Philosophy, Not Theology, Is the Key for Economics: A Catholic Perspective

Daniel K. Finn

Econ Journal Watch, 2014, vol. 11, issue 2, 153-159

Abstract: This essay addresses two important problems with mainstream economics that reduce its usefulness for people of religious faith: its eclipse of the causal forces operating within the ‘black box’ of the market, and its empiricist methodological underpinnings. Yet neither of these problems requires religious resources for a solution. The critical realist philosophy of science of Roy Bhaskar provides a fruitful alternative to empiricism. The insights of critical realist sociologists to understand markets as social structures provide a helpful way to direct economists’ attention to important but neglected market relations.

Keywords: Religion and economics; critical realism; sociology of economics; empiricism; markets; economic complicity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A12 A13 L26 Z12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ejw:journl:v:11:y:2014:i:2:p:153-159

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