5 - Reuniting economics and philosophy

Summary

This is an exciting time to be engaged in economics and philosophy, a time when a number of unusually able and serious people from the two disciplines are converging on common themes and issues and are learning from one another. This renewed activity follows upon several decades when economics and moral philosophy, once closely aligned, had grown apart; and indeed, partly as a result of this separation, both disciplines had come to back away from engagement in serious social problems.

I would not deny that such disengagement continues for many economists and philosophers, who seem to regard any hint of moral judgment in their work as a derogation of professional standards. But for those who want to do serious work on the borders of economics and social philosophy, the opportunities are there, in abundance.

I offer here some thoughts, rather heavily autobiographical, about how we have come to this happy state of affairs. These will provide the basis for a bit of reflection on where, after ten or fifteen years of renewed collaboration, we seem to have gotten and where we may be headed.

The current mutual interest between economists and philosophers is dramatically different from what it was even twenty years ago. A useful test of that difference is to ask what philosophical works most economists think they should know. (A more honest version might be: Which ones would they feel slightly embarrassed to admit their ignorance of publicly?)