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Conjectural revisionary economic ontology: Outline of an ambitious research agenda for evolutionary economics

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  • Jack Vromen

Abstract

Although it is laudable that evolutionary economists have a greater concern for ontological issues than many of their brethren, considerations concerning ontology cannot play a decisive role in adjudicating theoretical disputes. Attempts to formulate an appropriate ontology for evolutionary economics, different from the one prevailing in standard economic theory, are better viewed as exercises in conjectural revisionary ontology. Ideally they offer useful heuristics for fruitful further theorizing. Furthermore, issues raised in connection with ontology that previously were treated as if they are one and the same are here categorized into three clusters. The categorization is used to dispel worries that have haunted evolutionary economics right from its inception. It is shown in particular that the belief that there are significant Darwinian evolutionary processes going on in present-day capitalist economies does not imply the denial of genuine agency or the endorsement of dubious doctrines such as biological reductionism.

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  • Jack Vromen, 2004. "Conjectural revisionary economic ontology: Outline of an ambitious research agenda for evolutionary economics," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 213-247.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jecmet:v:11:y:2004:i:2:p:213-247
    DOI: 10.1080/13501780410001694136
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Christian Cordes, 2009. "The Role of Biology and Culture in Veblenian Consumption Dynamics," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 115-142.
    2. Jack Vromen, 2007. "Neuroeconomics as a Natural Extension of Bioeconomics: The Shifting Scope of Standard Economic Theory," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 145-167, August.
    3. Rahmeyer Fritz, 2013. "Schumpeter, Marshall, and Neo-Schumpeterian Evolutionary Economics: A Critical Stocktaking," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 233(1), pages 39-64, February.
    4. Danny MacKinnon & Andrew Cumbers & Andy Pike & Kean Birch & Robert McMaster, 2009. "Evolution in Economic Geography: Institutions, Political Economy, and Adaptation," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(2), pages 129-150, April.
    5. Christian Cordes, 2006. "Darwinism in economics: from analogy to continuity," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 16(5), pages 529-541, December.
    6. Reinoud Joosten, 2009. "Paul Samuelson's critique and equilibrium concepts in evolutionary game theory," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2009-16, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    7. Jack Vromen, 2007. "Generalized Darwinism in Evolutionary Economics: The Devil is in the Details," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2007-11, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    8. Du Laing Bart, 2011. "Bio-Legal History, Dual Inheritance Theory and Naturalistic Comparative Law: On Content and Context Biases in Legal Evolution," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(3), pages 685-709, December.
    9. Sandye Gloria, 2024. "Exploring the Foundations of Complexity Economics: Unveiling the Interplay of Ontological, Epistemological, Methodological, and Conceptual Aspects," GREDEG Working Papers 2024-11, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    10. Jack Vromen, 2008. "Ontological issues in evolutionary economics: The debate between Generalized Darwinism and the Continuity Hypothesis," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2008-05, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    11. Essletzbichler Jürgen, 2012. "Generalized Darwinism, group selection and evolutionary economic geography," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 56(1-2), pages 129-146, October.
    12. Verónica Robert & Gabriel Yoguel & Octavio Lerena, 2017. "The ontology of complexity and the neo-Schumpeterian evolutionary theory of economic change," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 761-793, September.
    13. Denise Dollimore & Geoffrey Hodgson, 2014. "Four essays on economic evolution: an introduction," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-10, January.
    14. Jürgen Essletzbichler & David L. Rigby, 2010. "Generalized Darwinism and Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Imko Meyenburg, 2022. "A possibilist justification of the ontology of counterfactuals and forecasted states of economies in economic modelling," Working Papers hal-03751205, HAL.
    16. Jack Vromen, 2011. "Heterogeneous Economic Evolution: A Different View on Darwinizing Evolutionary Economics," Chapters, in: John B. Davis & D. Wade Hands (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Recent Economic Methodology, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Gual, Miguel A. & Norgaard, Richard B., 2010. "Bridging ecological and social systems coevolution: A review and proposal," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 707-717, February.
    18. Fritz Rahmeyer, 2010. "A Neo-Darwinian Foundation of Evolutionary Economics. With an Application to the Theory of the Firm," Discussion Paper Series 309, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
    19. Yalcintas, Altug, 2013. "The Oomph in economic philosophy: a bibliometric analysis of the main trends, from the 1960s to the present," MPRA Paper 44191, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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