In "Ceteris paribus, Dr. Jekyll tans his own Hyde" I review some
recent discussion of the ceteris paribus clause and re-examine the
role of the ambiguous clause in the debate between Thornton and
Cairnes over the wages-fund doctrine.
the meaning of "ceteris paribus" is "abstracting from all factors
not specified." Nothing else. No ambiguity whatsoever. Every
scientist knows that causation is multivariate and that the
scientific analysis of any real situation requires dropping the
initial abstraction and incorporating all the actually relevant
variables. When Marx developed such crucial theoretical concepts as
"price of production" and "falling tendency of the rate of profit"
he made it very explicit that these were ceteris paribus
propositions and that the other essential factors were to be
examined under the rubrics of "Competition" and "Counteracting
Causes." Abstraction is as basic to economics as it is to any other
science.
Shane Mage
"scientific discovery is basically recognition of obvious realities
that self-interest or ideology have kept everybody from paying
attention to"
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