Re: the superiority of economics ...

[Ellen Dannin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]

On Fri, 12 Dec 1997, James Devine wrote:

* * *  
> Lately, I've been wondering about the social-psychological basis of these
> claims of "superiority." Why make this kind of outrageous claim at all? Is
> it because we're working at a liberal arts college and have to rub shoulders
> with all sorts of theologians, social scientists, etc.? does our
> department's status at the bottom of this University's hierarchy invoke
> feelings of inferiority that encourage such assertions? But I feel that
> economists as a profession feel superior to non-economists. 

* * * 
> any thoughts?

William Jay Gould in "The Mismeasure of Man" argues that this tendency to
quantify and rank human beings, with the instrument for measurement being
defined to the measurer's advantage and measuree's disadvantage, is a
persistent feature of at least European thought. 

And it seems to me that lawyers are patently superior. After all, our
standard of analysis is so complex, all embracing, and difficult to
penetrate for the uninitiated (more work for lawyers is our mantrum) that
it defies quantification. Plus we have the best jargon. Quasi in rem
jurisdiction anyone?


Ellen J. Dannin
California Western School of Law
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA  92101
Phone:  619-525-1449
Fax:    619-696-9999