Science and ideology in economic, political and social thought

Claude Hillinger

No 2007-43, Economics Discussion Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel)

Abstract: This paper has two sources: One is my own research in three broad areas: business cycles, economic measurement and social choice. In all of these fields I attempted to apply the basic precepts of the scientific method as it is understood in the natural sciences. I found that my effort at using natural science methods in economics was met with little understanding and often considerable hostility. I found economics to be driven less by common sense and empirical evidence, than by various ideologies that exhibited either a political or a methodological bias, or both. This brings me to the second source: Several books have appeared recently that describe in historical terms the ideological forces that have shaped either the direct areas in which I worked, or a broader background. These books taught me that the ideological forces in the social sciences are even stronger than I imagined on the basis of my own experiences. The scientific method is the antipode to ideology. I feel that the scientific work that I have done on specific, long standing and fundamental problems in economics and political science have given me additional insights into the destructive role of ideology beyond the history of thought orientation of the works I will be discussing.

Keywords: Business cycles; Ideology; Science; Voting; Welfare measurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B40 C50 D6 D71 E32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-dcm, nep-hpe, nep-mac, nep-pke and nep-sog
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Science and Ideology in Economic, Political and Social Thought (2008)
Working Paper: Science and Ideology in Economic, Political, and Social Thought (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:6170

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