HOW THEORY CAME TO ENGLISH CLASSICAL ECONOMICS

The confidently theoretical method of English classical economics is t raced to the Enlightenment's struggle to resolve the disputes between rationalism and anti-rationalism which had dominated the 17th century. it is argued that, in an attempt to resolve these disputes, several E nlightenment authors, including David Hume and Dugald Stewart, sought to unite empiricism with the notion of law-like universe by arguing th at economic laws are no more than general facts apparent from everyday life. This position, by denying that theory had any connection with t he hypothetical, the instrumental or the abstract, blurred the distinc tion between theory and fact, and taught Classical economists to see t heir theorising as fact. This position thereby gave the Classical econ omists licence to pursue their theoretical speculations, free from any doubts or uncertainties about their theorising.