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Copyright © Cambridge Political Economy Society

research-article

Against Posner against Coase against theory

Uskali Mäki*

*Erasmus University Ratterdam

Abstract

In two articles published in 1993, Richard Posner characterised and vigorously attacked Ronald Coase's methodological orientation. Coase resisted Posner's diagnosis, but did not provide a response. This paper offers a response which Coase might have given. One of Posner's major claims was that Coase is ‘anti-theoretical’ or ‘hostile to theory’. Here it is suggested that Posner's allegations suffer from serious unreflected ambiguities. Once we distinguish between a few different meanings of ‘theory’ (and ‘theoreticity’), and between attitudes and accomplishments in regard to theory (or between being anti-theoretical, non-theoretical, pro-theoretical, and theoretical), it becomes possible to argue that Coase does not hold an anti- theoretical attitude even if his accomplishments fall short of theory in many (but not all) senses of the word. The larger relevance of this conflict is that its confusions tend to be characteristic of parts of the economics profession more widely.

Manuscript received February 3, 1997; final version received June 4, 1997.


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