Research Interests
Social ontology, philosophy of science, political economy and history of thought
Selected Publications
Published Papers
Lawson, T. Social Positioning Theory and Quantum Mechanics, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, forthcoming, (2023)Lawson, T. The Human Person, the Human Social Individual and Community Interactions, Cambridge Journal of Economics, (2023) vol 47(3) pp. 475–506
Lawson, T. Two Conceptions of the Nature of Money: Clarifying Differences Between MMT and Money Theories Sponsored by Social Positioning Theory, Real-World Economics Review, (2022) vol 102 pp. 2-19
Lawson, T. Social Positioning Theory, Cambridge Journal of Economics, (2022) vol 46(1) pp. 1-39
Lawson, T. Whatever Happened to Neoclassical Economics?, Revue de Philosophie Économique, (2021) vol 22 pp. 39-84
Lawson, T. Money’s Relation to Debt: some problems with MMT’s conception of money, Real-World Economics Review, (2019)(89) pp. 109-128
Lawson, T. Debt as Money, Cambridge Journal of Economics, (2018) vol 42(4) pp. 1165–1181
Lawson, T. The Constitution and Nature of Money, Cambridge Journal of Economics, (2018) vol 42(3) pp. 851-873
Authored Book
Lawson, T. The Nature of Social Reality: Issues in Social Ontology, (2019) Economics as Social Theory - RoutledgeLawson, T. The Nature and State of Modern Economics, (2015) Economics as Social Theory - Routledge
Lawson, T. Reorienting Economics, (2003) - Routledge
Lawson, T. Economics and Reality, (1997) - Routledge
Chapter in Book
Lawson, T. Categorisation, Criticism and Pluralism in Context: Open and Closed Systems and the Project of Mathematical Modelling in Modern Economics, (2022) in the book: Economic Methodology, History and Pluralism. Expanding Economic Thought to Meet Contemporary Challenges - London and New York: RoutledgeLawson, T. The Nature of Money and Possibility of Cryptocurrency Money, (2019) in the book: Cryptocurrencies and the Future of Money - IE Centre for the Governance of Change
Lawson, T. Eudaimonic Bubbles, Social Change and the NHS, (2017) in the book: Morphogenesis and Eudaimonia - Springer
Lawson, T. What is this 'school' called neoclassical economics?, (2016) in the book: What is neoclassical economics? Debating the origins, meaning and significance - Routledge
Lawson, T. Ideology and economics, (2016) in the book: Crisis system: a critical realist and environmental critique of economics and the economy - Routledge
Research Projects and Seminars
Cambridge Social Ontology Group
Cambridge Realist Workshop
Research Activities
The Nature of Social Reality: Issues in Social Ontology
Professor Tony Lawson's new book "The Nature of Social Reality: Issues in Social Ontology" has been published by Routledge. It is part of their Economics as Social Theory series. - Published on: Wednesday 12th June 2019
Conference Marking 25 Years of the Cambridge Realist Workshop
A Reunion Conference was held in Newnham College Cambridge, September 7-9 2015. It was held to mark the the fact that the Cambridge Realist workshop has been running for 25 Years. - Published on: Wednesday 1st July 2015
Research Grants
ISRF Professorial Research Fellowship (Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF))
Teaching
PIIA Paper 8 - Lent - Issues in Social Ontology