stâelse for konteksttualiteten et gode, argumenterer Backhouse. En sâdan ap-
proach sikrer videnskabelig progressivitet for nu at bruge et lakatosiansk krite-
rium pâ videnskabelig succes. Dette er en opfattelse som ogsâ Chick
(1998:1868) kan tilslutte sig. For hende er 0konomi defineret by its real world
subject matter, hvorfor hun sammenfatter formalismens rolle derved, at denne
har til opgave to be precise and rigorous where that is possible, and that other
modes of analysis exist as valid and valuable complements. Formalism is fine,
but it most know its place.
3. Det âbne og organiske system
Med David Ricardo blev 0konomi mere videnskabelig i den forstand, at det na-
turvidenskabelige forskningsideal slog igennem som den accepterede metodo-
logi. Vi har derfor ogsâ inden for 0konomi jagtet stabile lovmæssigheder gen-
nem anvendelse af en formaliseret approach. Og synes den 0konomiske teorihi-
storie at kunne dokumentere ofte med et vist held. Accepterer vi en matematisk
formalistisk forskningsapproach er en sâdan dog ikke omkostningsfri. Sâledes
betinger denne tilgang, if0lge Chick & Dow (2001), at man mâ opfatte det 0ko-
nomiske system som et lukket og mekanisk system. Og da vi ikke inden for
0konomi kan gennemf0re eksperimenter, som tilfældet ofte er inden for natur-
videnskaberne, mâ vi skabe konsistente teoretiske systemer, der ofte mâske ikke
er særlig virkelighedsnære i deres indhold.7
bad habit is not corrected ... then the twenty-first century will see the degeneration of their sub-
ject ... [denne fare kan if0lge Morishima minimeres ved]: should there by any chance appear a
group of brave souls who are prepared to forgo the easy pleasure of demonstrating their
mathematical abilities and to hone the skill of building a model on the basis of empirical ob-
servation, the history of theory will move off in a completely different direction. The new em-
pirical model itself must come first; its axiomatisation and mathematical refinement must be
the second stage; Morishima (1991: 70 & 74).
7 Jf. Chick & Dow (2001:707): If we cannot construct closed systems experimentally, then we
must rely on closed theoretical systems, and the question posed by such a procedure is, what
relation does this ‘thought experiment’ of a closed theoretical system bear to our concept of
reality? For som Chick (1998:1867) har sagt om 0konomi: our ability to construct experiments
is limited, and the results are not independent of the time at which they were conducted, of cir-
cumstances outside the experiment, or of the fact that the experiment is being conducted.
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