ABSTRACT

We distinguish between two different strategies in methodology of economics. The big picture strategy, dominant in the twentieth century, ascribed to economics a unified method and evaluated this method against a single criterion of ‘science’. In the last thirty years a second strategy gained prominence: fine-grained studies of how some specific technique common in economics can achieve one or more epistemic goal. We argue that recent developments in philosophy of science and in economics warrant a return to big picture – but now reinvented. It should focus on a new question, already intensely debated within the profession: is the organization of economics healthy and appropriate?

摘要

我们在经济学方法论上区分两种不同的策略。在20世纪占主导地位的总体战略将经济学归为一种统一的方法，并根据“科学”的单一标准对该方法进行了评估。在过去的三十年中，第二个策略得到了重视：对经济学中常用的某些特定技术如何实现一个或多个认识目标的细粒度研究。我们认为，科学哲学和经济学的最新发展值得重归大局-但现在已经重塑了。它应该关注一个已经在行业内激烈讨论的新问题：经济学组织是否健康，适当？