Berger Economics and Hermeneutics
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Economics and Philosophy, 5, 1989, 209-233. Printed in the United States of America.
ECONOMICS ANDHERMENEUTICS
LAWRENCE A. BERGERUniversity of Pennsylvania
I can't as yet "know myself," as the inscription at Delphienjoins, and so long as that ignorance remains it seemsto me ridiculous to inquire into extraneous matters.Socrates, Phaedrus, 230A
In a recent article in this journal, D. W ade Han ds (1987) reviewed CharlesTaylor's two-volume work, Philosophical Papers (1985). Hands predictsthat Taylor's work will have no impact on the philosophy of economics.This may indeed tur n out to be the case; bu t if so, it will only be becausethe profession is not listening. Of course, it is typical of the professionto be more interested in exporting its product than in learning fromother disciplines. This is exemplified in Hands's use of the term "phi-losophy of economics" - philosophy is the handmaiden of the highlysuccessful enterprise of economics. But this journal is called Economicsand Philosophy, which means that a conversation requiring an opennessand attentiveness is called for between economics and philosophy. Ifeconomics could risk its understanding of what it is about - if it couldrisk its "su ccess " in conversation w ith other disciplines - only then couldit aspire to grow beyond its current limitations and be open to what itcould become.
Economics is indeed a "prime candidate for his [Taylor's] herme-neutical reconstruction." Hands asks, "To what extent [is] economicsmore hermeneutical than the mainstream of other social sciences?" Theanswer is, yes, economics is about situated human activity, and as suchI am indebted to members of the Iowa Rhetoric Seminar for helpful comments on anearlier draft of this paper. In particular, I wish to thank Donald McCloskey, WilliamSchweiker, and especially David Klemm for their guidance. 1989 Cambridge University Press 0266-2671/89 $5.00 + .00. 2 0 9
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