The Epistemological Positions of Léon H. Dupriez

The main aspects of the epistemological positions of Leon H. Dupriez can be defined by reference to three themes that represent his basic options: (1) epistemological concern, leading to the adoption of a realist position; (2) the philosophical character of that position, manifesting itself above all in the adoption of a theory of action as the philosophical basis of economics; and (3) the key role of the concept of telos as a principle behind the intelligibility of economic phenomena connected with the idea of general equilibrium. This paper focuses on the status and role of the ideas of finality and equilibrium as used by Dupriez and raises the question of the legitimacy and explanatory value of a theory that has recourse to a causality of a finalist type.