TITLE:
Economics as a Science of the Human Mind and Interaction
AUTHORS:
Michael Fast, Frederik Hertel, Woodrow W. Clark II
KEYWORDS:
Economic Thinking, Epistemology, Qualitative Meaning, Language, Discourse, Interaction, Science
JOURNAL NAME:
Theoretical Economics Letters,
Vol.4 No.6,
June
25,
2014
ABSTRACT:
In understanding economics and the organisation of economics, the
questions are what constitute economics and the thinking behind economics
today? In short what is the field of economics? And in what ways can we connect
to and understand this field of study? Of course, the answer to this depends
upon the perspective chosen, in which one sees and thinks of economics from a
particular philosophical and even political position and perspective. If one
takes the perspective on economics from a qualitative paradigm that draws upon
the tradition from Kant, Husserl, Simmel, Mead, Schutz, Blumer (see
references), then it can be stated that economics cannot only be understood as
something that appears in nature. On the contrary, economics must be understood
as “something” which results from human behaviour, interaction and groups in
human activities and the thinking involved and embedded in those activities.
Therefore in analyzing economics it is significant to note that economics
belongs to and is being constructed by people due to their everyday lives. What
appears as central in those statements, from a qualitative perspective, is that
the essences of economics have to be discussed in relation to the mind and
thinking related to an understanding of individual and group societal
activities. Economics is to be understood as constructed and maintained through
everyday human interactions and exchanges, whereby people are creating the
meanings of situations with objectives of what are believed as important in the
understanding of economics activities, actions and results. Those meanings and
definitions of economics are being produced and exchanged in order to become a
new comprehensive framework that influences, co-produces, limits and creates
contradictions in everyday economic life. This additional qualitative focus [1] outlines the importance of understanding how
human cognitions produce meaning of objects, definitions, activities and
actions which provides the framework for the field of economics. The
epistemological perspective for this is that the objects are not only within
themselves. No, instead the objects are as they presents themselves to people,
and thereby the meanings we are constructing and attaching to them. The paper
will therefore discuss some of the scientific complexities in three areas: mind
and thinking; understanding economics as a social activity and construction,
and the interplay between economic activities and economic theoretical work.