The foundations of Austrian economics from Menger to Mises : a critico-historical retrospective of subjectivism

This landmark book presents a critical study of the Austrian subjectivism of Menger and Mises and assesses their contribution in the light of contemporary philosophy of the human sciences. Allen Oakley lays emphasis on the subjectivism of Menger and Mises as the foundation of Austrian economics. By situating their work in the context of the philosophies of the human sciences evolving around them, he shows how these founders of the modern Austrian tradition failed to fully appreciate and to adopt the more penetrating subjectivism of their contemporaries. He argues that, as a result, they left their successors an incomplete and ambiguous metatheoretical legacy. For historians of economic thought and for economic philosophers and methodologists the book provides a critical study of a fundamental theme of Austrian economics that is still the subject of controversy today.