İKTİSADİ ANALİZDE METODOLOJİK ÇOĞULCULUK: BİR SAVUNU

Öz

Bu çalışma, metodolojik çoğulculuğun iktisatta ontolojik bir zorunluluk olduğunu savunmaktadır. “Ontolojik zorunluluk” ifadesi, metodolojik çoğulculuğun tek başına sosyal gerçekliği açıklamak için yeter koşul olduğu iddiasını değil; sosyal gerçekliğin açık sistem niteliği kabul edilidiğinde, metodolojik tekçiliğin sürdürülemez hale geldiğini, bu anlamda çoğulculuğun ihmal edilemeyecek bir gereklilik olduğunu anlatmak üzere kullanılmaktadır. Ana akım iktisat, iktisadi gerçekliği kapalı bir sistem olarak ele alan tümdengelimci metodolojiye dayanmaktadır. İktisatçıların kullandığı formalist yöntemlerin çoğu, uygulanabilmeleri için olay düzenliliklerinin varlığını gerektirir; yani, kapalı sistemlerin varlığını kabul ederler. Fakat sosyal gerçeklik, tabakalaşmış, dinamik yani süreç odaklı ve aynı zamanda içsel olarak ilişkiseldir, yani açık bir sistemdir. Ana akımın zayıf performans göstermesinin başlıca nedeni işte tercih ettiği bu metodolojinin sosyal gerçekliğin ontolojisine uygunsuz olmasıdır. Yalnızca kapalı sistemlerde uygulanabilir olan tek bir metodolojiye bağlı kalmak, iktisadi analizin gücünü sınırlamaktadır. İktisadi gerçekliği daha kapsayıcı ve derinlemesine analiz etmek, gerçekliğin kendisine ilişkin bir sorgulama ile birlikte bu gerçekliğe uygun metodolojilerin seçimiyle mümkün olur. Metodoloji tercihinde bir keyfilikten ziyade, ortak bir ontolojiye dayanmak, metodolojinin ehemmiyetinin korunmasında önemli bir görev üstlenir. Sosyal gerçekliğin açık bir sistem olarak kavranması şeklindeki bir ortak ontoloji, böylece, iktisadi analizde metodolojik çoğulculuğu savunmanın en ikna edici biçimini oluşturur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Çoğulculuk
• Metodolojik Çoğulculuk
• Formalizm
• Açık Sistem.

METHODOLOGICAL PLURALISM IN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: A DEFENSE

Abstract

This study argues that methodological pluralism is an ontological necessity in economics. The expression ‘ontological necessity’ is not used to claim that methodological pluralism is, by itself, a sufficient condition for explaining social reality; rather, given the open-system character of social reality, it conveys that methodological monism becomes untenable, and that pluralism, in this sense, constitutes an indispensable requirement. Mainstream economics is based on a deductivist methodology that treats economic reality as a closed system. Most of the formalist methods employed by economists require the existence of event regularities to be applicable; in other words, they assume the existence of closed systems. However, social reality is stratified, dynamic—that is, process-oriented—and inherently relational, meaning that it is an open system. The primary reason for the weak performance of mainstream economics lies in the fact that its chosen methodology is ontologically incompatible with social reality. Restricting economic analysis to a single methodology that is only applicable in closed systems limits its explanatory power. A more comprehensive and in-depth analysis of economic reality is possible only through a critical examination of reality itself and the selection of methodologies suited to it. Rather than being an arbitrary choice, methodological selection should be grounded in a shared ontology, which plays a crucial role in preserving the significance of methodology. Thus, a shared ontology that recognizes social reality as an open system provides the most compelling justification for advocating methodological pluralism in economic analysis.

Keywords

• Pluralism
• Methodological Pluralism
• Formalism
• Open System

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