1 The Epistemic Values of Mainstream Economics

Contemporary mainstream economics is currently best characterised by an uncritical acceptance of mathematico-deductivist methods, in an attempt to mimic the methods of natural sciences like physics, while neglecting epistemic values like empirical adequacy, simplicity, coherence with other knowledge, or internal consistency. Here I will argue that the methodology that characterises mainstream economics is inappropriate for the analysis of social reality, since it ignores the nature of the latter. Heterodox traditions like Marxian economics, Austrian Economics, (old) Institutionalism, and Post Keynesianism, on the other hand, provide a more realist conception of social reality, by taking into account the epistemic capabilities of the human agent, and provide more promising routes to the study of social reality