Mechanistic complexity economics: a methodological framework for economic science

The central argument of this thesis is that economic science requires a methodological reorientation in order to realign with contemporary philosophy of science. This is argued with reference to both the the history of general philosophy of science - in particular the literatures on scientific explanation and the structure of scientific theories - and the history of the methodology of economics. It is also argued that the heterodox school of economic thought, known as complexity economics, offers a valid basis for achieving such a reorientation.