Philosophy and Methodology of Political Economy

Year
1
Academic year
2018-2019
Code
03019914
Subject Area
Social Sciences
Language of Instruction
Portuguese
Mode of Delivery
Face-to-face
Duration
SEMESTRIAL
ECTS Credits
10.0
Type
Compulsory
Level
3rd Cycle Studies

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

Seminar classes, with initial presentations of each subject by the teachers and presentation and discussion of texts (made available by the teaching team) by the students.

Learning Outcomes

1.To recognize the relevance of methodological reflection for the construction of knowledge in Political Economy. 2.To show awareness that fundamental debates in the field of Political Economy, such as those concerning the importance and role of values, the relevance of history or about the potentialities and limits of mathematical modeling, ultimately reflect methodological options present in any investigation in Political Economy. 3.Understand the importance and substance of the contributions of the theory of science to the process of knowledge construction in Political Economy. 4.Being able to analyze the place and nature of Political Economy in the more general context of the social sciences. 5.Be able to discuss, in a grounded manner, the relations between the economy, science and politics. 6.Understand the relevance of the discussion on the construction of statistical categories and nomenclatures and economic and social indicators. 

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. Between the philosophy / theory of science and practice: the relevance of methodological awareness. 2. Methodological controversies in Political Economy. a. Science and values b. Theory versus History c. Mathematics, formalism and modeling 3. Contributions of philosophy/theory of science a. The philosophy and history of science b. Sociology of science / scientific knowledge and social constructivism c. Individualism and holism d. Ontology and critical realism e. Argumentation, rhetoric and discourse 4. Political Economy and inter / transdisciplinarity a. Autonomy and interdisciplinary relationships b. The projects of a unified social science 5. Economy, science and politics a. Science and Power b. Economics as a social engineering c. Objectivity, technical expertise and the means/ends dichotomy 6. Nomenclatures and building of categories in the social sciences.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Other: 25.0%
Research work: 75.0%

Bibliography

Reflection without rules: economic methodology and contemporary science theory / D. W. Hands, 2001 Reassembling the Social – An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory / B. Latour / Oxford University Press, 2005 Value-Free Science? Ideals And Illusions / H. Kincaid, J. Dupré, A. Wylie (eds.) / Oxford University Press, 2007 Reorienting Economics / T. Lawson / Routledge, 2003 Economia e Interdisciplinaridade(s) / C. Kerstenetzky, V. Neves / Almedina, 2012 Essays in Trespassing: Economics to politics and beyond / A. Hirschman / Cambridge University Press, 1981 Exchange, Action, and Social Structure: Elements of Economic Sociology / M. Zafirovski / Praeger, 2005 A Construção Social da Realidade / P. Berger e T. Luckmann / Dinalivro, 2004 [1966] “Historical Perspectives on Inequality.” / C. Tilly / In: The Blackwell Companion to Social Inequalities, M. Romero and E. Margolis (eds.), 15–30 / Blackwell, 2005.