Abstract
In September 1974 there took place, at Nafplion in Greece, a gratifyingly small but distinguished conference of a somewhat unusual nature. Its object was to examine the general grounds of appraisal of the status and the progress of scientific theories, particularly with reference to the views of the late Imre Lakatos embodied in his conception of the Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes as developed in his notable contribution to the Symposium Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge, edited by himself and Alan Musgrave [5, 1970]. But instead of ascending into the stratosphere of pure speculation, the organizers of the conference decided to focus their principal attention on two fields, the history of physical science and economics respectively; and by concentrating on theories and progress in these subjects to bring greater concreteness to the discussion of the general problem. This volume, splendidly edited by one of the principal organizers and contributors to the conference, Dr. Spiro Latsis, embodies the papers contributed and evoked by the sessions devoted to economics. A companion volume, Method and Appraisal in the Physical Sciences, edited by Colin Howson [2, 1976], does the same thing for the other sessions. Together they are records of an occasion that I personally found more stimulating than any other conference I have ever attended.
Method and Appraisal in Economics, ed. Spiro J. Latsis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Irving Fisher, The Rate of Interest: Its nature, determination and relation to economic phenomena (New York, 1907).
Colin Howson, ed., Method and Appraisal in the Physical Sciences: The critical background to modern science, 1800–1905 (Cambridge, 1976).
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, ed. T.H. Green and T.H. Grose (London, 1874).
Frank H. Knight, Risk, Uncertainty and Profit (Boston, 1921).
Imre Lakatos and Alan Musgrave, eds, Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge (Cambridge, 1970).
Fritz Machlup, “If matter could talk,” in Philosophy, Science and Methodology, eds Sidney Morgenbesser, Patrick Suppes and Merton White (New York, 1969), pp. 286–305.
John Stuart Mill, “The influence of consumption of production,” in Essays on some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy (London, 1844), pp. 47–89.
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy with some of their applications to social philosophy (London, 1848).
Karl R. Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (London, 1959)
Lionel Robbins, Political Economy: Past and Present, A Review of Leading Theories of Economic Policy (London, 1976).
David Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation (London, 1817).
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, eds R.H. Campbell and A.S. Skinner (Glasgow edn of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, Oxford, 1976).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1997 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Robbins, L. (1997). On Latsis’s Method and Appraisal in Economics: A Review Essay. In: Howson, S. (eds) Economic Science and Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12761-0_26
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12761-0_26
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-12763-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-12761-0
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)