First published in 1987, Professor O'Sullivan's work provides an in depth philosophical examination of the foundations of method in Economics and other human sciences. The argument is unabashedly dialectical in the great Socratic-Platonic tradition, and the reissue will be very welcome to all students of methodology, in particular those students of economic methodology seeking a refreshing alternative to yet more mathematical game playing.

In an age dominated and perhaps to an extent perplexed by an ultimately non-committal postmodernism the book provides a root and branch critique of the epistemological relativism which must lie at the root of the whole post-modernist approach; and in reasserting the fundamental importance not only for the methods of science but also for European civilisation of the pursuit of truth it takes a stance which is very much against the tide of the times. A heterodox perspective is also provided and defended in detail regarding the real nature of economic methodology whereby it is shown that Economics epitomises a teleological mode of explanation which is significantly different from the efficient causal modes of explanation of the natural sciences. In fact Economics is the ultimate subjectivist/interpretative discipline in the methodological sense of Max Weber and Alfred Schutz, a fact which has only been recognised (and welcomed) in the Austrian school of Economics.

About the Author
Patrick O'Sullivan is Professor of Business Ethics and Head of Department of People Organisations and Society at the Grenoble Ecole de Management in France. He is also a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic and Public Policy Research at the University of Cambridge and is an occasional visiting professor at Goethe Business School Frankfurt University and at Warsaw University.

Reviews

'O'Sullivan's thought-provoking work is a significant addition to the rapidly expanding literature on economic methodology.'- R.S. Hewett, Drake University, CHOICE

Book Information
ISBN 9780415665056
Author Patrick O'Sullivan
Format Paperback
Page Count 266
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 530g