Expert board:

• Scientific Council of RAS on economic history;
• Research and Educational Center «The economic history of Central Russia and the Middle Volga region» of Ogarev Mordovia State University;
• Center of Economic History of  Lomonosov Moscow State University

Certificate of registration

Il’ia N. Filimonov

Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow, Russia),

e-mail: filimonovilyan@gmail.com

 

The Exceptional Rules of the Epoch: Conceptualization of R. Fogel’s Historical Knowledge in the Prism of the Intellectual Heritage of S. Kuznets

 

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the contribution of economist Simon S. Kuznets and historian-economist Robert W. Fogel to the theoretical and methodological understanding of the processing nature of history, the continuity of their views on historical knowledge. From the point of view of historical science, both authors acted within the framework of the school of New Economic History, which originated in the depths of the National Bureau of Economic Research during the struggle for the formalization of historical and economic knowledge in 1950–1960s. This school left behind several theoretical and methodological ideas and concepts, including the “modern economic growth’s epoch” by S. Kuznets and “counterfactual propositions” by R. Fogel. The purpose of the article is to analyze these concepts and determine the general dependence/continuity in their relations.

Materials and Methods. The main attention is focused on the monographs by S. Kuznets and R. Fogel, their conceptual content. Analysis was chosen as the method of work. It’s a general scientific method implying consideration of individual aspects of the phenomenon. The study was conducted according to an inductive scheme. A critical question was asked regarding the categorical foundations of historical knowledge in the writings by S. Kuznets and R. Fogel. It was necessary to consider the possible intellectual continuity of the “teacher-student” relationship using the specific example. From particular reasoning concerning certain provisions of the ideas of scientists, the emphasis shifted towards the search for possible continuity.

Results. It has been revealed that the common refrain for both authors is the idea of a decisive contribution of scientific and technological progress to modern economic growth. The scientific revolution of the XVII–XIX centuries here represent a certain body of knowledge, which in interaction with demographic trends and changes in the structure of demand, determines the modern economic epoch. S. Kuznets’s understanding of long-term trends allowed R. Fogel to focus on a separate aspect of the changes – the development of railroads in the XIX century in the United States. To achieve the research objectives, the scientist uses the method known as “counterfactual propositions”, while remaining in the categorical field of “technological determinism” with his teacher.

Discussion and Conclusion. It is implied that the revealed connection could allow us to approach the study of the legacy of the New Economic History through the prism of the continuity of certain intellectual structures – in particular, counterfactual propositions as a localized method of historical science and its origins in the environment of socio-humanitarian knowledge. Reflection on the applied research methods could help increase the awareness of the researcher’s actions, deducing certain provisions of theoretical, methodological, and methodical guidelines from the sphere of the “unconscious”.

Keywords: economic history, modern economic growth, technological determinism, counterfactual propositions, hypothetico-deductive method.

For citation: Filimonov I. N. The Exceptional Rules of the Epoch: Conceptualization of R. Fogel’s Historical Knowledge in the Prism of the Intellectual Heritage of S. Kuznets. Economicheskaya istoriya = Russian Journal of Economic History. 2025; 21(1): 32–44.  (In Russ.). DOI: 10.24412/2409-630X.068.021.202501.032-044.

 

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