Economics and Philosophy, 5, 1989, 209-233. Printed in the United States of America.

ECONOMICS AND HERMENEUTICS

LAWRENCE A. BERGER

University of Pennsylvania

I can't as yet "know myself," as the inscription at Delphi enjoins, and so long as that ignorance remains it seems to me ridiculous to inquire into extraneous matters. Socrates, Phaedrus, 230A

In a recent article in this journal, D. Wade Hands (1987) reviewed Charles Taylor's two-volume work, Philosophical Papers (1985). Hands predicts that Taylor's work will have no impact on the philosophy of economics. This may indeed turn out to be the case; but if so, it will only be because the profession is not listening. Of course, it is typical of the profession to be more interested in exporting its product than in learning from other disciplines. This is exemplified in Hands's use of the term "philosophy of economics" - philosophy is the handmaiden of the highly successful enterprise of economics. But this journal is called Economics and Philosophy, which means that a conversation requiring an openness and attentiveness is called for between economics and philosophy. If economics could risk its understanding of what it is about - if it could risk its "success" in conversation with other disciplines - only then could it aspire to grow beyond its current limitations and be open to what it could become. Economics is indeed a "prime candidate for his [Taylor's] hermeneutical reconstruction." Hands asks, "To what extent [is] economics more hermeneutical than the mainstream of other social sciences?" The answer is, yes, economics is about situated human activity, and as such
I am indebted to members of the Iowa Rhetoric Seminar for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. In particular, I wish to thank Donald McCloskey, William Schweiker, and especially David Klemm for their guidance. 1989 Cambridge University Press 0266-2671/89 $5.00 + .00.
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