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    Friedman's own methodology in 'Essays in Positive Economi... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→Philosophical standards of empirical success are not meaningful criteria for evaluating economics.

    Friedman's own methodology in 'Essays in Positive Economics' invokes predictive success as a criterion, demonstrating economists already implicitly accept philosophical standards of empirical evaluation.

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    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

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    Reason for
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    • 1.Friedman explicitly argues that theories should be judged by their predictive accuracy, not realism of assumptions, showing economists adopt empirical standards.
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    • 2.Predictive success as a criterion mirrors philosophy of science standards (falsifiability, empirical adequacy), suggesting economics already uses philosophical methodology.
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    • 3.If economists widely accepted Friedman's predictive standard, this demonstrates implicit consensus on philosophical criteria for evaluating economic theories.
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    Reasons Against

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    Reason against
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    • 1.Implicit acceptance differs from explicit philosophical awareness; economists may use predictive criteria without understanding or endorsing underlying epistemological assumptions.
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    • 2.Friedman's methodology remains contested among economists themselves; adoption by some doesn't prove the discipline accepts philosophical standards universally or systematically.
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    • 3.Predictive success alone is insufficient as philosophical criterion—it lacks guidance on model selection, statistical significance thresholds, and trade-offs with explanatory power.
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    Key Terms

    Criterion (plural: criteria)(In Buddhist logic, valid reasons had to satisfy multiple criteria; this statement mentions the first one)
    A standard or requirement that something must meet to count as valid or true.
    Empirical evaluation(the philosophical standard the statement says economists use)
    Judging whether something is true or works well by testing it against real-world observations and evidence, rather than just thinking about it theoretically.
    Essays in Positive Economics(the specific work being discussed)
    A famous 1953 book by Milton Friedman where he laid out his ideas about how economics should work as a science.
    Milton Friedman(the subject of the statement)
    An influential 20th-century economist who argued that economic theories should be judged by whether they make accurate predictions, not by whether their assumptions are realistic.
    methodology(Zabarella's distinction between natural faculties and their use)
    The study of the use a human being makes of the natural faculties of the mind, which use can be true or false, better or worse
    predictive success(Second root of virtuous predictivism)
    The empirical demonstration that the entailed consequence N is true

    Connections

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    Truth & Knowledge1 linkedSkepticism1 linked

    Related

    Friedman explicitly argues that theories should be judged by their predictive ac...Friedman's methodology remains contested among economists themselves; adoption b...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    If economists widely accepted Friedman's predictive standard, this demonstrates ...
    Implicit acceptance differs from explicit philosophical awareness; economists ma...
    +3 moreShow less
    Philosophical standards of empirical success are not meaningful criteria for eva...Predictive success alone is insufficient as philosophical criterion—it lacks gui...Predictive success as a criterion mirrors philosophy of science standards (falsi...