A ideology-free “economic Manhattan project”?
Not exactly CZ related, but this might be of interest to some people. Over on Edge, I was invited to respond to an essay that asked, “Can Science Help Solve the Economic Crisis?” My answer: no, or at least not if the scientific help takes the form of an allegedly ideology-free “economic Manhattan project” that attempts to make economics scientifically rigorous.
Larry,
Isn’t the term “ideology” commonly (ab)used to imply mystical belief which is not subject to logic and reason? Is this a disagreement of semantics, or are you using the same definition of “ideology” as those you are responding to?
Comment by Anthony — December 12, 2008 @ 10:38 am
Hmm–I guess “ideology” is commonly used to mean a world view that is held irrationally, but that isn’t a core part of the meaning of the term. There’s nothing wrong with ideology or even being ideological (in the right contexts, of course), insofar as it means something similar to “world view, particularly in regards to politics and religion.” In saying that the social sciences, like economics, are inherently ideological, I mean that disagreements among theoreticians often come down to disagreements about deeper issues such as philosophy and politics. They are hence not resolvable by some generally-agreed-upon methodology.
Comment by Larry Sanger — December 12, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Another question: does Citizendium have an ideology? If so, what is it? If not, what limitations does this impose?
Comment by Anthony — December 12, 2008 @ 10:50 am
Re whether Citizendium has an ideology, good question — but I don’t think so. See our Statement of Fundamental Policies. That’s our draft “constitution.” It represents an ideology only if, for example, the U.S. Constitution does.
Comment by Larry Sanger — December 12, 2008 @ 5:18 pm