Economics as a Science: An Approach from the Viewpoint of Complexity

Wenceslao J. González

Revista Galega de Economía, 2012, vol. 21, issue 1

Abstract: Within the philosophical-methodological context of analysis, this paper deals with central issues regarding economics as a science, where the focus of attention is on the viewpoint of complexity. In this regard, several steps are taken in the contents: first, the characteristic features of science and the case of economics (constitutive elements, thematic diversification and the place of this discipline within the system of knowledge), second, economics as an applied design science that faces the problem of complexity (from an ontological and epistemological perspectives, which are articulated in the structural side and the dynamic dimension), third, the scientific status of economics according to the epistemological and methodological criteria that have been dominant so far, and which have a direct connection to prediction, and, finally –as a coda– the role of mathematical models regarding economics, within the framework of a comparison between the different kinds of science. These steps look for relevant aspect of each issue analyzed, taking into account that the main aim is a contextualization of economics as a science rather than an exhaustive consideration of each topic.

Keywords: Economics; Science; Complexity; Applied; Design; Ontology; Epistemology; Methodology; Mathematical models. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sdo:regaec:v:21:y:2012:i:1_bt1

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