Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1996

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Economics

Major Professor

Hans E. Jensen

Committee Members

William E. Cole, Robert Bohm, Dan McLemore

Abstract

The notion of how a discipline acquires knowledge has twin hypotheses. Discovery may be the result of individual genius or it may simply occur when certain existential factors arise in a society. Robert Merton is the most well-known proponent of the latter supposition and cites as empirical evidence for this notion, simultaneous and independent discoveries of similar concepts, which he terms "multiples." Opponents of this thesis, such as Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen, criticize the idea for several reasons. For example, there is the problem of long-delayed discovery, as well as the notion that scholars may write before their time, and finally the fact that the argument is largely tautological in nature.

This research offers an additional hypothesis for the Mertonian theory of inevitable discovery and thereby, helps to blunt some of the criticisms. This new thesis asserts that for discovery to be inevitable, certain existential factors must arise and two or more scientists must share a similar conceptualized reality. Hence, new existential factors only provide the necessary conditions for inevitable discovery, while the sharing of similar conceptualized realities supplies the sufficient conditions. To evaluate this proposition, the conceptualized realities and macroeconomic principles of two late seventeenth century English economists, Sir William Petty and Nicholas Barbon were evaluated and compared.

The results of the study indicate that these two writers of economic tracts did indeed share similar conceptualized realities, thus, establishing sufficient conditions for discovery. They were both the sons of artisans and had similar educational experiences in that they each studied medicine in the Lowlands as it was then taught.

The new proposition was then evaluated in two ways: First, their individual theories were compared and then, their overall macroeconomic analyses were contrasted. In regards to the first comparison, four of their respective individual economic theories can rightly be classified as what I have termed, "mini-multiples." I have defined mini- multiples as simultaneous independent discoveries found within the respective corpora of thought of two or more economists.

Secondly, the "central messages," a term coined by Don Patinkin, of these two economists also appears to be an example of independent, multiple discoveries. Petty's central message of a demand-driven economy that periodically experiences low levels of output and employment is echoed in the writings of Barbon. Consequently, this study indicates that the macroeconomic theories and analyses, that have as their underlying structure Petty and Barbon's conceptualized realities, do indeed seem to be examples of multiple discoveries.

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