WHAM: Making philosophy relevant for economists

You are invited to attend a WHAM seminar by Professor John Davis from Marquette University on "Making philosophy relevant for economists"

Professor John Davis from Marquette University will be presenting "Making philosophy relevant for economists" (forthcoming, The Elgar Handbook of Teaching Philosophy to Economists). 

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 recommendation beyond its current welfare-only basis. The weak case imposes adjustment on positive economics; the strong case imposes it on normative economics. The paper closes with brief comments on how historically different sciences and fields draw on one another over time.

Join Zoom Meeting

Add event to calendar