by From Lars Syll Our observations and theories are concept-dependent without therefore necessarily being concept-determined. There is a reality that exists independently of our knowledge and theories. Although we cannot comprehend it without using our concepts and theories, these are not the same as reality itself. Social science is relational. It studies and uncovers the social structures in which individuals participate and position themselves. It is these relations that have sufficient continuity, autonomy, and causal power to endure in society and provide the real object of knowledge in social science. It is also only in their capacity as social relations and positions that individuals can be given power or resources – or the lack of them. To be a capital-owner or a slave is not an
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from Lars Syll
Our observations and theories are concept-dependent without therefore
necessarily being concept-determined. There is a reality that exists
independently of our knowledge and theories. Although we cannot
comprehend it without using our concepts and theories, these are not the
same as reality itself.Social science is relational. It studies and uncovers the social structures in
which individuals participate and position themselves. It is these relations
that have sufficient continuity, autonomy, and causal power to endure in
society and provide the real object of knowledge in social science. It is also
only in their capacity as social relations and positions that individuals can be
given power or resources – or the lack of them. To be a capital-owner or a
slave is not an individual property, but can only come about when individuals
are integral parts of certain social structures and positions. Just as a cheque
presupposes a banking system and tribe-members presuppose a tribe –
social relations and contexts cannot be reduced to individual phenomena.The theories and models that economists construct describe imaginary
worlds using a combination of formal sign systems such as mathematics and
ordinary language. The descriptions made are extremely thin and to a large
degree disconnected to the specific contexts of the targeted system than
one (usually) wants to (partially) represent. This is not by chance. These
closed formalistic-mathematical theories and models are constructed for the
purpose of being able to deliver purportedly rigorous deductions that may
somehow by be exportable to the target system. By analyzing a few causal
factors in their “laboratories” they hope they can perform “thought
experiments” and observe how these factors operate on their own and
without impediments or confounders.Unfortunately, this is not so. The reason for this is that economic causes
never act in a socio-economic vacuum. Causes have to be set in a
contextual structure to be able to operate. This structure has to take some
form or other, but instead of incorporating structures that are true to the
target system, the settings made in economic models are rather based on
formalistic mathematical tractability.On the use and misuse of theories and models in mainstream economics