Investigations into the Methods of the Social Sciences [Paperback]

Carl Menger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2009

Here is the book that gave the Austrian School its name!

The famed Methodenstreit of the late 19th century was the battle of method. It pitted the emerging Austrian School against the German Historical School over a critically important question: what is the proper way to do social science? Here Carl Menger, the founder of the School, vindicates the importance of theory, and lays the foundation for later developments by Mises and others.

The book was written twelve years after his principles book, and it sought to deal with the hostility with which that book was greeted in the German world. Menger argues that economics can and must be more than an effort at observing, collecting, and assembling data. It can make general observations about the laws of economics that operate independently of time and place.

Joseph Salerno writes: "The Investigations precipitated a furor among German economists who heatedly responded with derisive attacks on Menger and the Austrian School. In fact, this latter term was originated and applied by the German Historicists in order to emphasize the isolation of Menger and his followers from the mainstream of German economics."

No Austrian can overlook this very important treatise on method. paperback, 260 pgs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Ludwig von Mises Institute (2009)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001DWLF2G
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,063,675 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Battle of Method, April 12, 2010

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B (New Orleans) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Investigations into the Methods of the Social Sciences (Paperback)

This book represents the first great intellectual debate of the Austrian School. Menger's offensive against the German Historical School is devastating. However, I do feel sorry that Menger had to waste his time refuting such obviously flawed ideas. He truly does state the obvious, so I'm not sure whether the reader will cover any new ground here. Still, this book does lay the foundation for the Austrian School's methodology. It can also be an interesting read if you remember to put the argument in its historical context.