Part I. Introduction: 1. The dismal queen of the social sciences Uskali Mäki; Part II. Setting the Scene: 2. Ugly currents in modern economics Mark Blaug; 3. Modern economics and its critics Partha Dasgupta; 4. Some non-reasons for non-realism about economics Uskali Mäki; Part III. Economic Theory and Economic Reality: 5. Credible worlds: the status of theoretical models in economics Robert Sugden; 6. Models, stories and the economic world Mary Morgan; 7. The limits of causal order, from economics to physics Nancy Cartwright; 8. Econometrics and reality Kevin Hoover; 9. Economic models and reality: the role of informal scientific methods Roger Backhouse; 10. Truthlikeness and economic theories Ilkka Niiniluoto; Part IV. The Constitution of Economic Reality: 11. Rational choice, functional selection and empty black boxes Philip Pettit; 12. The reality of common cultures Shaun Hargreaves Heap; 13. Collective acceptance and collective attitudes: on the social construction of social reality Raimo Tuomela and Wolfgang Balzer; 14. Putting evidence in its place: John Mill's early struggles with 'facts in concrete' Neil DeMarchi; 15. Hayek and cultural evolution Bruce Caldwell; Part V. The Institutions of Economics: 16. You shouldn't want a realism if you have a rhetoric Deirdre McCloskey; 17. The more things change, the more they stay the same: social realism in contemporary science studies Wade Hands; 18. Economists: truth-seekers or rent-seekers Jesus Zamora Bonilla.