The Limits of Mathematical Modeling in the Social Sciences: The Significance of Gödel's Incompleteness Phenomenon

Current mathematical models are notoriously unreliable in describing the time evolution of unexpected social phenomena, from financial crashes to revolution. Can such events be forecast? Can we compute probabilities about them? Can we model them? This book investigates and attempts to answer these questions through Gödel's two incompleteness theorems, and in doing so demonstrates how influential Gödel is in modern logical and mathematical thinking. Many mathematical models are applied to economics and social theory, while Gödel's theorems are able to predict their limitations for more accurate analysis and understanding of national and international events.This unique discussion is written for graduate level mathematicians applying their research to the social sciences, including economics, social studies and philosophy, and also for formal logicians and philosophers of science.