In the spring semester, 2022, I will be teaching the seminar "Economic Theory through a Philosophical Lense" (Heimspekileg sýn á hagfræðikenningar) where we will read and discuss economic texts as philosophy.
Economic theory is full of philosophical questions. Questions concerning human nature, justice, ethics, rationality, epistemology, philosophy of science, etc. Some economic topics directly overlap with discussions in philosophy: concepts like welfare, preferences, rights vs efficiency parallels discussions in moral philosophy. But more often the underlying philosophical assumptions in economic theory are hidden. In this course we will try to draw them out by reading texts from the canon of economic thinkers as philosophy: What is Hayek's epistemology, Friedman's theory of science, Adam Smith's political and moral philosophy, etc. We will also discuss what philosophy has to say about economic concepts: what is the reality of money, what is 'The Economy', and does 'homo economicus' have a gender?