Economics Imperialism and Epistemic Cosmopolitanism

Abstract

The standard view on economics imperialism is that it should be resisted when it is epistemically or morally harmful. I argue that the moral dimension of economics imperialism is in need of further analysis. In my view, economics imperialism is wrong when imperialists violate the epistemic responsibility they have towards scientists working in the discipline that is the target for imperialist explorations. By epistemic responsibility, I refer to a moral duty to justify one’s knowledge claims to a particular audience so that the justification appeals to at least some of the standards of argumentation recognized by that audience.

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the three reviewers of International Studies in the Philosophy of Science for their suggestions for revisions. I am grateful also to Aki Lehtinen, Uskali Mäki, Manuela Fernández Pinto, Paul Roth, Adrian Walsh, and Brad Wray who have commented on earlier versions of the manuscript. The audiences at the FEMMSS conference in Waterloo in 2014, the ENPOSS conference in Madrid in 2014, and the Workshop on Scientific Imperialism in Helsinki in 2015 have provided me with useful questions and comments. Funding for this project has been provided by the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences.