Philosophy of Economics

Julian Reiss is Professor of Philosophy at Durham University. He has a degree in economics and finance from the University of St Gallen and a PhD in philosophy from the London School of Economics. His main research interests are methodologies of the sciences, philosophy of economics, and science and values. He is the author of Error in Economics: Towards a More Evidence-Based Methodology (2008), Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction (2013), and some 40 papers in leading philosophy and social science journals and edited collections.

'Economists can no longer avoid the agenda of problems in the philosophy of economics, if they ever could. Equally, political and moral philosophers ignore economics at their own intellectual peril. Julian Reiss takes us on an insider’s tour of the most important issues in this domain, teaching economists and philosophers what they need to know about how each of their disciplines have an impact on the other. For completeness, currency and clarity, Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction cannot be beat.' – Alex Rosenberg, Duke University, USA'Julian Reiss’s Philosophy of Economics: A Contemporary Introduction is far and away the best text on the subject. It is comprehensive, well-organized, sensible, and clearly written. It is the first text that I’ve ever been eager to use in teaching the subject. I expect that everyone interested in philosophy of economics, whether with a background in philosophy or with a background in economics, will learn a great deal from Reiss’s masterful treatment.' – Daniel M. Hausman, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA'Economic science has changed enormously over the last two decades, seeking fruitful collaborations with scholars working in other disciplines. An important site of exchange lies at the border between philosophy and economics. Julian Reiss’ book provides a wonderful critical survey of the debates that have flourished around the turn of the millennium, and will become a standard reference point for teaching and research in the years to come.' – Francesco Guala, University of Milan, Italy'An enormous range of topics are included in this book, with a full one third of the book covering ethical, social, and political issues. ...The end result is that Reiss’s book allows for tremendous flexibility in designing different courses. For example, it would be easy to develop courses that involved nearly all philosophy of science issues or ones that were mostly normative issues around economics, with any mix in between. I also think Reiss’s text can work as the sole book for a course or be used along with other articles to expand on the discussion Reiss provides. The book certainly provides much material that can usefully be expanded upon in lectures. There is nothing out there that rivals it for teaching a course on philosophy of economics, and it would be a good tool for certain kinds of courses in political philosophy or philosophy and public policy.' – Harold Kincaid, University of Cape Town, South Africa in Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics

• Chapter 1. The Why, What, and How of Philosophy of Economics Part 1: Interpreting Economic Theory Chapter 2: Explaining Economic Phenomena Part 1-A: Rationality Chapter 3: Rational Choice Theory Chapter 4: Game Theory Part 1-B: Causality Chapter 5: Causation and Causal Tendencies Chapter 6: Mechanisms Part 1-C: Models Chapter 7: Models, Idealisation, Explanation Part 2: Methodology Chapter 8: Measurement Chapter 9: Econometrics Chapter 10: Experiments Chapter 11: Evidence-Based Policy Part 3: Ethics Chapter 12: Welfare and Well-Being Chapter 13: Markets and Morals Chapter 14: Inequality and Distributive Justice Chapter 15: Behavioral Economics and Nudge Bibliography