Fwd: Fw: UJ PHILOSOPHY COLLOQUIUM, 9 March @11:20: Michael Stettler on the History and Philosophy of Economics

[Asheel Singh]

The Department of Philosophy at the University of Johannesburg invite you to the following hybrid/physical online event: 

  

UJ PHILOSOPHY COLLOQUIUM 

09 March 2022, 11:20-12:50 (UTC+2) 

Faculty of Humanities Common Room (C Ring 319) on APK 

[Virtual link to follow] 

(RSVP Ms Nicolene Marks mnm...@uj.ac.za; in-person attendance will be limited in line with Covid protocols) 

  

  

History and Philosophy of Economics:  

Nominalism in Action 

Dr Michael Stettler 

(Karl Mittermaier Centre for Philosophy of Economics [KMCPE] at the University of Johannesburg) 

  

  

Abstract 

Adam Smith was a philosopher, but he is also considered the father of economics by virtue of his Wealth of Nations (1776). Understanding that in society there was no harmony of interests, he pondered what economic structures would ideally reward productive activity, rather than rewarding predatory activity. ‘General economic equilibrium’ analysis (GEA) is the fully worked out modern solution to Smith’s direction of inquiry. It is the pinnacle of economic theory, but it is no longer understood by economists as an ideal, as Smith was conceptualizing his ideas of free markets. Instead, as a model in positivist economics GEA functions as a description (or as an ‘as if’) of the economy. Smith’s fundamental distinction between productive and predatory activities is lost from view.  

In this lecture Dr Stettler will deploy Mittermaier’s exposition of this history, relating it to the dominant philosophy in economics, viz. a nominalist view of concepts. Through this lens, the lecture will consider some further modern economic theory, such as ‘economic analysis of the law’, ‘property rights theory’, ‘theory of the firm’, ‘human capital’ theory. 

  

Presenter Bio 

Dr Stettler, PhD (University of Zurich) was staff in the economics department at Wits University from 1987 – 2020 and is currently the Director of the Karl Mittermaier Centre for Philosophy of Economics (KMCPE) at the University of Johannesburg. Between 2005 and 2019 he was an executive in the medical devices industry, affording him a real view of the working of markets and capitalism. His publications are in the Cambridge Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Issues, and Journal of Contextual Economics (Schmoller’s Jahrbuch).