4.2 – An Introduction to Ontology
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Define and describe three ontological relationships between structures and agents
- Develop examples of subjects that are best understood using each of the three ontological commitments described
- Utilize the following terms: reductionism, duality, aggregation, reflexivity, and embedded, to differentiate orthodox from heterodox economics
So let’s start from the beginning by asking what is real or what is your theory of reality. This is what ontology helps us to sort out. Your ontological grounding is your foundation or the roots of any scientific inquiry. This should make logical sense, because, while fantasy can be useful for sparking ideas, cultivating imagination, and creating a vision, one wants to use science to describe and study reality. Ask yourself what is real and how you know it is in fact real. These are questions that humans have wrestled with for centuries. This is the foundational coding for science. Ontology provides the first commands that guide the procedures of our scientific process.
Economics is classified as a social science. Therefore, when we talk about the ontological foundations for economics, we find we are talking about what is called social ontology, or the ontology of society. How can we describe social reality? In this text, we break down social ontology into three different relationships between what we will call structures and agents. One way to begin thinking about these relationships is with a metaphor. Imagine agents as pieces of a puzzle that come together to form something new or a structure. Agents help make up or characterize the structure. An ontological foundation describes the relationship between structures and agents. In Figure 1, we see arrows that distinguish three possible relationships between structures and agents.
In the first relation, we see the arrow pointing down from the structure to the agents. In this top-down form or relation, we say that the structure defines or determines the agents. One social structure that exemplifies this form of ontology is the feudal order. Under feudalism, one was assigned a role in society at birth. If you were born a lord, good for you. If you were born a serf or a slave, then this is your place in society and you must accept this position by living out your life as a dutiful serf or slave. The payoff for behaving and accepting your role as a serf is passage to the Kingdom of Heaven after you pass. One could say, ‘in the long run,’ your sacrifice is rewarded. While this might sound absurd, we will notice similar promises of future rewards are prevalent in the modern rhetoric of orthodox economics.
Rhetoric in Economics
Rhetoric is the use of words to enhance an argument. Rhetoric in economics will be examined throughout this text. Words like rational, efficient, and equilibrium permeate orthodox writings. These worlds often reference specific mathematical a