Encoded Knowledge: Epistemology of Computer Technology in Modern Economics

forthcoming

Modern economics has become an influential scientific discipline, but its ability to explain, predict, and provide solutions to socioeconomic problems has been questioned. The criticism of and debates about economics, including the philosophical discussions, ignore the role that computer technology has played in economic research. ENCODED argues for putting the focus on digital data and algorithms at the centre of the philosophical analyses of economics to achieve substantial breakthroughs in understanding modern economics and move debates in philosophy of economics beyond the state of the art. The hypothesis of the project is that reliance on computer technology in modern economics has transformative epistemological consequences. To investigate the hypothesis, ENCODED will analyse whether and how computer technology 1) has had an effect on what is being investigated in modern economics, 2) has affected economists’ theorizing and their choices of empirical methods, and whether and how 3) values embedded in this technology have influenced knowledge produced in modern economics. ENCODED will provide an innovative philosophical approach based on insights from philosophy of science, history of economics, science and technology studies, philosophy of data and algorithms. A crucial move to achieve the aim of ENCODED is to focus on the epistemological significance of the aspects of computer technology: digital data and algorithms. The focus on digital data and algorithms allows insights from the various disciplines informing the project to be synthesized. This focus will also allow for the development of innovative analysis of case studies (in decision theory, macroeconomics, financial economics, and empirical research), to address fundamental challenges to the epistemological analysis of economics brought about by computer technology, as well as to examine values encoded in computer technology and their importance for knowledge production in modern economics.