Making philosophy relevant to economists

John B. Davis

Chapter 3 in Handbook of Teaching Philosophy to Economists, 2025, pp 29-42 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter discusses how philosophy could influence economists in the future. It emphasizes factors affecting economists’ willingness to incorporate philosophical ideas in economics and distinguishes a weak case and a strong case for them doing so. Both are tied to behavioral welfare economics’ ‘reconciliation problem’ regarding the relationship between positive and normative economics. The weak case concerns the nature of individual identity in connection with how present bias and weakness of will potentially pit today's and tomorrow's selves against one another. The strong case concerns the normative scope of economic policy and expanding policy recommendations beyond its current welfare-only basis. The weak case imposes adjustments on positive economics; the strong case imposes it on normative economics. The chapter closes with brief comments on how historically different sciences and fields draw on one another over time.

Keywords: Economics; Philosophy; Reconciliation problem; Present bias; Individual identity; Justice; Rawls; Institutions; Interdisciplinarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035336814
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