ABSTRACT
This chapter plays a bridging role. In the previous chapters of this Part we have presented what one might call a philosophical history of technology. We have discussed technologies from the steam engine to the electronic digital computer, but not from a purely technical point of view: we sought to bring out the connections between the technologies themselves and their scientific underpinnings and consequences, as well as their social motivations and effects. And in particular we sought to show that a wide range of seemingly disparate socio-economic and technical phenomena can be unified by taking the perspective of the science of information. In the next Part we focus on theoretical analysis of the economy. The present chapter lays the groundwork for understanding the economic debates to which the following chapters contribute. It follows the historical approach, devoting particular attention to the classical political economists (hence cashing out part of the meaning of the ‘Classical’ of our title). One thrust of our argument will be that the ideas of the classicals are much more helpful then one might think, from opening a modern economics textbook.
