LOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE CONCEPT OF ECONOMIC STRUCTURES DEVELOPMENT
Authors: PASICHNYK T.O. 
Published: September 2024

Topicality. Modern economic science pays much attention to the issue of social development. However, development is not necessarily accompanied by economic growth - on the contrary, it can create imbalances, disproportions, and conflicts. This is partly caused by poor understanding of the nature and patterns of development. Gaps in research of the logical and epistemological fundamentals of the development concept lead to the formation of erroneous methodological approaches and decision-making based on them that do not meet the requirements of the modern complex, dynamic, non-linear world. Aim and tasks. To investigate the universality of development theories and the possibility of their application to the study of complex economic systems; to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of metaphysical, dialectical and synergetic concepts of development; to review empirical cases of organization, self-organization and development of economic structures. Materials and methods. General scientific methods of research, in particular, logical-historical, systemic-structural, empirical, comparative, theoretical generalization and synthetic evaluations, are used. The theoretical basis of the study is the classical works of famous philosophers and methodologists, such as N. Condorcet, G. Hegel, F. Engels, K. Popper, H. Haken, I. Prigogine. Research results. In the article the main philosophical concepts of development are analyzed and the possibilities of their application to the study of economic systems are investigated. The article reviews the origins of ideas concerning development in the philosophy of ancient thinkers - Hesiod, Heraclitus, Aristotle; ideas of New Age progress theory representatives - A. Turgot, G. Vico, N. Condorcet, T. Hobbes, W. Godwin. The contradictory, progressive and regressive nature of development is revealed in terms of G. Hegel's dialectic. A critical analysis of the basic ideas of materialist dialectic is carried out. The framework for applying the dialectical principle to the study of economic development is defined. A comparative study of the dialectical and synergetic theories of development is conducted. The methodological potential of synergetics and complex systems theory for the study of innovative economic development is analyzed. With the help of empirical cases, it is demonstrated how the basic ideas of dialectics and synergetics are applied in the process of development of macro- and microeconomic systems. Conclusion. The article demonstrates the link between philosophical concepts of development and modern theories of self-organization and complex systems. Application of dialectical principle in economic science has its limitations. Hegel's dialectic is an alternative technique that explains the variability of the world, its constant motion and development, but not as a new logical method. If we reject the dialectic's claims to universality, then it can be used as a descriptive theory that explains certain typical developmental processes. In terms of synergetics, it is possible to explain the development of complex open systems in dynamics, such as economic systems. The categories of order, chaos, self-organization, order parameters, bifurcation, and phase transitions can be used as tools for analyzing economic processes. However, it is important to understand that there is no universal, absolute method of studying social reality in its development, so integration and methodological diversity based on a constant increase in knowledge are crucial.