IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wea/econth/v9y2020i1p72.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mathematical Analysis as a Source of Mainstream Economic Ideology

Author

Listed:
  • Vlassis Missos

    (Center of Planning and Economic Research (KEPE), Greece)

Abstract

The paper contends that neoclassical ideology stems, to a great extent, from mathematical analysis. It is suggested that mainstream economic thought can be comprehensively revisited if both histories of mathematical and economic thought are to be taken collaboratively into account. Ideology is understood as a 'social construction of reality' that prevents us from evaluating our own standpoint, and impedes us from realising our value judgments as well as our theories of society and nature. However, the mid-19th century's intellectual controversies about the validity of mathematical thought, truth and knowledge can procure new interesting insights concerning the ideological stance of the first marginalists. In this respect, the methodological categories of analysis and synthesis serve as the basis for the crucial distinction between old geometry and mathematical analysis, indicating that the discipline of mathematics has its own history of fundamentally unresolved disputes. Lastly, this may also shed some light on Alfred Marshall's peculiarly reluctant attitude towards the use of mathematical analysis in his work.

Suggested Citation

  • Vlassis Missos, 2020. "Mathematical Analysis as a Source of Mainstream Economic Ideology," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 9(1), pages 72-95, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:9:y:2020:i:1:p:72
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/papers/mathematical-analysis-as-a-source-of-mainstream-economic-ideology/
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: http://et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/files/2020/07/WEA-ET-9.1-Missos.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Theocarakis, 2008. "Antipeponthos and reciprocity: the concept of equivalent exchange from Aristotle to Turgot," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 55(1), pages 29-44, April.
    2. Sheila C. Dow, 2003. "Understanding the relationship between mathematics and economics," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 547-560.
    3. Reghinos D. Theocharis, 1993. "The Development of Mathematical Economics," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-12992-8, December.
    4. Marco Dardi, 2016. "Philosophy and psychology of mathematics according to Alfred Marshall," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(1), pages 283-308.
    5. John K. Whitaker, 1972. "Alfred Marshall: The Years 1877 to 1885," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-61, Spring.
    6. Smith, Adam, 1776. "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number smith1776.
    7. Nicholas J. Theocarakis, 2014. "A commentary on Alessandro Roncaglia's paper: 'Should the History of Economic Thought be Included in Undergraduate Curricula?'," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 3(1), pages 1-10, March.
    8. Nuno Ornelas Martins, 2012. "Mathematics, Science and the Cambridge Tradition," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 1(2), pages 1-2, December.
    9. Ross M. Robertson, 1949. "Mathematical Economics before Cournot," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(6), pages 523-523.
    10. Peter Groenewegen, 1995. "A SOARING EAGLE: Alfred Marshall 1842–1924," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 193.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sandelin, Bo, 2015. "The Pioneers’ Arguments for Formulating Economic Problems Mathematically," Working Papers in Economics 633, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    2. Charles M. A. Clark, 2021. "Editor’s Introduction: Economics and the Option for the Poor," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 80(4), pages 1051-1059, September.
    3. Bellemare, Marc F. & Barrett, Christopher B., 2003. "An Asset Risk Theory of Share Tenancy," Working Papers 127203, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    4. Carbonnier Cl´ement, 2014. "The incidence of non-linear consumption taxes," Научный результат. Серия «Экономические исследования», CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования «Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет», issue 1, pages 5-18.
    5. White, Reilly & Marinakis, Yorgos & Islam, Nazrul & Walsh, Steven, 2020. "Is Bitcoin a currency, a technology-based product, or something else?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    6. Michal Brzezinski, 2010. "Marshall in Poland," Chapters, in: Tiziano Raffaelli & Giacomo Becattini & Katia Caldari & Marco Dardi (ed.), The Impact of Alfred Marshall’s Ideas, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Ashraf, Junaid & Uddin, Shahzad, 2016. "New public management, cost savings and regressive effects: A case from a less developed country," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 18-33.
    8. Çağatay Bircan & Ralph De Haas, 2020. "The Limits of Lending? Banks and Technology Adoption across Russia," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(2), pages 536-609.
    9. Adamson, Jordan, 2020. "Political institutions, resources, and war: Theory and evidence from ancient Rome," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2014. "The If, How and Where of assessing sustainable resource use," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 274-283.
    11. Miguel A. Duran, 2007. "Mathematical Needs and Economic Interpretations," Contributions to Political Economy, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 26(1), pages 1-16.
    12. Hu, Yue & Liu, Chang & Peng, Jiangang, 2021. "Financial inclusion and agricultural total factor productivity growth in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 68-82.
    13. Balland, Pierre-Alexandre & Broekel, Tom & Diodato, Dario & Giuliani, Elisa & Hausmann, Ricardo & O'Clery, Neave & Rigby, David, 2022. "Reprint of The new paradigm of economic complexity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(8).
    14. Timothy Johnson, 2015. "Reciprocity as a Foundation of Financial Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 43-67, September.
    15. Gilles, Robert P. & Pesce, Marialaura & Diamantaras, Dimitrios, 2020. "The provision of collective goods through a social division of labour," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 287-312.
    16. Felfe, Christina & Hsin, Amy, 2012. "Maternal work conditions and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1037-1057.
    17. Lise Arena & Leonard Minkes, 2019. "The virtues of dialogue between academics and businessmen," Post-Print hal-01620574, HAL.
    18. Soete, Luc & Verspagen, Bart & ter Weel, Bas, 2010. "Systems of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1159-1180, Elsevier.
    19. Joanna Dzionek-Kozlowska, 2015. "Alfred Marshall's Puzzles. Between Economics as a Positive Science and Economic Chivalry," Lodz Economics Working Papers 5/2015, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology.
    20. Javier Portillo & Walter Block, 2012. "Anti-Discrimination Laws: Undermining Our Rights," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(2), pages 209-217, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wea:econth:v:9:y:2020:i:1:p:72. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jake McMurchie (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/worecea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.