[ From: Bill Williams 29 August 2001 15:30 CST ]
In regard to reaction to my posting of the "Open Letter" by AFEE Summer
school requesting the reform of economic departments ( 26 August 2001 ).\
I'm, of course, in agreement with Marken's statement that economics ought to
reform itself by becoming a science and adopting a scientific conception of
behavior. Bill Powers' statement provides a very useful statement of why and
how this reform ought to take place. I'm grateful for all of the comments
which were made. Bruce Nevin's statement about social causation is, I think,
particularly helpful. Many of the statements about causation which
contemporary social theorists make, are from the standpoint of control theory
absurd. However, if a sympathetic effort is made to see what these people are
attempting to say, in some cases, such as the one Nevin considers, their
efforts may, I believe, without compromise, be redescribed in control theory
terms. This may prevent the development of a needless and profitless dispute
arising from two groups talking past each other.
Next week when the seminar on methodology meet for a roundtable discussion,
I'll see whether there is an inclination to conform the proximate content of
inquiry to the official policy of interdisciplinary social inquiry.
Thanks to all the contributors to the thread,
Bill Williams
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