Circular Economy and Philosophy of Economics

There is little agreement on which alternative economic theories and economic systems are best suited to achieve an equitable and sustainable economy. It seems to us that the specific epistemological framework of the CE has been discussed even less, thus hindering the development of a solid strand of economic science. In Sections 13.1 and 13.2, we aim to shed some light on these intricacies by addressing the hypothesis of the inclusion of rhetoric within the scientific rationality of the CE. By considering such attempt, we can better identify the meaning and characteristics of the CE as a science and not just as “good practice”. Seeing that in the past decades the social scientists Herbert Simon, Daniel Kahneman, and Richard Thaler were awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics for showing how and explaining why people deviate from the standard decision theory, our reflection will later enable us to clarify the interaction between a scientific and a practical dimension rationality no more neoclassically limited and leading to a richer anthropological model at the base of economics (Section 13.3). Finally, this will allow to hint to perspectives and policies that can better promote an equitable and sustainable economy, dedicated to a richer anthropological agent and authentic subject of a plausible transition (Section 13.4)