Jeremy Shearmur
Biographic Data
| ID | 319174 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jeremy Shearmur |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jeremy |
| FAMILY NAME | Shearmur |
| SIGNATURE | SHEARMUR J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Australian National University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 300 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1982 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Objective Knowledge
Agassi’s “Sensationalism” and Popper on the Empirical Basis
This paper discusses Agassi’s critique of Popper’s theory of the “empirical basis”. It argues that Popper’s theory should be interpreted with emphasis on its realism and anti-subjectivism, and as stressing a tentative inter-subjective consensus as to what is observed when tests are made. It agrees with Agassi’s critique of “sensationalism”, disagrees that there are residues of “sensationalism” in Popper’s approach, and argues that Popper’s view s…
Joseph Agassi’s Contribution to Philosophy
Ian C. Jarvie, Critical Rationalism and Methodological Individualism
Hayek and the Methodenstreit at the LSE
Friedrich Hayek’s Inaugural Address at the London School of Economics (LSE), ‘The Trend of Economic Thinking’ (1 March 1933), has been recognized as of particular importance for the understanding of his work. In it, Hayek argues that economics has a key role of showing what we cannot achieve: of showing that some attractive ideals are utopian. In developing this theme, Hayek referred to Mises’ arguments about the problems of economic calculation …
Popper, Objectification, and the Problem of the Public Sphere
Shearmur argues for the importance of Popper’s ideas about World 3, and against the idea that they should be re-interpreted in social terms. However, he also argues for the importance of Popper’s ideas about methodological rules—and that these may be given a partially social interpretation. The content of our ideas may in consequence differ from what we take it to be, as a consequence of our institutions and practices operating as methodological …
The Woking Mosque Muslims
This paper discusses the views and social character of the group of British Muslims, centred round the Woking Mosque in the period immediately following the First World War. It argues that this group had four distinctive characteristics. First, it formed its own cultural community, rather than joining a pre-existing ethnic community. Second, it espoused an orthodox but modernistic Islam, influenced by—while not sharing the distinctive doctrines o…
The Constitution of Liberty
Book Review| June 01 2014 The Constitution of Liberty: The Definitive Edition The Constitution of Liberty: The Definitive Edition. By Hayek, F. A.. Edited by Hamowy, Ronald. Vol. 17 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. xii; 583 pp. Cloth$91.00; paper$25.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2014) 46 (2): 348–352. ht…
Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason
Book Review| November 01 2012 Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents. Edited by Caldwell, Bruce. Vol. 13 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. 331 pp. Cloth$60.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2012) 44 (4): 730–732. https://do…
On Barry Hindess’ Philosophy and Methodology in the Social Sciences
This article discusses Barry Hindess' strangely neglected Philosophy and Methodology in the Social Sciences and, in particular, his critical engagement there with Karl Popper. It argues that while there are some minor flaws in his interpretation, Hindess raises an issue of the greatest importance. This concerns how it can be coherent to test theories on the basis of reports on observations which are taken to have theoretical content. Shearmur sug…
Steve Fuller and Intelligent Design
This essay offers a critical introduction to the intellectual issues involved in the Kitzmiller case relating to intelligent design, and to Steve Fuller’s involvement in it. It offers a brief appraisal of the intelligent design movement stemming from the work of Phillip E. Johnson, and of Steve Fuller’s case for intelligent design in a rather different sense
The Road to Serfdom
Book Review| September 01 2008 The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents; The Definitive Edition The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents; The Definitive Edition. Vol. 2 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, edited by Bruce Caldwell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. viii; 283 pp. $15.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2008) 40 (3): 564–565. https://…
In Defense of the Commercial Provision of Blood
Kuhn vs. Popper
Popper, political philosophy, and social democracy
The later thought of Karl Popper—notably, his ideas about traditions and his "modified essentialism" in the philosophy of natural science— should lead to revisions in the political philosophy set out in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The structural approach allowed for by Popper's modified essentialism, and the delicate nature of traditions, buttress certain issues raised by Friedrich Hayek that pose serious problems for Popper's social‐democr…
Popper, Hayek, and the Poverty of Historicism Part I
L'A. etudie les circonstances de la publication de «La pauvrete de l'historicisme», ouvrage rassemblant trois articles de K. Popper parus dans la revue «Economica», alors dirigee par Hayek. Sans entrer dans le debat sur la methodologie des sciences sociales qui a lie les deux penseurs, mais en retracant l'histoire du manuscrit a la lumiere de leur correspondance, l'A. reproduit ici le texte de la premiere partie de l'ouvrage avec les coupures qu'…
Philosophical Method, Modified Essentialism and the Open Society
Epistemology and Human Nature in Popper's Political Theory
Schutz, Machlup and rational economic man
Starting from a question posed by Schutz's ‘postulate of adequacy’, and its enndorsement by Machlup, the author asks what constraints there should be in the representation of human action in our models, given that it is our action that is being represented. He argues that metholdological individualism has, historically, been interpreted in two different ways: as leading to subjectivism or to mamimization approaches which exhibit little interest i…
The Scope and Status of Prudential Liberalism
The article discusses prudential liberalism: the attempt to develop classical liberal ideas upon the basis of purely prudential argument. It is argued, with particular reference to Narveson, that the universalism of classical liberalism cannot be sustained on such a basis. This faces the proponents of prudential liberalism with a problem: to reject universalism (and especially in light of the sort of example discussed in this article) would requi…
Plant, Hirsch and Positional Goods
In Defense of Neoliberalism
In Defense of Neoliberalism Jeremy Shearmur (bio) I will address my comments primarily to Adam Przeworski's wide-ranging essay on the relation between differing economic approaches and democracy. He offers much to give pause to those who are overly optimistic about the possibilities of a swift and easy transition to a decent, humane, and reasonably affluent social order in Central and Eastern Europe, or who think that it is obvious that developme…
Common Sense and the Foundations of Economic Theory Duhem versus Robbins
Consumer Sovereignty, Prices and Preferences for Higher-order Goods
This paper considers two arguments for markets: prices, within them, allow us to coordinate our activities in situations of dispersed knowledge and ignorance, and markets foster consumer sovereignty. It suggests that these – telling – arguments stand in need of qualification, in the light of consumers' preferences for ‘higher-order’ goods, which may be difficult to exhibit through choices in the market-place. It suggests that such preferences are…
Epistemological Limits of the State
The ethical theory of Popper's Open Society threatens, against his wishes, to lapse into a form of relativism. This consequence is avoided if a closer parallel than Popper himself allows for is drawn between his ethical theory and his epistemology. This produces a fallibilistic ethical intuitionism, in which the judgements of the individual are subject to criticism by the judgements of others. From this, however, an epistemological rationale is p…
Objective Knowledge
The Road to Serfdom
Book Review| September 01 2008 The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents; The Definitive Edition The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents; The Definitive Edition. Vol. 2 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, edited by Bruce Caldwell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. viii; 283 pp. $15.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2008) 40 (3): 564–565. https://…
The Woking Mosque Muslims
This paper discusses the views and social character of the group of British Muslims, centred round the Woking Mosque in the period immediately following the First World War. It argues that this group had four distinctive characteristics. First, it formed its own cultural community, rather than joining a pre-existing ethnic community. Second, it espoused an orthodox but modernistic Islam, influenced by—while not sharing the distinctive doctrines o…
Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason
Book Review| November 01 2012 Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents. Edited by Caldwell, Bruce. Vol. 13 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. 331 pp. Cloth$60.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2012) 44 (4): 730–732. https://do…
Popper, political philosophy, and social democracy
The later thought of Karl Popper—notably, his ideas about traditions and his "modified essentialism" in the philosophy of natural science— should lead to revisions in the political philosophy set out in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The structural approach allowed for by Popper's modified essentialism, and the delicate nature of traditions, buttress certain issues raised by Friedrich Hayek that pose serious problems for Popper's social‐democr…
Schutz, Machlup and rational economic man
Starting from a question posed by Schutz's ‘postulate of adequacy’, and its enndorsement by Machlup, the author asks what constraints there should be in the representation of human action in our models, given that it is our action that is being represented. He argues that metholdological individualism has, historically, been interpreted in two different ways: as leading to subjectivism or to mamimization approaches which exhibit little interest i…
Epistemological Limits of the State
The ethical theory of Popper's Open Society threatens, against his wishes, to lapse into a form of relativism. This consequence is avoided if a closer parallel than Popper himself allows for is drawn between his ethical theory and his epistemology. This produces a fallibilistic ethical intuitionism, in which the judgements of the individual are subject to criticism by the judgements of others. From this, however, an epistemological rationale is p…
Habermas
In Defense of Neoliberalism
In Defense of Neoliberalism Jeremy Shearmur (bio) I will address my comments primarily to Adam Przeworski's wide-ranging essay on the relation between differing economic approaches and democracy. He offers much to give pause to those who are overly optimistic about the possibilities of a swift and easy transition to a decent, humane, and reasonably affluent social order in Central and Eastern Europe, or who think that it is obvious that developme…
From dialogue rights to property rights
Hayek's philosophy of law has Kantian features, but he offers indirect utilitarian arguments for them. Hayek's argument might be strengthened by considering that the utilitarian has an interest in issues of truth and falsity and thus in the individual as the bearer of critical judgments. Individuals might thus be accorded “dialogue rights”; upon a (Popperian) episte‐mological basis, an idea which is further strengthened by the consideration that …
Realism Under Attack
Popper's critique of Marxism∗
Rationality and Relativism
The Structure and Development of Science
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access The Structure and Development of Science. Edited by Gerard Radnitzky and Gottnab Andkrsson. [Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Volume LIX.] (Dordrecht: Beidel, 1979. Pp. ix+282.) Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur University of Edinburgh Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 32, Issue 128, July 1982, Pages 289–291, https://doi.or…
In Pursuit of Truth
Realism Under Attack
Popper's critique of Marxism∗
Rationality and Relativism
Habermas
Epistemological Limits of the State
The ethical theory of Popper's Open Society threatens, against his wishes, to lapse into a form of relativism. This consequence is avoided if a closer parallel than Popper himself allows for is drawn between his ethical theory and his epistemology. This produces a fallibilistic ethical intuitionism, in which the judgements of the individual are subject to criticism by the judgements of others. From this, however, an epistemological rationale is p…
From dialogue rights to property rights
Hayek's philosophy of law has Kantian features, but he offers indirect utilitarian arguments for them. Hayek's argument might be strengthened by considering that the utilitarian has an interest in issues of truth and falsity and thus in the individual as the bearer of critical judgments. Individuals might thus be accorded “dialogue rights”; upon a (Popperian) episte‐mological basis, an idea which is further strengthened by the consideration that …
From intersubjectivity through epistemology to property
Michelman's emphasis upon intersubjectivity is commendable; but a cognitive approach is required to generate rights. Michelman has raised a significant point against Shearmur's earlier paper: does it offer a rationale for according rights to every individual with whom our relationship may be remote? Michelman's suggestion that oppression might itself be a source of illumination should be declined, however, so it is tentatively suggested— with ref…
Common Sense and the Foundations of Economic Theory Duhem versus Robbins
Consumer Sovereignty, Prices and Preferences for Higher-order Goods
This paper considers two arguments for markets: prices, within them, allow us to coordinate our activities in situations of dispersed knowledge and ignorance, and markets foster consumer sovereignty. It suggests that these – telling – arguments stand in need of qualification, in the light of consumers' preferences for ‘higher-order’ goods, which may be difficult to exhibit through choices in the market-place. It suggests that such preferences are…
The Scope and Status of Prudential Liberalism
The article discusses prudential liberalism: the attempt to develop classical liberal ideas upon the basis of purely prudential argument. It is argued, with particular reference to Narveson, that the universalism of classical liberalism cannot be sustained on such a basis. This faces the proponents of prudential liberalism with a problem: to reject universalism (and especially in light of the sort of example discussed in this article) would requi…
Plant, Hirsch and Positional Goods
In Defense of Neoliberalism
In Defense of Neoliberalism Jeremy Shearmur (bio) I will address my comments primarily to Adam Przeworski's wide-ranging essay on the relation between differing economic approaches and democracy. He offers much to give pause to those who are overly optimistic about the possibilities of a swift and easy transition to a decent, humane, and reasonably affluent social order in Central and Eastern Europe, or who think that it is obvious that developme…
Schutz, Machlup and rational economic man
Starting from a question posed by Schutz's ‘postulate of adequacy’, and its enndorsement by Machlup, the author asks what constraints there should be in the representation of human action in our models, given that it is our action that is being represented. He argues that metholdological individualism has, historically, been interpreted in two different ways: as leading to subjectivism or to mamimization approaches which exhibit little interest i…
Philosophical Method, Modified Essentialism and the Open Society
Epistemology and Human Nature in Popper's Political Theory
Popper, Hayek, and the Poverty of Historicism Part I
L'A. etudie les circonstances de la publication de «La pauvrete de l'historicisme», ouvrage rassemblant trois articles de K. Popper parus dans la revue «Economica», alors dirigee par Hayek. Sans entrer dans le debat sur la methodologie des sciences sociales qui a lie les deux penseurs, mais en retracant l'histoire du manuscrit a la lumiere de leur correspondance, l'A. reproduit ici le texte de la premiere partie de l'ouvrage avec les coupures qu'…
Popper, political philosophy, and social democracy
The later thought of Karl Popper—notably, his ideas about traditions and his "modified essentialism" in the philosophy of natural science— should lead to revisions in the political philosophy set out in The Open Society and Its Enemies. The structural approach allowed for by Popper's modified essentialism, and the delicate nature of traditions, buttress certain issues raised by Friedrich Hayek that pose serious problems for Popper's social‐democr…
In Defense of the Commercial Provision of Blood
Kuhn vs. Popper
The Road to Serfdom
Book Review| September 01 2008 The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents; The Definitive Edition The Road to Serfdom: Text and Documents; The Definitive Edition. Vol. 2 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek, edited by Bruce Caldwell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. viii; 283 pp. $15.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2008) 40 (3): 564–565. https://…
Steve Fuller and Intelligent Design
This essay offers a critical introduction to the intellectual issues involved in the Kitzmiller case relating to intelligent design, and to Steve Fuller’s involvement in it. It offers a brief appraisal of the intelligent design movement stemming from the work of Phillip E. Johnson, and of Steve Fuller’s case for intelligent design in a rather different sense
On Barry Hindess’ Philosophy and Methodology in the Social Sciences
This article discusses Barry Hindess' strangely neglected Philosophy and Methodology in the Social Sciences and, in particular, his critical engagement there with Karl Popper. It argues that while there are some minor flaws in his interpretation, Hindess raises an issue of the greatest importance. This concerns how it can be coherent to test theories on the basis of reports on observations which are taken to have theoretical content. Shearmur sug…
Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason
Book Review| November 01 2012 Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents Studies on the Abuse and Decline of Reason: Text and Documents. Edited by Caldwell, Bruce. Vol. 13 of The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. 331 pp. Cloth$60.00. Jeremy Shearmur Jeremy Shearmur Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google History of Political Economy (2012) 44 (4): 730–732. https://do…
Philosophy (26 works) · Epistemology (24 works) · Sociology (23 works) · Political science (20 works) · Law (18 works) · Law (15 works) · Philosophy (15 works) · Economic Theory and Institutions (14 works) · Politics (12 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (11 works)