The Use of Metaphors and Principles from Biology in Economics

Abstract

As put forward by Pinfold (2000) and several other articles in this journal the study of the sciences is often a fruitful way of stimulating the development of new thinking and new concepts. In the present article the methodical interest is attached to economists’ use of evolutionary and biological concepts and theories, because this subject is interesting in a broader sense. The evolutionary theories of the nineteenth century were of importance to the development of economics and social science in general; this tradition is in the article exemplified by contributions from the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. However, it is of importance to distinguish between on one hand the use of biological metaphors and on the other hand the assumption that certain principles are common to biology and the economics. It is argued in this article that the use of biological concepts and theories as metaphors in economics—more than as principles in common—implies an advantage because the biologists’ own professional doubts are not in a decisive way a matter of importance to social scientists.