Suchergebnisse

AbstractNiklas Luhmann's (1927–1998) ambitious research project was aimed not only at describing society as a global social system, but it also analyzed various subsystems (including an economic one). The article assesses Luhmann's vision of the economy, summarized mainly in his Wirtschaft der Gesellschaft, wherein he addresses basic economic notions: the economic system, money, prices, rationality, and the market. I then interpret his ideas in the context of modern discussions in economics (intersubjective structures, complex systems, and evolutionary modeling). I also propose some heuristics implied by Luhmann's economic ontology, which are potentially interesting for methodological and theoretical strategies of modern economics.

This review discusses the latest textbook on economic methodology. It shows that its authors think of the philosophy of science as primarily the philosophy of "hard", natural sciences and have not tried to interpret economic theory as a social science. At the same time the book is characterized by its attention towards more recent methodological approaches, in particular, to the rhetoric of economics, and this direction might be considered as promising.

The article justifies the definition of economic ontology (ontology of economics) as a study of the most general features, categories and structure which belong to reality described in economic models. The author distinguishes ontology of science from ontology of economic life (the latter often functions as a substitute for science) and points out that ontology plays a significant role in resolving theoretical debates and in making clear philosophical presuppositions of economic theory. In the case of orthodox theory mathematics and mathematical structures are suggested as formal ontology.

The article is devoted to the interconnections between postmodern tendencies in the today's culture (and in the philosophy of science in particular) and the modern economic methodology. The author shows that the relativist views, which are the distinctive feature of postmodernist theories, are justified by the current state of economic theory, fragmented and heterogeneous as it is. The article analyzes the genesis of postmodernist ideas, their advantages and drawbacks.

TODYA THE PRINCIPAL TRENDS OF DEMOGRAPHIC POLICY LIE NOT IN THE AREA OF DEVELOPMENT OF MEASURES CAPABLE OF INCREASING THE BIRTH RATE BUT IN RAISING POPULATION REPRODUCTION IN THE INTENSIVE ASPECT; BY FURTHER REDUCTION OF INFANT MORTALITY AND THE MORTALITY OF PEOPLE IN THE ABLE-BODIED AGE BRACKET. IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO OPTIMIZE POPULATION FLAWS; IT IS POSSIBLE FOR SOCIETY ITSELF TO INFLUENCE THE BIRTH RATE.