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Reactions to this Work's First Appearance

Reactions to this Work's First Appearance Reactions to Reactions to this Work's this Work's First Firs t Appearance Appearance The Appraisal by Professor Karl Brandt, of the Department of Economic Theory, Freiburg University, in Response to an Enquiry from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which Supported the Work's Publication. Ever since the physiocrats, but more especially under the influence of the classicists, economic thought has been firmly orientated towards the concepts and conceptual modes of physics. In particular, the laws of classical mechanics are normally transferred uncritically into political economics. The question as to how far such analogies are methodologically justified has hitherto hardly been investigated. All the more credit, then, to Kunihiro Jojima, who has taken on the challenge of this problem area, and now intends to publish a comprehensive study of the application of natural science concepts in economics. Professor Jojima starts his argument with a consideration of the problems of isomorphic model construction, and, concentrating especially on aspects of system theory, aims to examine where to and to what extent analogies with physical concept categories appear defensible, and where, on the contrary, the field-specific subject matter of economics demands the use of an autonomous terminology. We are offered here an extensively developed study, in which methodological and factual elements are equally strongly represented. After some initial remarks of a philosophic nature, the author first examines the fundamental conceptual categories of the physical world view — space, mass, time, light, energy, heat — and shows the economic implications of their transfer into the world of economic phenomena. Of no less interest to the reader will be K. Jojima's arguments in Part II of his work. Here, the author aims to present the structure and structural changes of society in the form of a "life cycle'', which correlates to a hierarchy of structural degrees and finds expression in various stages of socioeconomic development. A connection is drawn between the course of development and entropy. There can be no doubt that this initiative of Jojima's is the prelude to a new theory of development, differing both from the descendance hypothesis of the Historical School's stage theory and from the collapse concept proposed in the MIT study "Limits of Growth". The work here undertaken by Professor Jojima is in my view a genuinely innovative scientific labour, which not only fills a gap left by previous research, but in addition promises a new perspective in our approach to economic problems — a perspective that will prove lastingly fruitful in future discussions of the subject. Dr Dr h.c. Karl Brandt http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png International Journal of Social Economics Emerald Publishing

Reactions to this Work's First Appearance

Brandt, Karl
International Journal of Social Economics , Volume 18 (1/2/3): 1 – Jan 1, 1991
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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0306-8293
DOI
10.1108/eb014133
Publisher site
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Abstract

Reactions to Reactions to this Work's this Work's First Firs t Appearance Appearance The Appraisal by Professor Karl Brandt, of the Department of Economic Theory, Freiburg University, in Response to an Enquiry from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which Supported the Work's Publication. Ever since the physiocrats, but more especially under the influence of the classicists, economic thought has been firmly orientated towards the concepts and conceptual modes of physics. In particular, the laws of classical mechanics are normally transferred uncritically into political economics. The question as to how far such analogies are methodologically justified has hitherto hardly been investigated. All the more credit, then, to Kunihiro Jojima, who has taken on the challenge of this problem area, and now intends to publish a comprehensive study of the application of natural science concepts in economics. Professor Jojima starts his argument with a consideration of the problems of isomorphic model construction, and, concentrating especially on aspects of system theory, aims to examine where to and to what extent analogies with physical concept categories appear defensible, and where, on the contrary, the field-specific subject matter of economics demands the use of an autonomous terminology. We are offered here an extensively developed study, in which methodological and factual elements are equally strongly represented. After some initial remarks of a philosophic nature, the author first examines the fundamental conceptual categories of the physical world view — space, mass, time, light, energy, heat — and shows the economic implications of their transfer into the world of economic phenomena. Of no less interest to the reader will be K. Jojima's arguments in Part II of his work. Here, the author aims to present the structure and structural changes of society in the form of a "life cycle'', which correlates to a hierarchy of structural degrees and finds expression in various stages of socioeconomic development. A connection is drawn between the course of development and entropy. There can be no doubt that this initiative of Jojima's is the prelude to a new theory of development, differing both from the descendance hypothesis of the Historical School's stage theory and from the collapse concept proposed in the MIT study "Limits of Growth". The work here undertaken by Professor Jojima is in my view a genuinely innovative scientific labour, which not only fills a gap left by previous research, but in addition promises a new perspective in our approach to economic problems — a perspective that will prove lastingly fruitful in future discussions of the subject. Dr Dr h.c. Karl Brandt

Journal

International Journal of Social Economics – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jan 1, 1991

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