Armchair theorizing
Encyclopedia
Armchair theorizing is an unofficial term for the approach which economist
s are perceived to mostly use for coming up with a new economic theory.
"Economists can discover basic facts by observation
of their own and other people's decision making
. They even have the advantage of being able to observe the basic elements of their theoretical generalizations (human individuals and their strivings) directly, while the natural scientists must postulate or infer their basic but not directly observable elements from whatever phenomena they can observe directly. Much as geometers deduce many theorems from a few axioms, so economists deduce a powerful body of theory from a relatively few empirical generalizations, ones so crushingly obvious that their failure to hold true is almost inconceivable in the world as we know it. [...] Armchair theorizing need not be the mere sterile juggling of arbitrary assumptions; it can have a sound empirical basis."
Armchair philosophy is a term used to highlight the difference between passively guessing the nature of the universe and actively investigating the nature of the universe using the scientific method; which consists of collecting data and physical measurements, formulating theories which explain observations, and then testing these theories with further measurements using various specially constructed apparatus. A philosopher seated in an armchair passively contemplating the nature of the universe is never going to produce the results of a scientist who actively investigates the unknown.
It should be noted that scientific inquiry has long been considered part of philosophy, as the scientific method was first formulated by philosophers such as Francis Bacon
and successfully applied by foremost philosophers such as René Descartes
, Blaise Pascal
or Gottfried Leibniz
. Only by the late 18th century did scientific enquiry and philosophy become two distinct disciplines, philosophy now focusing mainly on ethics
, epistemology and metaphysics
while science is left with the empirical realm.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
s are perceived to mostly use for coming up with a new economic theory.
"Economists can discover basic facts by observation
Observation
Observation is either an activity of a living being, such as a human, consisting of receiving knowledge of the outside world through the senses, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during this activity...
of their own and other people's decision making
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
. They even have the advantage of being able to observe the basic elements of their theoretical generalizations (human individuals and their strivings) directly, while the natural scientists must postulate or infer their basic but not directly observable elements from whatever phenomena they can observe directly. Much as geometers deduce many theorems from a few axioms, so economists deduce a powerful body of theory from a relatively few empirical generalizations, ones so crushingly obvious that their failure to hold true is almost inconceivable in the world as we know it. [...] Armchair theorizing need not be the mere sterile juggling of arbitrary assumptions; it can have a sound empirical basis."
Armchair philosophy is a term used to highlight the difference between passively guessing the nature of the universe and actively investigating the nature of the universe using the scientific method; which consists of collecting data and physical measurements, formulating theories which explain observations, and then testing these theories with further measurements using various specially constructed apparatus. A philosopher seated in an armchair passively contemplating the nature of the universe is never going to produce the results of a scientist who actively investigates the unknown.
It should be noted that scientific inquiry has long been considered part of philosophy, as the scientific method was first formulated by philosophers such as Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
and successfully applied by foremost philosophers such as René Descartes
René Descartes
René Descartes ; was a French philosopher and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day...
, Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
or Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
. Only by the late 18th century did scientific enquiry and philosophy become two distinct disciplines, philosophy now focusing mainly on ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, epistemology and metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
while science is left with the empirical realm.
External links
- Planning Theory, In Defense of Armchair Theorizing, Seymour J. Mandelbaum, DOI: 10.1177/1473095206064975
- Discussion of On the Politics of Accounting Disclosure and Measurement: An Analysis of Economic Incentives, Dale Morse, Journal of Accounting Research, Vol. 19, Studies on Standardization of Accounting Practices: An Assessment of Alternative Institutional Arrangements (1981), pp. 36-42, doi:10.2307/2490981
- Henry George and Austrian economics - History of Thought, American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The, Dec, 2001 by Leland B. Yeager