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TERRA ECONOMICUS

AN «ELEMENTARY PARTICLE» OF THE ECONOMY

TERRA ECONOMICUS, , Vol. 16 (no. 3),

The article deals with the necessity of focusing the attention of theoretical economists on the problem of determining the «elementary particle» of the economy. The author asserts that in natural science the elementary particles of complex structured research objects form a special class of objectively existing (albeit not always fixed) reality. The main distinguishing feature of elementary particles seen as the research objects is impossibility of decomposing them into constituent parts. This feature is an intrinsic epistemic for the natural science research. In other words, having an elementary particle broken up, the researcher shifts to a different – «non-economic» – level of being of social phenomena. This different – non-economic – cognitive level requires a different interpretation and methodologies. This impossibility (if we follow traditional, or classic, interpretation of the subject of economics) of further decomposition allows the researcher identification of the elementary (epistemologically-indivisible) particles of economic relations, and hence economic knowledge. The problem statement is formulated in the article, showing the epistemological importance of detecting the «elementary particle» for the social science. The author’s approach to an elementary particle of the economy is emphasized, the consequences of this approach for economics’ development are outlined.


Keywords: methodology of economic analysis; epistemological significance of detecting the «elementary particle» of the economy; humanities as a kind of natural science knowledge and natural science

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Publisher: Southern Federal University
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606