Scientific abstraction. Methods of economic theory

The logical (theoretical) approach to the study of these same phenomena does not serve as a mirror reflection of their historical path. It involves penetration into the essence of the phenomenon under study and abstraction, i.e. distraction from its secondary properties. As a result, a scientific understanding of this phenomenon arises, i.e. a logical concept is formed, or an economic category, for example, a product, price, money, competition, etc. This way of studying is called the method of scientific abstraction.

The method of scientific abstraction (abstraction) consists in abstraction in the process of cognition from external phenomena, insignificant details and highlighting the essence of an object or phenomenon. As a result of these assumptions, it is possible to develop, for example, scientific concepts that express the most general properties and connections of phenomena of reality - categories. So, abstracting from the countless differences in the external properties of millions of different goods produced in the world, we combine them into one economic category - goods, fixing the main thing that unites various goods - this is products intended for sale.

The most widely used in the course is the method of scientific abstraction, i.e. liberation of ideas about the subject and object of research from the particular, random, atypical, short-term, single and, on the contrary, finding in them the essential, general, permanent. Then the movement from the general to the particular begins.

The method of scientific abstraction requires the study of phenomena in their most developed, mature form. So, for example, when studying capitalism, K. Marx takes England as a model, as a country in which bourgeois production relations reached their highest development in that period.

The method of scientific abstraction allowed K. Marx to consider the movement of capital in the most general form, reveal the internal patterns of the reproduction of social capital and show its main trends.

If the subject of science reveals what is known, then the method reveals how it is known. Economic theory uses a wide range of methods of scientific knowledge. The most important of them is the method of scientific abstraction - a conscious abstraction from everything random that does not correspond to the nature of the subject being studied. With the help of this method, economic categories are formed, that is, special concepts that reflect the content of economic phenomena (for example, goods, money, price).

Method of scientific abstraction (abstraction - distraction).

The method of scientific abstraction is also used to build economic models - simplified representations of the relationships between economic variables. Economic variables are any natural or monetary values that have a quantitative estimate, for example, production volume, wages, costs, prices, etc. Some variables in the model can be presented as given (they are called parameters). Parameters can be determined by both external (exogenous) and internal (endogenous) causes. Thus, the amount of costs for the company's products may depend on the amount of income tax established by the state, that is, it is set exogenously, and on the technology used, which acts as an endogenous factor.

Analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction appear as forms of the method of scientific abstraction, since they are associated with abstraction and generalizations. Analysis in economic theory is the mental division of the subject of a given science or its individual links into its component parts and their subsequent separate study. Within the framework of a systematic, interdisciplinary approach to the consideration of economic relations, the so-called

Synthesis is an independent method of scientific research, consisting in the knowledge of a given phenomenon as a whole. Synthesis in economic theory is a combination of obtained as a result of analysis, but still disparate, uncoordinated knowledge. At this stage of the study, there is a need for abstraction, generalizations and conclusions are made, which makes the synthetic method of cognition related to the method of scientific abstraction. The results of the synthesis, being the result of an earlier analysis, themselves have an active feedback effect on it by concretizing and clarifying the scientific tasks arising from a holistic picture of economic relations.

The method of scientific abstraction is also associated with such particular methods of studying economic phenomena as analogy, economic modeling, marginal analysis, as well as abstract assumption "ceteris paribus".

Describe the method of scientific abstraction and give examples of scientific abstraction in the study of economic relations.

Method of scientific abstraction. Its essence is the purification of the object under study from the particular, random, transient and the allocation of the essential, permanent, typical. The result of scientific abstraction is

Modern R. is characterized, on the one hand, by the concentration of capital and the development of corporate forms of business organization, and, on the other hand, by the preservation of many small commodity producers with their inherent entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility, and adaptability. MARKET OF FREE COMPETITION - an ideal model of market relations, where all sellers and all buyers have equal rights, have complete freedom and ease of action. This model, being a scientific abstraction, serves as one of the methods for studying the real market.

Method is a way of research. Specific research tools (i.e. research methods) of the subject of financial management are scientific abstraction, analysis and synthesis, qualitative and quantitative analysis, economic and mathematical modeling of financial processes.

The method of scientific abstractions, or abstraction, is used to develop certain abstract concepts - the so-called ABSTRACTIONS, or CATEGORIES2 (such as price, money, cheap, expensive, etc.). To obtain any scientific abstraction, scientists abstract from the secondary properties of the object under study, and highlight the properties they need. Let's say to define

The word method comes from the Greek word "methodos", i.e. “the path to some goal”, meaning ways of knowing, a set of techniques and tools for studying natural and social phenomena. Any science has its own method, inextricably linked with its subject. After all, the method contributes to a deeper and more accurate comprehension of the subject of science. It is independently born and develops, improving in the process of obtaining more and more new knowledge. To some extent, we can say that the subject itself builds the method and, on the contrary, the method used in the study more and more clearly defines the content and boundaries of the subject itself.

Scientific knowledge of the method of economic theory is attributed to the distant times of antiquity, when the ancient Greek scientist Aristotle (384-322 BC) in his writings formulated the main principles of knowledge of both economic and social life with the help of the science of the forms and laws of thinking - logic. Such methods of knowledge formulated by Aristotle as analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy and some others are still used today in the analysis of economic processes and phenomena. Of course, as the subject of economic theory developed and became more complex, the methods of its cognition, its techniques, and methods for verifying the correctness of the knowledge obtained in the course of scientific analysis were simultaneously improved. It should be noted that there is a method of economic science in a broad sense, meaning a set of research methods and tools, as well as a method as a synonym for the method of scientific analysis, the form of displaying the results obtained (graphical method), the method of data processing (for example, the mathematical method). In this article, the word method must be understood in its narrow sense.

In economic theory, a sufficiently large number of methods for searching for new knowledge have been developed that reflect the specifics of its subject. Indeed, the economic sphere of human activity cannot be analyzed using, for example, chemical reactions or physical experiments, as is customary in the natural sciences. Economic theory is a humanitarian, social science, which is reflected in the narrowing of the possibilities of experimentation in the process of studying the economic life of society.

Economic science uses different methods of cognition of the sphere of economic activity, the main of which are analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, analogy.

Analysis- a method of cognition, involving the division of one whole into separate components and the study of each separately. An example is the study of the laws of formation of demand in the market by studying the factors that determine it - prices, incomes, consumer preferences, etc.

Synthesis- a method of cognition, which is based on the connection of individual parts of processes into a single whole. For example, market demand and its dynamics can be perceived only when it is studied as a whole, coupled with its components - prices, consumer incomes, etc. Analysis and synthesis are two interrelated aspects of the process of cognition.

Induction is a method of cognition, which is based on inferences from the particular to the general. Thus, the utility for an individual consumer of each subsequent type of the same good purchased by him decreases. Therefore, we can conclude that all consumers of this product will be ready to purchase this product only if its price decreases.

Deduction- a method of cognition that involves inferences from the general to the particular. An example, a general conclusion: all the military have an excellent noticeable posture. Therefore, seeing a person on the street with such a posture, despite the fact that he is dressed in civilian clothes, we can conclude that he is related to the military. By the way, this is how the famous detective Sherlock Holmes guessed the former profession of the military doctor Dr. Watson.

Analogy- a method of cognition, which involves the transfer of properties from a known phenomenon to the unknown. Achievements in various fields of knowledge can also be applied here. For example, money circulation is often compared with the circulatory system in the human body, and market equilibrium is conditionally similar to equilibrium in its physical sense.

All economic activity of people is diverse and complex, replete with contradictions and ambiguities. There are many different branches of production between which, on certain principles, the distribution of resources that are in limited quantities is carried out. Each sector of the economy consists of tens or even hundreds, thousands of small and large producers, which are somehow connected with each other organizationally, technologically or financially. Each manufacturer in the industry pursues its own interests while competing with other manufacturers. All consumers are interested in buying only high-quality goods at low prices, and manufacturers are vice versa. Tastes, preferences, preferences are constantly changing, fashion dictates its own trends. The government, through its activities, changes the level of income of the population of the country and the conditions for doing business. Bad weather can affect agricultural output, change consumer spending patterns and affect the demand for certain products. Uneven economic growth affects the level of employment, which, in turn, necessarily affects fluctuations in demand, new technologies change the structure of production, affect employment and demand for resources and final goods. The list of components of economic life can go on and on. All these circumstances and elements of economic life, named and unnamed above, are closely interconnected and influenced by each other.

Economic science, wishing to understand the whole essence of the phenomena of economic life and to determine the cause-and-effect relationships between them, uses method of scientific abstraction in order not to get confused in the whole multitude of mentioned and unmentioned facts, not to drown in their inconsistency and diversity. This method consists in highlighting the main thing in the object of study, but at the same time abstracting from the optional, temporary, random, non-permanent. The level of abstraction depends on the tasks set by the researchers. The more general the patterns under study are, the greater the level of abstraction can be. Undoubtedly, abstraction is always poorer than reality itself, but still, without it, it would be difficult to formulate certain scientific categories with which economic science operates. These categories express the general essence of some aspects of the objects under study. For example, such a category as “quantity of demand”, which is widely used and reflects the existing relationship between the amount of a product that consumers are willing to purchase and the unit price of this product, involves abstracting from a variety of parameters that characterize the behavior of consumers in the market - the change in income , tastes, preferences, traditions, personal characteristics, etc.

Also, using the method of scientific abstraction, the construction of economic models, which are simplified representations of the existing relationships between different economic variables. All of them (variables) are various monetary or natural values that have a quantitative assessment (wages, output, costs, inflation, prices, exchange rates, etc.). Certain variables contained in the model can be represented as given and are called parameters. These parameters can be defined as internal ( endogenous) and external ( exogenous) reasons. For example, the amount of costs required for the production of a firm's products may depend on the size of the state-established income tax, i.e. is set exogenous, as well as from the technology used in production, acting as an endogenous factor.

All economic models are developed to identify any principles that underlie economic activity and predict the possible consequences of changing certain of its elements. The resulting scientific conclusions and conclusions that are formulated on the basis of the study of models are called hypotheses- test statements about the absence or presence of certain causal relationships between certain phenomena and processes of economic activity. For example, the existing efficient market hypothesis, which states that the stock prices set on the stock exchange reflect and take into account all publicly available information. The falsity and truth of the presented hypothesis is checked by comparing it with real facts. The way in which a hypothesis is tested for truth is called verification. The method by which a hypothesis is tested to be false is called falsification. The totality of all verified hypotheses is theory- the sum of scientific provisions united by one general principle, which serve as an explanation of certain facts of economic life.

In the process of analyzing the phenomena of economic activity, a situation may arise when a fairly correct explanation of the facts is eventually given by several theories of different complexity. In such a case, preference is mainly given to the most simple theory according to the principle “ Occam's razors”, named after the 14th-century English philosopher William of Ockham, who proposed to “shave off” those details that complicate the theory and are not necessary to explain the facts under study, as well as the connections between them.

When developing economic models and formulating theories, economics learns the existing economic laws, - stable causal relationships between various phenomena of economic life. For example, the law of demand shows an inverse relationship between the price of most goods (there are exceptions) and the amount of consumer demand for them. Economic laws have an objective character, i.e. they act and exist independently of the consciousness, desire or will of individuals, groups of people, as well as the state. These laws can be investigated by economic science, but cannot be created by it. The discovery of economic laws is one of the most important functions of economic science and is of great practical importance, because only through the analysis of these laws can the state build an effective economic policy.

In the process of building economic models, identifying theories, formulating economic laws, economics widely uses the so-called functional analysis method, which reflects the principle of mutual dependence of economic phenomena. A function is a variable that depends on other variables. Thus, the function is a dependent variable of argument- independent variable. An example is the demand function, which determines demand depending on the factors (arguments) influencing it - the level of consumers' incomes, their expectations, tastes, preferences, prices of substitute goods, etc. Most often in economic theory, the functional dependence is determined only between two variables, the rest are assumed to be unchanged. This is done to simplify the research process itself, because simultaneous analysis of all or most of the arguments at once would complicate the process of analysis so much that it would become practically impossible. For example, the essence of the above can be considered on the basis of identifying the demand level of the price for a certain product, where demand is a function, and price is an argument. The remaining arguments, except for the price, are considered unchanged. In this case, demand is a function of price. However, quite often the function and argument can be swapped. And then, the price of the goods can become the dependent variable - after all, ceteris paribus, it depends on the amount of demand. In this case, price is a function of demand.

For a more visual manifestation of functional dependencies, we use graphic constructions within the framework of econometric modeling of economic processes. Econometrics- the science of measurements in economics, the results of which are used by economic theory. The widespread use of graphs makes it possible to visualize the existing functional relationships, both in statics and in dynamics, which are determined by changes in various indicators. Used by economists, the graphical method has an interesting feature - it has an independent variable ( argument) is mainly deposited on the y-axis, and the dependent ( function) - on the x-axis, which is due to the traditions that have developed in economics.

The article often contains the expression "ceteris paribus"(from lat. ceteris paribus). This is one of the important principles, quite often used in economic research to identify the functional relationships that arise between economic phenomena. Indeed, in order to trace the effect of the price of a commodity on demand, it is necessary to assume that the other arguments that affect demand in one way or another remain unchanged. Otherwise, it will not be possible to reveal the simultaneous influence of all factors on the volume of demand and to single out in this aggregate the effect of the price itself. In practice, it is quite difficult to ensure the "purity of the experiment", because “other things being equal” is constantly changing (fashion, tastes, preferences, expectations). As a result, the accuracy of the conclusions obtained in economic science is much inferior to such natural sciences as physics, chemistry, etc., where it is possible to ensure the purity of the experiment and the accuracy of the results in the laboratory.

In the process of tracing the cause-and-effect relationships that arise between economic phenomena, one can often observe a time gap between cause and effect. For example, an increase in the price of a certain commodity can almost instantly lead to a decrease in the magnitude of demand, and the introduction of a large amount of money into circulation, not backed by the mass of commodities, will cause inflation only after a few months. In both cases, the cause precedes the effect. The question arises: “If an event occurs later than another, does this mean that it is its cause?”. Of course not. Just as the ringing of an alarm clock is not at all the cause of morning, so many successive economic phenomena may not be in a causal relationship. For example, if, after the rise in prices for down jackets, their sales volumes also increased, then the conclusion that the increase in demand was the reason for the increase in prices will be incorrect. Here, the reason may be a completely different circumstance, for example, fashion, due to which the demand for down jackets has increased. Namely, the correct identification of causal relationships in economic life is a rather difficult task.

A lot of functional dependencies in the economy are explored through the use of limit analysis method. In economics, limit value is an additional value. For example, marginal utility is the additional utility a consumer receives from using an extra unit of a good. Marginal revenue is the additional revenue a firm earns from selling an additional unit of its product. Marginal cost is the additional cost to the firm of producing an additional unit of its output, and so on. One of the important principles of economic analysis is the comparison of marginal costs and marginal benefits in the process of assessing the state and further prospects for the activities of economic agents. It is clear that these same agents will continue to conduct their activities only when the marginal benefits from it will be greater than the marginal costs. The motivation to continue economic activity disappears as soon as marginal costs begin to exceed marginal benefits.

It should be noted that using the method of "marginal benefits - marginal costs", according to the supporters of "economic imperialism", it is possible to analyze not only economic behavior. Let's say that you have a great desire to throw a stone at someone else's garden. You, as a rational thinker, naturally compare your marginal benefits, such as the pleasure of watching the flight and landing of a stone, and the marginal costs, such as having to explain to a neighbor later or be subject to litigation. Here, your opinion will depend entirely on how correctly you can evaluate the ratio of these two limit values.

When the decision of one subject affects the decision of another, economic science, in order to study the interactions that have arisen between them, resorts to game theory, which deals with the general analysis of the strategic interaction between economic agents. Game theory can be applied to explain emerging relationships between firms in the market, participants in political negotiations, gamblers, as well as the behavior of consumers and producers.

Regarding use in research economic and mathematical method of analysis, it should be noted that it is quite productive, but only as long as it is a convenient form for the perception of economic content. Sometimes there is a separation of form from content and the applied economic and mathematical models begin to adhere to their own logic of development, which entails the appearance of erroneous conclusions.

Economics has a huge forecasting potential. Policy decisions based on the various findings of positive and normative economics may, in some cases, be the most useful and effective of all available options. But, you should not constantly blindly resort to this method, because. at any time, unforeseen consequences may arise, when the applied decisions entail unplanned, and sometimes directly opposite results. One of the phrases of the former Prime Minister of the Russian Federation V.S. Chernomyrdin became winged: “ We wanted the best, but it turned out as always ...» Do not forget about it.

The simplest and at the same time the initial element in the system of dialectics is the method of abstraction.

abstraction method(lat. Abstractio - removal) - the rejection of the superficial, non-essential aspects of the phenomenon in order to reveal its internal, essential, stable and universal connections, the actual trend of movement.

The result of abstraction (along with the use of other elements of dialectics) is the substantiation of economic categories. Abstraction only reflects in the form of thought the meaning inherent in things. The scientific definition of any economic category is facilitated by the use of the dialectical approach of the outstanding philosopher of antiquity Socrates (469-399 pp. BC). The basis of his views was the method of research and justification of clear definitions of concepts as the disclosure of their content.

For the knowledge of economic phenomena and processes, abstractions of the first, second and subsequent levels are used. The wider, capacious abstractions produced by economic theory, the more fully and accurately they reflect reality, the more effective their use as a tool of knowledge.

The definition of abstraction as a process of mental selection of essential features and ignoring non-essential ones is only one aspect of this method of cognition. Another important aspect of it is the need to consider certain economic phenomena or processes from a certain angle while ignoring all other properties. So, from the point of view of the social mode of production, the productive forces are related to its material content, production relations (property relations) - to social form. So, the socio-economic aspect of the productive forces does not exist in this case. When considering the structure ft of the system of productive forces as a relatively independent side of the social mode of production with its own internal laws, contradictions, natural, technical-economic and socio-economic aspects are distinguished in it. In the first case, productive forces are understood as productive forces with their inherent laws of organic and inorganic nature. In the second - the forces of nature are involved in production in the form of machines, structures. The socio-economic aspect of this system reveals the interaction of aggregate production, the social individual with the means of production and other elements of the productive forces in terms of material content, use value. In this case, we are talking about the social productive forces.

For an abstraction to be scientific, it is necessary to determine its boundaries, to prove that a certain aspect of an economic phenomenon or process does not affect their inner essence, the law of development and functioning.

The method of abstraction is a step towards elucidating the essence of the concrete, abstraction is one of the sides, facets, links, parts of the concrete and its opposite. A holistic object is concrete in the unity of its various aspects, properties, features. Each of them, after highlighting with the help of the method of analysis, clarifying the essence through the principle of contradiction, can be disclosed in a specific definition. Thus, the social mode of production in the dialectical interaction of its two sides serves as the subject of research. Separately, they clarify the essence of the productive forces and production relations (property relations). Each element of the productive forces is first considered separately, and then - in interaction. At the same time, in imagination, sensory perception, the concrete is the starting point.

specific(lat. Concretio) - a synthesis of many previously obtained definitions about individual aspects of a particular system and its structure, and therefore, the unity of the manifold.

Starting to analyze the productive forces and production relations, the researcher knows that they are integral parts of the social mode of production, the ownership of the means of production is an integral part of the entire system of property relations, etc. But in the process of thinking, cognition, the abstract is the starting point, and the concrete acts as synthesis process as a result. The real object in the process of cognition of its individual aspects must always be in the imagination of the researcher as a prerequisite.

The process of cognition (taking into account the dialectical unity of the abstract and the concrete)- the movement of thought from the concrete (in imagination, observation) to the abstract And from the abstract to the concrete, but already investigated, as a result of the synthesis of previously obtained knowledge about its individual aspects.

In the transition from the abstract to the concrete, one should remember about their relative independence, about the inadmissibility of a direct derivation of the concrete from the abstract. They are interconnected by a number of intermediate links, forms. An incorrect understanding of the relationship between the abstract and the concrete leads to crude empiricism and scholasticism.

After highlighting the economic relation using the method of abstraction, and its individual aspects - using the method of analysis, the principle of materialism is applied. When studying the mode of production in accordance with this principle, it is necessary to single out from the entire system of social relations (economic, social, political, ideological, etc.) basic, production relations, which are the main, primary ones. This is the materialistic understanding of history. According to the knowledge of the social mode of production, the principle of materialism provides for the need to determine the causes of the emergence and development of production relations, the elucidation of its initial driving forces - the productive forces. This principle is specified separately for relations of production and for productive forces. Regarding production relations (social form), it means the formulation of the principle of the primacy of production, since production relations in the process of direct production determine economic ties and relations in other areas of social reproduction (in distribution, exchange and consumption).

The application of the principle of materialism to the analysis of the system of productive forces involves the elucidation of the defining element of the integral system, which, from the side of material factors, is the means of labor. The division of the productive forces into personal and material, material and spiritual, and the emphasis on personal, spiritual aspects of production means singling out a person as a fundamental element.

When studying an economic phenomenon or process, one should be guided by the principle of materialism. Thus, when studying a commodity, one first analyzes its material content - consumer value, and the clarification of the dual nature of capitalist production is preceded by a characterization of the labor process and the like.

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The method of scientific abstraction consists in abstracting in the process of cognition from external phenomena, non-essential aspects and isolating (singling out) the deepest essence of the subject. This result is the concepts and categories of science. Cognition begins with the study of the concrete, with the analysis and generalization of empiricism. At this stage, the most general, abstract concepts of science are singled out and studied.

The method of scientific abstraction requires the study of phenomena in their most developed, mature form.

In order to understand what value or utility is, scientists use the method of scientific abstraction (lat. In the process: cognition, they are mentally distracted from the non-essential aspects J of the phenomenon in question in order to highlight the properties that reveal its essence.

In political economy, and in the social sciences in general, such a method of in-depth knowledge of reality as the method of scientific abstraction is of great importance. Abstraction means the purification of our ideas about the processes under study from the random, transient, individual and the allocation of durable, stable, typical in them. It is thanks to the abstraction method that it is possible to capture the essence of phenomena, to move from the essence of one level (order) to the essence of a higher level, to formulate the categories and laws of science that express these essences.

The calculation of a structure, taking into account all its properties, exact geometric dimensions, and strict interaction of elements with each other, is either theoretically impossible or practically unacceptable due to excessive complexity. Therefore, the method of scientific abstraction schematizes the structure, excluding secondary factors that do not significantly affect the reliability and accuracy of the calculation.

Economic theory uses a wide range of methods of scientific knowledge. The most important of these is the method of scientific abstraction. It consists in the purification of the study of the object from random, temporary and the determination of permanent, typical, characteristic features. With the help of the abstraction method, scientific categories are formulated that express the essential aspects of the objects under study.

Mathematical modeling is based on the fact that the main parameters of the economy are commensurable, and establishes qualitative and quantitative dependencies of variables that describe the economic process. When building a model, the method of scientific abstraction is used - the most significant connections are reproduced, and the researcher abstracts from minor ones.

The study of electrical engineering is also of great importance in the formation of the Marxist-Leninist worldview of students. When studying complex electromagnetic processes, the student is convinced of the effectiveness of the method of scientific abstractions - the only true way of knowing the truth.

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abstract idealization abstraction eliminative

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Use of Abstract Reasoning in Economics

Chapter 2. Abstraction and idealization - the beginning of theoretical knowledge

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

One of the most important methods of research with which political economy deals is the method of scientific abstraction. It consists in highlighting the most significant aspects of the phenomenon under study and abstracting from everything secondary, random. At the same time, the most general is first revealed, which characterizes the phenomenon, its inherent contradictions, and then a gradual transition is made to specific manifestations of its essence. This method of research characterizes the ascent from the abstract to the concrete.

A feature of scientific political and economic research is that in the study of economic processes it is impossible to use the methods and means widely used in the natural sciences. When analyzing economic forms, K. Marx emphasized, one should not use either a microscope or chemical reagents. Both must be replaced by the power of abstraction. It is known that any abstraction is poorer than a concrete phenomenon, but it allows a deeper understanding of reality, highlighting the most important, the most essential connection of one or another mode of production. Scientific abstractions expressing certain aspects of production relations are called economic categories. Taken in unity, economic categories characterize the system of production relations as a whole. Thus, in the process of studying reality, political economy moves from the analysis of simple economic categories to more complex ones, from the abstract to the concrete, and such a course of research reflects the real economic process in its emergence and development.

The general premise and condition on the basis of which the whole complex mechanism of human cognitive abilities arises and develops, actively refracting sensory impressions, has always been and remains practice - the active sensory-objective activity of a social person. But once it has arisen, let alone developed to a high degree, the system of forms of logical activity (categories) has the opposite, and very significant, effect on practice itself.

In economic science, for the analysis of economic issues, their characteristics, the identification of patterns of development, the appropriate conceptual apparatus is used: categories, concepts, laws.

Any science reflects its cognizable sphere of reality through a variety of concepts, but not all of them are categories. Categories are the most general and fundamental concepts that reflect the essential, universal properties and relationships of the phenomena of reality and cognition. The categories were formed as a result of the generalization of the historical development of knowledge and social practice.

Economic laws are stable, internal, necessary, essential, causal relationships between economic phenomena and processes.

The aim of the work is to consider scientific abstractions and economic categories.

Chapter 1.The use of abstract reasoning in economics

Induction, supplemented by analysis and deduction, joins together the corresponding classes of facts, arranges them, analyzes and deduces from them general formulations or laws. Then, for a while, deduction assumes a major role: it associates some of these generalizations with each other, deduces hypothetically new and wider generalizations or laws from them, and then again resorts to induction to do the bulk of the work of collecting, sifting and ordering these facts. so as to test and "verify" the new law.

It is clear that in economics there is no place for long series of deductive reasoning; no economist, not even Ricardo, has tried to use them. At first glance, it might seem that the frequent use of mathematical formulas in economic research suggests the opposite. But on closer examination it will become clear that such an impression is misleading, except perhaps in the case where a pure mathematician uses economic hypotheses for the sake of recreational exercises in mathematics, since in this case his goal is to show the possibilities of mathematical methods, assuming that the material intended to be used for these purposes was obtained as a result of economic studies.

He is not responsible for the material and often does not realize how far the strength of this material is from being able to withstand the stresses that arise in the mighty mechanism he uses. However, training in mathematics is useful in that it allows one to acquire the most concise and precise language for the clear expression of some general relations and some short processes of economic reasoning, which can indeed be expressed in ordinary language, but without equivalent clarity of scheme. And, much more importantly, the use of experience in working on the problems of physics makes it possible, like no other way, to comprehend the interaction of economic changes.

The direct application of mathematical reasoning in the discovery of economic truths has recently been of great help to mathematical specialists in the study of statistical averages and probabilities, and in measuring the degree of agreement between correlating statistical tables.

If we close our eyes to reality, we will be able to construct through imagination a majestic edifice of pure crystal, which, by reflections from its edges, will throw light on real problems, and perhaps it will be of interest to beings who do not at all face economic problems like ours. . Such imaginary journeys can suggest unexpected ideas, they are good exercises for the mind, and they seem to be beneficial as long as there is a clear idea of their purpose.

For example, the assertion that the dominance of money in the economy is the result of its existence as a measure of motivation rather than the goal of aspirations can be illustrated by the consideration that the almost exclusive use of money as a measure of motivation is, so to speak, accidental and perhaps , such randomness is not observed in any other world besides ours. When we want to get a person to do something for us, we usually offer him money.

True, we can appeal to his generosity or sense of duty, but this will mean setting in motion an already existing hidden motivation, and not creating a new one. If we have to give a new motive, we usually talk about how much money will be enough to repay the person's efforts. Sometimes gratitude, or respect, or honor put forward as an incentive to action can actually act as a new motive, especially if it can crystallize in some specific external manifestation. Such differences are relatively rare and are associated with only a few transactions; they are not used as a measure of the ordinary motives that determine the actions of people in everyday life. But political services are more often rewarded with such honors than in any other way, so we have become accustomed to measuring them by honors and not by money. We say, for example, that A's efforts for the good of her party or country were, as the case may be, justly rewarded with a title of nobility, while the nobility was an unworthy reward for B, who deserved the title of baronet.

It is quite possible that there are worlds where no one has ever heard of private property in material things or wealth as it is universally understood, but public honors are measured by graduated tables for every action taken for the benefit of others. If such honors can be transferred from one person to another without the intervention of any external authority, they can serve as a measure of the power of motivation as conveniently and accurately as money does with us. In such a world, there might be a treatise on economic theory very similar to our treatise, even if it contains little mention of material things and no mention of money at all.

It may seem almost trivial to insist on this, but there is no triviality here. The fact is that in the ideas of people a false association has arisen between the dimension of motivation, which occupies a leading place in economics, and exceptional attention to material wealth, leading to neglect of other and higher objects of aspiration. The only requirement for a measure of economic goals is that it must be something definite and transferable. The acquisition of a material form by this measure provides practical conveniences, but is of no essential importance.

Chasing abstractions is a good thing when done in the right place. But the breadth of those manifestations of human character with which economics deals has been underestimated by some writers on economic theory in England and other countries, and the German economists have done a great service in emphasizing this. However, they were apparently mistaken in assuming that the founders of English economic science did not see this circumstance. By tradition, English authors expect that in many ways their works will be supplemented by the common sense of readers; in this case, however, the restraint of the authors went too far and led to frequent misunderstandings both at home and abroad. As a result, people have the impression that the foundations of economics are already and less closely related to real life conditions than they really are.

Thus, Mill's statement that "political economy considers a person as engaged only in the acquisition and consumption of wealth", as well as "Logic", received great fame. However, they forgot that in this case he had in mind an abstract approach to economic questions, which he really once thought about, but which he never realized, preferring to write about "political economy with some of its applications to social philosophy." It is also forgotten that he further said: "There is, perhaps, not a single action in human life when a person was not under the direct or indirect influence of any impulse, except for the simple desire for wealth", and they do not remember that in his approach to economic matters constantly took into account many motives, in addition to the desire for wealth. However, his analysis of economic motives is inferior in its essence and method to the analysis of his German contemporaries, and especially Germans.

Instructive reasoning that pleasures that cannot be bought, measured, turn out to be different at different times and tend to increase with the progress of civilization, can be found in "Political Economy" Book ch. III. §3; The English reader may refer to Syme's Outlines of Industrial Science.

Perhaps it would be appropriate to give here the main names used in the analysis of economic motives in the third edition of Wagner's monumental treatise. He divides them into selfish and altruistic. Four motives are selfish. The first and most permanent in its effect is the desire for one's own economic gain and the fear of one's own economic impoverishment. Then comes the fear of punishment and the hope of reward.

The third group consists of feelings of honor and the desire for recognition, including the desire for moral approval from others and the fear of shame and contempt. And the last of the selfish motives is the desire for occupation, pleasure from the activity and pleasure from the work itself and the circumstances associated with it, including the "pleasure of the chase." The altruistic motive is the "coercive force" of the inner need for moral action, pressure from a sense of duty and fear of one's own inner strength, i.e. remorse.

In its purest form, this motive is presented as a "categorical imperative" to which a person obeys because he feels in his soul the need to act in one way or another and believes that such a need is just ... Following this need is undoubtedly constantly associated with a feeling of pleasure , and the rejection of it - with a feeling of pain. It can happen, and often happens, that these feelings act as powerfully as a categorical imperative, or even more powerfully, forcing us or helping to make us do something or leave something undone. And so long as this is the case, this motive contains an egoistic element, or at least enters into one of them.

Chapter 2. Abstraction and idealization - the beginning of theoretical knowledge

Abstractions arise at the analytical stage of research, when they begin to consider individual aspects, properties and elements of a single, holistic process. As a result, separate concepts and categories are formed that serve to formulate judgments, hypotheses and laws. At the final synthetic stage, all these elements, concepts, judgments, categories and laws are combined into an integral theoretical system, thereby ensuring the achievement of specific knowledge about a certain area of reality.

We simply abstract from them to make it easier to study a complex process that depends on many factors, and therefore we study them in parts. Therefore, when it comes to the study of any complex system or process in terms of their constituent elements or parts, the lack of analytical research should be further compensated by their synthetic study within a single, integral system.

In scientific knowledge, there are several types of abstraction, the simplest of which is the abstraction of identification, when objects of a certain class have a certain common property, and all other properties are abstracted. With respect to the selected common property, all objects of the corresponding class are identical, and therefore it can be abstracted, or separated from other properties. As a result of this, special concepts are formed, for example, such as gravity, cost and number.

A more complex character is inherent in abstractions associated with the formation of mathematical concepts, when one has to be distracted from the possibilities of constructing the corresponding mathematical objects. For example, in the abstraction of potential feasibility, one abstracts from the real possibility of constructing certain mathematical objects and admits the feasibility of constructing the next object if there is sufficient time, space, and materials. On this basis, firstly, an abstraction and, accordingly, the concept of potential infinity, namely, the potential possibility of constructing the next object in an unlimited series, if the previous object is given, is formed. Therefore, the natural series of numbers in this case is considered as indefinitely extended, since it is possible to add a unit to a given number and form the next natural number.

Secondly, one can apply a stronger abstraction and form the concept of actual infinity, in which one abstracts from the real possibility of constructing any natural number and admits the possibility of constructing an unlimited set of such numbers as actually constructed, completed. Thus, an infinite set is likened to a finite set.

A special kind of abstraction is the process of idealization, which is the ultimate transition from real-life properties of phenomena to ideal properties. For example, such idealizations as an absolutely elastic body, an incompressible liquid, an ideal gas, etc., are known from physics, which do not exist in the real world and therefore are simplifications that help to better understand the properties of real solid, liquid and gaseous substances.

Similarly, even in classical economic theory, the concept of the main ideal object of this theory was introduced - homo economicus, or economic man. It means such an imaginary person who, when making decisions, acts rationally in everything, is not subject to other people's opinions, prejudices, achieves the maximum benefit when making decisions. It is clear that such a person does not really exist, but the ideal image helps us to better understand what possible limit a reasonable person should strive for when making decisions.

Before starting abstraction, it is necessary, of course, to study specific facts, single out the main and secondary ones among them, bring them into a certain system, and only then begin to analyze and generalize them.

From the eliminative theory of abstraction, a number of consequences follow:

1) Abstraction is mainly the result of the impoverishment of a real object, and does not represent a new object. Abstractions themselves exist only in our minds. Since the general properties of objects are mainly associated with abstractions, it follows that the general as such is inherent only in our consciousness, and in reality there are only single objects (such a philosophical position is called nominalism).

2) The more general an abstraction is, the fewer features it contains, and vice versa. The eliminative theory of abstraction is characterized by the law of the inverse relationship between the volume and content of the concept.

3) The logic of eliminative abstraction is predominantly formal, highlighting general and particular concepts, their scope and content, relationships between concepts based on these characteristics.

Abstractions can be conditionally called productive abstraction. Here, abstraction acts as a kind of new essence in relation to the object of cognition, containing in itself something new that was not present in the object itself in such a form and was obtained not simply by impoverishing the object, but, as it were, by some of its qualitative transformation. It is productive abstractions that can be attributed to various limiting idealizations, the construction technique of which we considered in the chapter on scientific modeling. As already mentioned, when constructing the ultimate idealization, a sensual object (situation) is compared with a potentially infinite series of derivative situations that gradually approach a certain limit, which itself is no longer observed in sensual reality. This limit will turn out to be some new entity in relation to the object, which, taken as such, will be a productive abstraction. This is how many scientific idealizations are formed - "material point", "ideal gas", "absolutely rigid body", etc.

Conclusion

So, induction, supplemented by analysis and deduction, connects together the corresponding classes of facts, arranges them, analyzes and derives from them general formulations or laws. It is clear that in economics there is no place for long series of deductive reasoning; no economist, not even Ricardo, has tried to use them. At first glance, it might seem that the frequent use of mathematical formulas in economic research suggests the opposite. Chasing abstractions is a good thing when done in the right place. But the breadth of those manifestations of human character with which economics deals has been underestimated by some writers on economic theory in England and other countries, and the German economists have done a great service in emphasizing this. However, they were apparently mistaken in assuming that the founders of English economic science did not see this circumstance.

Abstraction and idealization are the most important methods of any theoretical research. As the term "abstraction" itself shows (from the Latin abstraction - selection, distraction or separation), this technique helps to abstract from some unimportant and therefore secondary in a certain respect properties or features of the phenomena under study and especially complex processes, and highlight the essential and defining. This does not mean that non-essential properties are always such under all conditions. In another respect, an unimportant property may become essential. Similarly, in order to establish the relationship between supply and demand in a market economy, one has to simplify the real situation on the market and abstract from non-essential properties and factors. We simply abstract from them to make it easier to study a complex process that depends on many factors, and therefore we study them in parts. In scientific knowledge, there are several types of abstraction, the simplest of which is the abstraction of identification, when objects of a certain class have a certain common property, and all other properties are abstracted. With respect to the selected general property, all objects of the corresponding class are identical, and therefore it can be abstracted, or separated from other properties. As a result of this, special concepts are formed, for example, such as gravity, cost and number.

Isolating abstraction is characterized by the abstraction of certain properties and relations of the objects under study and their consideration as individual, independent objects, such as whiteness, brightness, kindness, friendship. In all these examples, a specific property inherent in real objects is considered as an independent abstract object.

List of used literature

1. Galperin V.M. etc. Microeconomics. St. Petersburg: School of Economics, 2014. - 548p.

2. Emtsov R.G., Lukin M.Yu. Microeconomics. M.: MSU, 2013. - 320p.

3. Iokhin V.Ya. economic theory. M.: Jurist, 2014. - 861s.

4. Kamaev V.D. Economic theory. M.: VLADOS, 2014. - 640s.

5. Shishkin A.F. Economic theory. M.: VLADOS, 2015. - 656s.

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Scientific abstraction. Methods of economic theory

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List of used literature

1. Galperin V.M. etc. Microeconomics. St. Petersburg: School of Economics, 2014. - 548p.

2. Emtsov R.G., Lukin M.Yu. Microeconomics. M.: MSU, 2013. - 320p.

3. Iokhin V.Ya. economic theory. M.: Jurist, 2014. - 861s.

4. Kamaev V.D. Economic theory. M.: VLADOS, 2014. - 640s.

5. Shishkin A.F. Economic theory. M.: VLADOS, 2015. - 656s.

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Scientific abstraction. Methods of economic theory

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

List of used literature

1. Galperin V.M. etc. Microeconomics. St. Petersburg: School of Economics, 2014. - 548p.

2. Emtsov R.G., Lukin M.Yu. Microeconomics. M.: MSU, 2013. - 320p.

3. Iokhin V.Ya. economic theory. M.: Jurist, 2014. - 861s.

4. Kamaev V.D. Economic theory. M.: VLADOS, 2014. - 640s.

5. Shishkin A.F. Economic theory. M.: VLADOS, 2015. - 656s.

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