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The Claims of Common Sense

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  • Coates,John

Abstract

The Claims of Common Sense investigates the importance of ideas developed by Cambridge philosophers between the World Wars for the social sciences concerning common sense, vague concepts and ordinary language. John Coates examines the thought of Moore, Ramsey, Wittgenstein and Keynes, and traces their common drift away from early beliefs about the need for precise concepts and a canonical notation in analysis. He argues that Keynes borrowed from Wittgenstein and Ramsey their reappraisal of vague concepts, and developed the novel argument that when analysing something as complex as social reality, theory might be simplified by using concepts which lack sharp boundaries. Coates then contrasts this conclusion with the view shared by two contemporary philosophical paradigms - formal semantics and Continental post-structuralism - that the vagueness of ordinary language inevitably leads to interpretive indeterminacy. Developing a link between Cambridge philosophy and work on complexity, vague predicates and fuzzy logic, he argues that Wittgenstein's and Keynes's ideas on the economy of ordinary language present a mediating route for the social sciences between these philosophical paradigms.

Suggested Citation

  • Coates,John, 1996. "The Claims of Common Sense," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521412568.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:cbooks:9780521412568
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. SALMON, Pierre, 2002. "Science économique et sens commun : trois thèses sur leurs relations réciproques," LEG - Document de travail - Economie 2003-02, LEG, Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion, CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, revised Jan 2003.
    2. Stuart Holland & Teresa Carla Oliveira, 2013. "Missing Links: Hume, Smith, Kant and Economic Methodology," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 2(2), pages 1-46, October.
    3. Roberto Marchionatti, 2010. "J. M. Keynes, thinker of economic complexity," History of Economic Ideas, Fabrizio Serra Editore, Pisa - Roma, vol. 18(2), pages 115-146.
    4. Miguel A. Duran, 2007. "Mathematical Needs and Economic Interpretations," Contributions to Political Economy, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 26(1), pages 1-16.
    5. Anna Carabelli & Nicolo De Vecchi, 2001. "Hayek and Keynes: From a common critique of economic method to different theories of expectations," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 269-285.
    6. Stuart Holland & Andrew Black, 2018. "Cherchez la Firme: Redressing the Missing – Meso – Middle in Mainstream Economics," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 7(2), pages 15-53, November.
    7. Sheila C. Dow, 2014. "Consistency in pluralism and microfoundations," Working Papers PKWP1408, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    8. Gerrard, Bill, 2023. "Keynes, Ramsey And Pragmatism," SocArXiv 6w8g2, Center for Open Science.
    9. Thomas K. Rymes, 2004. "Modern Central Banks Only Have Real Effects," Chapters, in: Marc Lavoie & Mario Seccareccia (ed.), Central Banking in the Modern World, chapter 7, pages 127-143, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Lee, Frederic, 2011. "The making of heterodox microeconomics," MPRA Paper 30907, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Lee, Frederic, 2012. "Critical realism, grounded theory, and theory construction in heterodox economics," MPRA Paper 40341, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Nuno Ornelas Martins, 2012. "Mathematics, Science and the Cambridge Tradition," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 1(2), pages 1-2, December.
    13. Leunbach, Daniel, 2021. "Entrepreneurship as a family resemblance concept: A Wittgensteinian approach to the problem of defining entrepreneurship," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 37(1).
    14. Suzuki, Tomo, 2003. "The epistemology of macroeconomic reality: The Keynesian Revolution from an accounting point of view," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 471-517, July.
    15. Amartya Sen, 2003. "Sraffa, Wittgenstein, and Gramsci," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 1240-1255, December.
    16. Roger Backhouse & Bradley Bateman, 2006. "John Maynard Keynes: Artist, Philosopher, Economist," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 34(2), pages 149-159, June.

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