Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Method: a method is a procedure agreed on by participants of a discussion or research project. In the case of violations of a method, the comparability of the results is in particular questioned, since these no longer come from a set with uniformly defined properties of the elements._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Adam Smith on Method - Dictionary of Arguments
Otteson I 14 Method/Adam Smith/Otteson: In TMS(1), Smith wants to be an empirical scientist, in the fashion of Isaac Newton (1643–1727), whom Smith and many other luminaries of the Scottish Enlightenment took to have established the correct method of scientific investigation. >Isaac Newton. Newton’s method, as Smith understood it, was first to observe the phenomena to be explained, next to formulate a hypothesis that captures their patterns in laws or rules, then to tease out of the hypothesis predictions about what would hold in new or future cases, then to make further observations to see whether one’s predictions hold, and then, finally, to revise, reformulate, or reject the hypothesis, as indicated or required by the newly observed data. >Hypotheses. Human behavior/Smith: Smith’s revolutionary idea was to apply this Newtonian method not to objects moving through space but to human behavior. In the case of TMS(1), the behavior Smith focused his attention on was the phenomenon of human moral judgment-making. Are there regularly recurring patterns we can infer from observing how humans judge? Can we formulate hypotheses about what would explain these patterns? Can we test our hypotheses against new observations? Smith’s answer to these questions is “yes,” and in TMS he offers his hypotheses, buttressed by numerous examples and observations. 1. Smith, Adam (1982) [1759]. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. D. D. Raphael and A. L. Macfie, eds. Liberty Fund._____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
EconSmith I Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiments London 2010 EconSmithV I Vernon L. Smith Rationality in Economics: Constructivist and Ecological Forms Cambridge 2009 Otteson I James R. Otteson The Essential Adam Smith Vancouver: Fraser Institute. 2018 |
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