Front Cover -- A Realist Philosophy of Economics -- Copyright information -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- About the Author -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Extended Preface: A Realistic Attitude to the Economy -- Prologue: Mittermaier's Conceptual Framework -- 1. A revolutionary goal, modestly presented -- 2. Primary components -- 3. Facts -- 3.1 Ex ante and ex post facts -- 3.2 Causal and casual facts -- 3.3 Confusing ex ante and ex post facts -- 4. Induction -- 5. Institutions -- 6. Genetic understanding -- 7. Logically valid conceptual argument -- 7.1 A methodology for scientific reasoning -- 8. Extending the framework -- 9. Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 1 Institutions and the Empirical Content of Economics -- 1.1 The question of institutions -- 1.2 Three aspects of institutions -- 1.2.1 Consistent conduct -- 1.2.2 Consistent conduct as a fragment of the whole -- 1.2.3 Consistent conduct as empirical orientation -- 1.3 On the empirical content of economics -- 1.3.1 Theory without empirical content -- 1.3.2 Empirical constraints versus empirical past -- 1.3.3 Observer perspective versus operating subject perspective -- 1.4 Purview of the following chapters -- 1.5 Plan of the following chapters -- Notes -- 2 Ex Post and Ex Ante Facts -- 2.1 A brief indication of the distinction -- 2.2 Plan of the chapter -- 2.3 The deterministic presupposition -- 2.4 The deterministic presupposition in economics -- 2.5 The free-will argument -- 2.6 The complexity argument -- 2.7 The impersonal perspective in the deterministic presupposition -- 2.7.1 Explanation and prediction -- 2.7.2 Chance and coincidence -- 2.8 Outline of a sceptic conceptual framework -- 2.9 The selection and testing of hypotheses: two aspects of the problem of induction -- 2.10 The philosophy of science applied to economics -- Notes -- 3 Structure and Equilibrium.

3.1 The line of investigation -- 3.2 Causal facts in practical applications -- 3.3 Deterministic notions and axiomatic constructs in equilibrium theory -- 3.4 Behavioural equations and ex post and ex ante facts -- 3.5 Some enquiries into the data of economic models -- 3.5.1 Static equilibrium without casual data -- 3.5.2 Static equilibrium in a temporal context -- 3.5.3 Comparative statics and ceteris paribus assumptions -- 3.5.4 The demand curve -- 3.5.5 Demand in an exchange economy -- 3.5.6 Some irreducible data -- 3.5.7 The variability of parametric data -- Notes -- 4 Rational Action -- 4.1 Maximizing behaviour -- 4.2 Consistent preferences -- 4.3 Means and ends -- 4.4 A short synthesis -- 4.5 Action as a logical category -- 4.6 Beliefs and preferences in ex post and ex ante contexts -- Notes -- 5 Variant Conceptions of Preferences -- 5.1 New and old paradigms -- 5.2 Marshall -- 5.3 Menger -- 5.4 Walras -- 5.5 Choice without utility -- 5.6 Consistent preferences in ordinary discourse -- 5.7 Ordinal preference fields -- 5.8 Complementarity and similarity -- 5.8.1 The definition of a good -- 5.8.2 A formal analysis of consistency -- Notes -- 6 The Genetic Understanding and Institutions -- 6.1 Explanation and induction -- 6.2 The method of Verstehen as a form of the genetic understanding -- 6.3 The abstract genetic understanding in economics -- 6.4 Consistent choice and institutions -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- Index.