Vol. 45 No. 1 (2025)
Jan-Mar / 2025
Published December 27, 2024
How to Cite
Lima, Luiz Antonio de Oliveira. 2024. “Putnam, Sen, and Smith: A Critical Reflection on the Neoclassical Economic Theory”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 45 (1):104-25. https://doi.org/10.1590/0101-31572025-3666.
Putnam, Sen, and Smith: A critical reflection on the Neoclassical Economic Theory
Abstract
The article aims to show the fragility of the epistemological bases of the current
conventional economic theory, especially in its neoclassical view. This criticism is based on
the vision of the Indian economist Amartya Sen and the foundations and objective of Adam
Smith’s “Wealth of Nations”, as well as on the work of the philosopher and logician W. V.
Quine and the logician H. Putnam. It also intends to suggest an alternative paradigm of analysis
based on P. Sraffa and John Von Neuman.
JEL Classification: PI6.
Keywords: Epistemological bases of conventional economic theory critics of such a basis a theoretical alternative Sraffa and Von Neuman’s structural model