Marcel Boumans Books

Economic Methodology explores the status and character of economics as a social science and introduces students to philosophical issues underlying modern science. Approaching the subject as philosophy of science for economists, the authors use the historical developments in philosophy of science to frame this introduction to the field of economic methodology. By doing this they strengthen students' understanding of economics as a science to enhance their reasoning skills, introducing them to the wider philosophical issues surrounding our understanding of the area.

Economic methodology was formally recognized as a field of economic inquiry in the 1980s, and was heavily influenced by currents in the philosophy of science, particularly by the reaction against logical positivism as exemplified in the writings of Popper, Kuhn and Lakatos. The authors, bringing to bear a wealth of research and teaching experience, situate the field within the broader philosophy of science tradition. They explore the key refinements to, and extensions and departures from, the field in order to understand issues prevalent in the economic domain.