Rethinking Economics SYLAU

The Indian parable of the blind men and the elephant is a beautiful illustration of what pluralism entails. None of the men have ever come across an elephant before, and they can only conceptualize what it is by touching it. All of them touched it different points and had different perceptions like- a snake, rope, tree, or fan. Whilst all of their perceptions of the elephant are real, they incomplete pictures of what an elephant is, and by combining all of these perspectives together, our knowledge is enhanced.

Similarly, all economic theories are incomplete picture of the world. At the same time all of them are correct by different perspectives. But combination of all the theories can picture the real world of economics. This is what pluralism means.

Pluralism encourages the inclusion of a wide variety of neoclassical and heterodox economic theories—including classical, Post-Keynesian, institutional, ecological, evolutionary, feminist, Marxist, and Austrian economics, stating that "each tradition of thought adds something unique and valuable to economic scholarship.