The Subject and Main Directions of Modern Philosophy of Economics: In Search of a Way of Development

Abstract

In the previous article we described the general ideas about the history of the phi­losophy of economics and its subject in Russia and in the West countries, con­cluding that these ideas differ from thinker to thinker, in the West and in Russia. In this article, we will be interested in the main directions of modern philosophy of economics, and we will also reflect on the reasons for the lack of a general definition of the subject of philosophy of economics and possible (and optimal) scenarios for its development. The modern philosophy of economics – the so-called “new” philosophy of economics – differs from the “old” philosophy of economics by focusing on the premises of the post-non-classical philosophy of science and natural science as the ideal of rationality. Thus, it continues to deepen the break with philosophy, understood as the knowledge of the truth. In this case, the philosophy of economics turns into a set of theories that are in no way connected with each other, inheriting from economics the ambiguity of their subject. From our point of view, the philosophy of economics should move away from the “naturalistic turn” and return to philosophy itself. The main idea is that the philosophy of economics should cease to be only a tool for ana­lyzing economic problems and become a full-fledged philosophical study of eco­nomic science and economic reality. This will allow economic science itself to be considered as a single system. The complexity of this approach lies in the fact that it is necessary to rethink not only the subject of the philosophy of economics but also the subject of economic science itself