A Review of Kuhnian and Lakatosian “Explanations” in Economics



modes of historical reconstruction (see for instance, Amariglio, 1988; Maki, 1992;
Backhouse, 1997; Weintraub, 1999; Hands, 1997,2001).

It seems that the followers of the Kuhnian and Lakatosian explanations in economics
could not respond in a convincing way to the number of criticisms that we saw. Thus,
economic methodologists have started to move away from such explanations. This is also
supported by the fact that in the last few years, the interest of historians of economic thought
and methodologists, concerning the ideas of Kuhn and Lakatos has greatly diminished.
However, as was observed, a large number of practicing economists continue to use the
basic outlines of these two philosophies of science. One can interpreter this, as an example
of persistence to a given theoretical framework or “mumpsimus” as J. Robinson has termed
this phenomenon. Theories of science which emphasize the role of historical, sociopolitical
and cultural factors might offer explanations for this persistence (i.e. Bloor, 1983).
Furthermore, “mumpsimus” to certain economic theories has been analysed by a number of
authors (see for instance Hill and Rouse, 1977; Arouh, 1987). The reluctance of many
practicing economists to abandon doubtful methodological approaches might be another
recent case of mumpsimus in the field of economics.

25



More intriguing information

1. The name is absent
2. ¿Por qué se privatizan servicios en los municipios (pequeños)? Evidencia empírica sobre residuos sólidos y agua.
3. GENE EXPRESSION AND ITS DISCONTENTS Developmental disorders as dysfunctions of epigenetic cognition
4. Gender stereotyping and wage discrimination among Italian graduates
5. Heterogeneity of Investors and Asset Pricing in a Risk-Value World
6. Regional Intergration and Migration: An Economic Geography Model with Hetergenous Labour Force
7. Existentialism: a Philosophy of Hope or Despair?
8. The changing face of Chicago: demographic trends in the 1990s
9. The name is absent
10. Language discrimination by human newborns and by cotton-top tamarin monkeys
11. 5th and 8th grade pupils’ and teachers’ perceptions of the relationships between teaching methods, classroom ethos, and positive affective attitudes towards learning mathematics in Japan
12. Estimation of marginal abatement costs for undesirable outputs in India's power generation sector: An output distance function approach.
13. The name is absent
14. The name is absent
15. Private tutoring at transition points in the English education system: its nature, extent and purpose
16. Notes on an Endogenous Growth Model with two Capital Stocks II: The Stochastic Case
17. Economie de l’entrepreneur faits et théories (The economics of entrepreneur facts and theories)
18. SME'S SUPPORT AND REGIONAL POLICY IN EU - THE NORTE-LITORAL PORTUGUESE EXPERIENCE
19. Constrained School Choice
20. Announcement effects of convertible bond loans versus warrant-bond loans: An empirical analysis for the Dutch market