Political economy midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Political economy midterm - Essay Example The basic classes of ontology available include upper ontology, process ontology, domain ontology, and interface ontology. Ontology focuses on status of reality, which can either be dependent or independent. Independent reality implies that reality does not depend on human interpretation2. Human beings have their own ways through which they interpret various aspects affecting their lives; when their interpretation of life does not determine the definition of reality, philosophers refer to that type of reality as independent reality. Dependent reality, on the other hand, implies that the meaning of reality depends on how human beings interpret the state of being. In this case, human beings are the determinants of how reality is interpreted. Positivism, as a philosophy of science, posits that the exclusive source of knowledge constitutes information derived from logical and mathematical studies plus the reports of sensory experience. According to the positivists, exclusive knowledge must be based verified data derived from empirical evidence. Empirical evidence refers to facts derived from scientific research as opposed to hearsay. Schroeder and Chester contend that positivists believe that the society operates according to general laws, just like the physical world3. Positivism subscribes to the belief that the study of the social world is similar to the study of the natural world. The natural world actually exists and its study depends on clearly observable features. Positivists believe that it is possible to understand the casual mechanisms characterizing the political economy just as it is done in physical sciences (Horwitz and Koppl 32)4. The primary objective of positivism science is to discover the universality of the aspects under investigation. For example, if positivists want to understand causes of poor economic performance, they focus on the