Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T08:05:02.869Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS COMES TO AMERICA: CHARLES S. PEIRCE’S ENGAGEMENT WITH COURNOT’S RECHERCHES SUR LES PRINCIPES MATHÉMATIQUES DE LA THÉORIE DES RICHESSES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2015

James R. Wible  and
Kevin D. Hoover
James R. Wible
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, [email protected]
Kevin D. Hoover
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Department of Philosophy, Duke University, Durham, NC, [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Although Cournot’s mathematical economics was generally neglected until the mid-1870s, he was taken up and carefully studied by the Scientific Club of Cambridge, Massachusetts, even before his “discovery” by Walras and Jevons. The episode is reconstructed from fragmentary manuscripts of the pragmatist philosopher Charles S. Peirce, a sophisticated mathematician. Peirce provides a subtle interpretation and anticipates Bertrand’s criticisms.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the History of Economic Thought , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , December 2015 , pp. 511 - 536
Copyright
Copyright © The History of Economics Society 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Archibald, Raymond C. 1924. “Simon Newcomb 1835–1909, Bibliography of His Life and Work.” In Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. Volume 17. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, pp. 19–69.Google Scholar
Babbage, Charles. 1835. On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. Fourth edition. London: Charles Knight.Google Scholar
Baumol, William J., and Goldfeld, Stephen M., eds. 1968. Precursors in Mathematical Economics: An Anthology. London: The London School of Economics and Political Science.Google Scholar
Bertrand, Joseph Louis François. 1883. "Review of Théorie Mathématique de la Richesse Sociale and Recherches sur les Principes Mathématiques de la Théorie des Richesses." Journal des Savants 9: 499–508. (English translation in Daughety, Andrew, F., ed. 1988. Cournot Oligopoly: Characterization and Applications. Translated by Friedman, James. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 73–81.)Google Scholar
Blaug, Mark. 1997. Economic Theory in Retrospect. Fifth edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brent, Joseph. 1998. Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life. Revised and enlarged edition. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.Google Scholar
Cambridge Scientific Club. 1876–73. Records of the Cambridge Scientific Club. Harvard University Archive, HUD 3257, Box 1, Folder “1867, October 14-1873, May 8.”Google Scholar
Campbell, William W. 1924. “Biographical Memoir of Simon Newcomb, 1835–1909.” In Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. Volume 17. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, pp. 1–18.Google Scholar
Carey, Henry C. 1858–60. Principles of Social Science. Volumes 1–3. Philadelphia: Lippincott.Google Scholar
Cherriman, John Bradford. 1857. “Review of Cournot’s Recherches sur les Principes Mathematiques de la Theorie des Richesses.” Canadian Journal of Industry, Science and Art N.S. 2: 185–194.Google Scholar
Cournot, Antoine Augustin. 1838. Recherches sur les Principes Mathématiques de la Théorie des Richesses. Paris: Hachette. All quotations are to the English translation: Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth. 1927. Translated by Bacon, Nathaniel T.. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Daughety Andrew, F., ed. 1988. Cournot Oligopoly: Characterization and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
de Bornier, Jean Magnan. 1992. “The ‘Cournot-Bertrand Debate’: A Historical Perspective.” History of Political Economy 24 (3): 623–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Fontenay, R. 1864. “Principes Mathematiques de la Théorie des Richesses par M. Cournot." Journal des Économistes 11: 231–251.Google Scholar
Dimand, Robert W. 1995. “Cournot, Bertrand, and Cherriman.” History of Political Economy 27 (3): 563–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgeworth, Francis Y. 1889. “On the Application of Mathematics to Political Economy.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 52 (4): 538–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edgeworth, Francis Y. [1897] 1925. “The Pure Theory of Monopoly.” In Papers Relating to Political Economy. London: Macmillan, ch. E, pp. 111–142.Google Scholar
Eisele, Carolyn. 1957. “The Charles S. Peirce-Simon Newcomb Correspondence.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 101 (5): 409–433.Google Scholar
Eisele, Carolyn, ed. 1976. The New Elements of Mathematics by Charles S. Peirce. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Ekelund, Robert B. Jr., and Hébert, Robert F.. “Cournot and His Contemporaries: Is an Obituary the Only Bad Review?” Southern Economic Journal 57 (1): 139–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisch, Max. 1982. “Introduction.” In Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 1. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Fisch, Max. 1999. “Economy, Political, application of mathematics to.” Max H. Fisch Chronological and Topical Data Slips, Peirce Edition Project, Institute for American Thought. Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis. Accessed August 1999.Google Scholar
Humphrey, Thomas M. 2010. “Marshallian Cross Diagrams.” In Blaug, Mark and Lloyd, Peter, eds., Famous Figures and Diagrams in Economics. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 29–37.Google Scholar
Isnard, Achille-Nicolas. 1781. Traité des Richesses: Contenant l'Analyse de l'Usage des Richesses en Général et de leurs Valeurs, les Principes et les Loix Naturelles de la Circulation des Richesses, de leur Distribution, du Commerce. Lausanne: François Grasset.Google Scholar
Jenkin, Fleeming. 1870. “The Graphic Representation of the Laws of Supply and Demand, and Their Application to Labour.” In Grant, Alexander, ed., Recess Studies. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, pp. 151–185.Google Scholar
Jevons, William Stanley. [1871] 1879. The Theory of Political Economy. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Menand, Louis. 2002. The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Menger, Carl. 1871. Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre. Wein: Braumüller.Google Scholar
Moyer, Albert E. 1992. A Scientist’s Voice in American Culture: Simon Newcomb and the Rhetoric of Scientific Method. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Academy of Science. N.d. “History,” http://www.nasonline.org/about-nas/history/. Accessed 10 May 2012.Google Scholar
N[ewcomb], S[imon]. 1872. “Review of The Theory of Political Economy by Stanley Jevons, W..” North American Review 114 (235): 435–440.Google Scholar
Newcomb, Simon. 1886. Principles of Political Economy. New York: Harper & Brothers.Google Scholar
Newcomb, Simon. 1903. Reminiscences of an Astronomer. New York: Harper Brothers.Google Scholar
Nichol, A. J. 1934. “A Re-appraisal of Cournot's Theory of Duopoly Price.” Journal of Political Economy 42 (1): 80–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichol, A. J. 1938. “Tragedies in the Life of Cournot.” Econometrica 6 (3): 193–197.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1871a] 1976. “Calculus of Wealth.” In Eisele, Carolyn, ed., The New Elements of Mathematics. Volume III/I. The Hague: Mouton, pp. 551–552. (Paper is dated as December 1871 by Moore, Edward C.et al., eds. 1984. Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 2. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, p. 568.)Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1871b] 1998. “[Letter to Melusina Fay Peirce].” In Joseph Brent, Charles Sanders Peirce: A Life. Revised and enlarged edition. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, p. 89.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1871c] 1957. “Letter to Simon Newcomb.” In Eisele, Carolyn, “The Charles S. Peirce-Simon Newcomb Correspondence.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 101 (5): 409–433.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1871d] 1976. “[Letter to Benjamin Peirce].” In Eisele, Carolyn, ed., The New Elements of Mathematics. Volume III/I. The Hague: Mouton, pp. 553–554.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1873] 1986. “Letter, Peirce to Abraham B. Conger.” In Kloesel, Christian J. W. et al., eds., Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 3. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 109–110.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1874] 1986. “[On Political Economy].” In Kloesel, Christian J. W.et al., eds., Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 3. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 173–176.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1884] 1993. “The Reciprocity Treaty with Spain.” In Kloesel, Christian J. W. et al., eds., Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 5. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 144–146.Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. [1885] 1993. “The Spanish Treaty Once More.” In Kloesel, Christian J. W.et al., eds., Writings of Charles S. Peirce: A Chronological Edition. Volume 5. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 147–148.Google Scholar
Samuelson, Paul A. 1947. Foundations of Economic Analysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Schumpeter, Joseph A. 1954. A History of Economic Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shubik, Martin. 1987. “Antoine Augustin Cournot.” In Eatwell, John, Milgate, Murray, and Newman, Peter, eds., The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics. Volume 1. London: Macmillan, pp. 708–712.Google Scholar
Walras, Leon. [1874a] 1974. L'application des Mathématiques à L'économie Politique et Sociale. New York: Lennox Hill (Burt Franklin).Google Scholar
Walras, Leon. 1874b. Éléments d'Économie Politique Pure. Corbaz, Paris: L.. Translated into English as Elements of Pure Economics: Or the Social Theory of Wealth. 1954. Translated by Jaffee, William. London: George Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar