Abstract
Rhetoric is the study and practice of persuasive expression, an alternative since the Greeks to the philosophical programme of epistemology. The rhetoric of economics examines how economists persuade – not how they say they do, or how their official methodologies say they do, but how in fact they persuade colleagues and politicians and students to accept one economic assertion and reject another.
Keywords
JEL Classifications
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 subscriptionsBibliography
Booth, W. 1974. Modern dogma and the rhetoric of assent. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Collins, H.M. 1985. Changing order: Replication and induction in scientific practice. London: Sage.
Davis, P.J., and R. Hersh. 1981. The mathematical experience. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Henderson, W. 1982. Metaphors in economics. Economics 18 (4): 147–153.
Klamer, A. 1984. Conversations with economists: New classical economists and opponents speak out on the current controversy in macroeconomics. Totowa: Rowman and Allanheld.
Knight, F. 1940. ‘What is truth’ in economics? Journal of Political Economy 48: 1–32.
Kornai, J. 1983. The health of nations: Reflections on the analogy between medical science and economics. Kyklos 36 (2): 191–212.
Kuhn, T. 1977. The essential tension: Selected studies in scientific tradition and change. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Lakatos, I. 1976. Proofs and refutations: The logic of mathematical discovery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leamer, E. 1978. Specification searches: Ad hoc inferences with nonexperimental data. New York: Wiley.
Leontief, W. 1971. Theoretical assumptions and nonobserved facts. American Economic Review 61: 1–7.
Mayer, T. 1980. Economics as a hard science: Realistic goal or wishful thinking? Economic Inquiry 18: 165–178.
McCloskey, D.N. 1986. The rhetoric of economics. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Medawar, P. 1964. Is the scientific paper fraudulent? Saturday Review, 1 August.
Nelson, J., A. Megill, and D.N. McCloskey, eds. 1987. The rhetoric of the human sciences: Papers and proceedings of the Iowa conference. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
Perelman, C., and L. Olbrechts-Tyteca. 1958. The new rhetoric: A treatise on argumentation. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Polanyi, M. 1962. Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rorty, R. 1982. The consequences of pragmatism: Essays. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Rosen, S. 1980. The limits of analysis. New York: Basic Books.
Scott, R. 1967. On viewing rhetoric as epistemic. Central States Speech Journal 18 (1): 9–17.
Stigler, G.J. 1977. The conference handbook. Journal of Political Economy 85: 441–443.
Toulmin, S. 1958. The uses of argument. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Copyright information
© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
About this entry
Cite this entry
McCloskey, D.N. (2018). Rhetoric of Economics. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1842
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1842
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95188-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95189-5
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences