Cournot - Antoine Augustin Cournot

French economist, mathematician, and philosopher. He studied mathematics at the Sorbonne (University of Paris) and other institutions, and became a professor of mathematics at the University of Lyon. He later served as an inspector and president of the Dijon Academy. He was the first to use mathematics in economics, and his work "An Investigation into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth" (1838) is considered a classic in this field. He broke new ground in particular with his work on the law of demand, the law of determining monopoly prices (known as "Cournot's points"), the analysis of the transition from monopoly to competition, and the analysis of taxes and tariffs, and he was also a pioneer in economic research based on the marginal principle. However, his original ideas did not attract much attention at the time of publication, and their true value was not recognized until they were introduced by Walras and Jevons just before his death. Today, his position in the history of mathematical economics is unshakable. In his mathematical works, he pioneered the field of probability theory and led to the view of frequency theory. As a philosopher, he broke new ground in the interpretation of chance, attempted to classify knowledge through the theory of probability, attempted to clarify the relationship between philosophy and science, and investigated the nature of scientific knowledge.

[Kenichi Miyazawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの経済学者、数学者、哲学者。ソルボンヌ大学（パリ大学）などで数学を学び、リヨン大学の数学教授となる。その後、視学官やディジョン・アカデミー総長なども務める。経済学に本格的な数学の利用を試みた始祖で、『富の理論の数学的原理に関する研究』（1838）は、この領域での古典としての地位を占める。とくに需要の法則、独占価格の決定法則（「クールノーの点」とよばれる）、独占から競争への移行分析、租税・関税の分析などで新境地を開き、また限界原理による経済学研究の先駆となった。ただしその創見も、出版当時は関心をよばず、死の直前にワルラスやジェボンズによって紹介されて初めて真価が認められた。今日、数理経済学史上のその地位は不動である。数学に関する著作では、確率論の分野を開拓し、頻度説の見方を導いた。また哲学者としては、偶然性の解釈に新境地を開き、蓋然(がいぜん)性論によって知識の分類を試みて哲学と科学との関連の解明を企て科学的認識の性格を究明した。

［宮澤健一］

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