Contesting the autonomy of political economy: The early positivist criticism of economic knowledge

Abstract

A strong critical movement emerged in the mid 1860s based on Auguste Comte's idea of a unified social science. Presented here is the debate over the independence of political economy vis-a-vis the other branches of social science, between Frederic Harrison and John Kells Ingram on the one side, and John Stuart Mill and John Elliot Cairnes on the other. While the independence of political economy was rescued, its policy relevance and public reputation were seriously affected. The positivist reaction helped unintentionally to establish economics with far less relationship to other social disciplines.