The Advent of Political Economy at Cambridge: Considered in Terms of Organizations and Personal Networks

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03649
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic doctrine/Economic thought
• Research Institution: Kwansei Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: Kubo Shin 関西学院大学, 経済学部, 教授 (30276399)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: ケンブリッジ / 古典派経済学 / ウィリアム・ヒューウェル / リチャード・ジョーンズ / チャールズ・バベッジ / アドルフ・ケトレ / 統計運動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research project has come up with two findings, as regards the anti-orthodox economic movement that the early 1830s witnessed at Cambridge, where the economics professorship had been created in 1828. The first finding is that the establishment of the statistical section of the British Association in its 1833 meeting at Cambridge was a successful event in which the personal relationship between William Whewell and Adolphe Quetelet played a more important role than ever known. This suggests a node intermediating between the Cantabrigian network (the pivotal figure of which was Whewell) and the International Statistical Movement network (which was personified in Quetelet). The second finding is that in spite of the two's cooperation, there was a large rift between them as to the use of mathematics in social studies, a rift that would lead them to be in disaccord as to how to organize knowledge about society and economy.

Free Research Field

経済学史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

1830年代のケンブリッジにおける経済学の有り様は、従来、主として公刊されたテキストに基づき語られてきたが、各地に分散して所蔵されている手稿類や非公式資料を分析しさらにそれらを総合することによって、交錯する人的ネットワークが英国科学振興協会の1833年ケンブリッジ大会における統計部会という組織の設置に結びついていった次第を、（部分的とはいえ）明らかにした。このことは、単に従来知られていなかった事実を発見したということに止まらず、人的ネットワーク・組織両面から思想史にアプローチするという方法が新たな知見をもたらしたという点でも、少なくない学術的意義を有するものである。