180038 SE Analysis of Economic Concepts (2023S)

**Prerequisites:**

Philosophy of Science (E.g., M2.P1 Central Topics and Texts in Theoretical Philosophy); Intermediate Microeconomics (E.g., M2.E1 Foundational Microeconomics); Basic game theory (E.g., Weeks 1 and 2 of the Coursera lecture from the University of British Columbia: Jackson et al, "Game Theory").

**Course Outline:**

Economists comment on only a small fraction of social phenomena. Moreover, not the fraction that we, qua socialized individuals, citizens, philosophers, or social scientists, necessarily expect or wish for. Two questions arise: Why these social phenomena? What can they say about them?

The first question is very difficult. Not everyone is inclined to tackle it by means of the same strategy. Three widely used strategies are these:

1. Sociology of knowledge (emphasis on the influence of social, political, and economic factors on scientific practices);
2. History of thought (emphasis on tradition and continuity in scientific practices);
3. Normative epistemology and philosophy of science (emphasis on the normative features of scientific practices).

Each of these three strategies is legitimate and each highlights the importance of looking at prevailing scientific practices.

In this seminar, we focus on the simpler question: What can they say about them? We'll start from the assumption that economic models define predicates [see, e.g., Hausman 1992, Chapter 5] and investigate exemplary predicates economists have associated with three social phenomena: preferences, institutions, and markets. We'll keep an eye on:

1. The way models define predicates which help economists conceptualize social phenomena;
2. The way exemplar-based economic predicates differ from closeby common sense, philosophical, or sociological concepts;
3. What exemplar-based economic predicates reveal about economists' epistemic values, social values, methodological commitments, reasoning styles, etc.

Despite our focus on paradigmatic examples, general lessons will emerge. A successful student will have developed skills to:

1. Find out which social phenomena are (likely) conceptualized by economists;
2. Understand what economists may say about social phenomena;
3. Differentiate economic concepts from numerous false friends present in either of common sense-, social scientific-, and philosophical discourse.
4. Relate conceptual differences between economics and other fields to values and commitments charactistic of mainstream economic practices.