, on...

This paper identifies the sources on which Friedrich Hayek drew in order to develop his understanding of the notion of emergence. It is widely acknowledged that the notion of emergence plays a significant role in Hayek’s analyses of both the mind and the market. On Hayek’s account, the key...

This report examines the use that employers in the developing cell therapy industry make, and are planning to make as they commercialise, of technicians. It considers the duties, skills and training of such technicians. It examines how employers in cell therapy aim to fill technician roles and...

This paper examines the duties, skills and training of the technicians who work in the UK aerospace industry. It examines how employers in the industry strive to fill technician roles, and outlines some of the problems they face in trying to do so