Against the house-of-mirrors view of interdisciplinarity
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![Clement Levallois,[object Object],Collegio Carlo Alberto, Moncalieri,[object Object],May 19, 2011,[object Object],“Economics reflected in nature, nature reflected in economics”Against the house-of-mirrors view of interdisciplinarity,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-1-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![“To put the sketch crudely, Malthus began his essay by comparing people to animals in order to fix his conception of population pressing upon resources.,[object Object],“Darwin, as has often been noted, read Malthus and the political economists, and this (by his own testimony) prompted him to see competition and the division of labor in animal Nature.,[object Object],“Darwinism quite rapidly reprojected back upon society in the form of social Darwinism. Mix two parts social Darwinism with a dash of simple Marshallian microeconomics and you arrive at E. O. Wilson’s theory of sociobiology; opt instead for two parts game theory and you get the new population ecology.” (Mirowski 1994, 15). ,[object Object],“The spiral never stops,” continues Mirowski. ,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-3-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![Lotka, physical biology,[object Object],Samuelson, neoclassic economics,[object Object],Stanley Jevons, economics,[object Object],Glimcher neuroeconomics,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-5-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![EconomICS MEETING BIOLOGY,[object Object],There are a few basic, classic ingredients which recombine endlessly.,[object Object],The manner by which these ingredients combine is unimportant,[object Object],Invariably, these combinations are conservative if not reactionary in essence or tone.,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-6-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![Instead…,[object Object],For each new episode, the ingredients are different and varied,[object Object],The manner by which these ingredients combine is important,[object Object],Why many of these combinations are conservative (or portrayed as such) is a matter to be investigated, not a settled fact.,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-7-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![1. NEW INGREDIENTS,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-8-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![Example one: The variability of social Darwinism,[object Object],Source: Hodgson 2004,,[object Object],Journal of the History of Sociology,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-9-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![Example two: From the gene to the brain,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-10-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![2. The recipe matters,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-11-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![3. A persistent conservative flavor:YES BUT HOW?,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-14-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![1977,[object Object],2007,[object Object],The “iron cage” of science news reporting? (cf. Davidson 2009),[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-16-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![Conclusion,[object Object],The traits of the eco – biolo relationship are evolving,[object Object],The variability of these traits should be acknowledged, not dismissed,[object Object],The persistence of some traits should be explained, not assumed,[object Object],Thank you!,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-17-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![SELECTED References (1/2),[object Object],BoixMansilla, Verónica. 2006. “Assessing expert interdisciplinary work at the frontier: an empirical exploration.” Research Evaluation 15 (1) (April): 17-29.,[object Object],Daston, Lorraine, and Fernando Vidal, eds. 2004. The Moral Authority of Nature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.,[object Object],Davidson, Roei. 2009. The iron cage transmitted: The role of the business press in homogenizing economic ideas and practices presented at the Workshop “History of Economics as Culture,” ENS de Cachan.,[object Object],Glimcher, Paul W. 2003. Decisions, Uncertainty, and the Brain: The Science of Neuroeconomics. MIT Press.,[object Object],Hodgson, Geoffrey M. 2004. “Social Darwinism in Anglophone academic journals: A contribution to the history of the term.” Journal of Historical Sociology 17 (4) (December): 428-463.,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-18-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
![SELECTED References (2/2),[object Object],Levallois, Clement, Ale Smidts, and Paul Wouters. in preparation. Whose field is it? Disciplinary interactions in neuroeconomics. Erasmus University Working Paper.,[object Object],Mirowski, Philip. 1994a. Doing What Comes Naturally: Four Metanarratives on What Metaphors Are for. In Natural Images in Economic Thought: Markets Read in Tooth and Claw, ed. Philip Mirowski. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/levalloisslides-110519002816-phpapp01/75/against-the-houseofmirrors-view-of-interdisciplinarity-19-2048.jpg?cb=1671902026)
Against the house-of-mirrors view of interdisciplinarity
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A persistent view of the relationships between economics and biology is that "history repeats itself" again and again. This presentation challenges this view by insisting on the variability of the different episodes of this relationship. And I suggest that when there is indeed similarities, they should be accounted for, not judged as natural.
