PCES wrote:Also, you have a

March 2024 Forums General discussion Studying Economics PCES wrote:Also, you have a

#97858
LBird
Participant
PCES wrote:
Also, you have a point about induction. Obviously just observing statistics and not talking about where they come from or what they 'mean' is fruitless, and probably somewhat conservative. However, what we mean is that the facts should be taught…

But… the claim that 'facts should be taught' is induction.Do the 'facts' present themselves to the PCES, completely unbidden? The problem here is that 'facts' are selected for presentation by humans employing a theory, the parameters of which determine what counts as a 'fact'.

PCES wrote:
Right now a particular theory is drummed into students…

Yes, the correct method is to 'drum several theories into students'! Since theory is inescapable, students must be exposed to as many conflicting theories as possible, the better both to identify their own (which they are probably unware of, and often deny having) which they presently employ, and to allow them to explore others and thus have a choice which one they intend to employ to select 'the facts'. This builds critical faculties, both of themselves and others.

PCES wrote:
The result is that the student thinks first in terms of theory and then in terms of the real world when it should surely be the other way around.

Doh!No, everybody (not just students) thinks first in terms of theory. Those who deny this are merely ignorant of their theory. Society teaches us 'theory' by socialisation, and to leave it unexamined is a methodological error.The theory will determine what counts as 'the real world'; the other way round is our old friend 'induction'.

PCES wrote:
But obviously all of this requries a grounding in ethics, philosophy and so forth. In fact, we believe economcis should start with the study of value.

Well, I'm sure all of us here would agree… but then we're open Communists!Unless the PCES is open about its political aims (in an ideological, philosophical, methodological sense, not 'policy'), then I fear that you will go astray. Pretence is not a good starting point. There is no 'objective' position in the universe, so we must expose our stance, our relationship to our focus of study.The biggest pretence in 'economics' (sic) is that it is an 'objective' science. This notion has been dead in physics since Einstein, and the sooner the lesson spreads to the various 'social sciences', the better.Perhaps you should adjust PCES to mean 'Pre-Communist Economics Society'.We all know that won't happen because the bourgeois myth of 'objective enquiry' in academia must be maintained. It's a lie, it's always been a lie, and whilst it continues, we are prolonging the lie.The professors won't be happy unless you adhere to their stance. You'll be castigated as 'biased' and, god forbid, 'political'!Embrace the truth, and expose their ideological biases, too. Good luck!