IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/revaec/v36y2023i3d10.1007_s11138-021-00548-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hermeneutics and phenomenology in the social sciences: Lessons from the Austrian school of economics case

Author

Listed:
  • Gabriel J. Zanotti

    (Universidad Austral)

  • Agustina Borella

    (Universidad de Buenos Aires)

  • Nicolás Cachanosky

    (Metropolitan State University of Denver)

Abstract

We study a case that applies hermeneutics to social sciences, in particular to the Austrian school of economics. We argue that an inaccurate treatment of hermeneutics contributed to an epistemological downgrade of the Austrian school in the economic scientific community. We discuss how this shortcoming can be fixed and how a proper hermeneutic application to the Austrian school explains why this school of thought is neither positivist nor postmodern.

Suggested Citation

  • Gabriel J. Zanotti & Agustina Borella & Nicolás Cachanosky, 2023. "Hermeneutics and phenomenology in the social sciences: Lessons from the Austrian school of economics case," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 403-415, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:36:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11138-021-00548-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11138-021-00548-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11138-021-00548-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11138-021-00548-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kurrild-Klitgaard, Peter, 2001. "On Rationality, Ideal Types and Economics: Alfred Schuutz and the Austrian School," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 14(2-3), pages 119-143, September.
    2. McCloskey, Donald N, 1983. "The Rhetoric of Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 481-517, June.
    3. Edward Stringham, 2002. "The Emergence of the London Stock Exchange as a Self-Policing Club," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 17(Spring 20), pages 1-19.
    4. Emily Chamlee-Wright & Virgil Henry Storr (ed.), 2010. "The Political Economy of Hurricane Katrina and Community Rebound," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13375.
    5. Salter, Alexander William & Tarko, Vlad, 2017. "Polycentric banking and macroeconomic stability," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(2), pages 365-395, June.
    6. Machlup, Fritz, 1978. "Methodology of Economics and Other Social Sciences," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780124645509 edited by Shell, Karl.
    7. Virgil Storr, 2010. "Schütz on meaning and culture," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 23(2), pages 147-163, June.
    8. von Mises, Ludwig, 1957. "Theory and History," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, edition 1, number mises1957.
    9. Leeson, Peter T., 2020. "Economics is not statistics (and vice versa)," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 423-425, August.
    10. Nicolás Cachanosky & Alexander W. Salter, 2017. "The view from Vienna: An analysis of the renewed interest in the Mises-Hayek theory of the business cycle," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 169-192, June.
    11. Benjamin Powell & Edward Stringham, 2009. "Public choice and the economic analysis of anarchy: a survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 503-538, September.
    12. Steven Horwitz, 2011. "Theory, history, and the great recession," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 171-184, June.
    13. Stringham, Edward Peter, 2015. "Private Governance: Creating Order in Economic and Social Life," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199365166, Decembrie.
    14. Peter Boettke & David Prychitko, 2011. "1985: A defining year in the history of modern Austrian economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 129-139, June.
    15. Horwitz, Steven, 2011. "Do we need a distinct monetary constitution?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 331-338.
    16. Richard N. Langlois, 1985. "Knowledge and Rationality in the Austrian School: An Analytical Survey," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 309-330, Oct-Dec.
    17. Lavoie, Don, 1987. "The accounting of interpretations and the interpretation of accounts: The communicative function of "the language of business"," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 579-604, October.
    18. Peter J. Boettke, 2005. "Anarchism as a Progressive Research Program in Political Economy," Chapters, in: Edward Stringham (ed.), Anarchy, State and Public Choice, chapter 18, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Emily Chamlee-Wright, 2011. "Operationalizing the interpretive turn: Deploying qualitative methods toward an economics of meaning," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 157-170, June.
    20. Paul Lewis, 2011. "Far from a nihilistic crowd: The theoretical contribution of radical subjectivist Austrian economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 185-198, June.
    21. Don Lavoie, 2011. "The interpretive dimension of economics: Science, hermeneutics, and praxeology," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 91-128, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zanotti, Gabriel J. & Cachanosky, Nicolás, 2015. "Implications Of Machlup’S Interpretation Of Mises’S Epistemology," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(1), pages 111-138, March.
    2. Jayme Lemke & John Kroencke, 2020. "Methodological confusions and the science wars in economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 87-106, March.
    3. Peter J. Boettke & Alexander W. Salter & Daniel J. Smith, 2018. "Money as meta-rule: Buchanan’s constitutional economics as a foundation for monetary stability," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 176(3), pages 529-555, September.
    4. Andrew Young, 2015. "From Caesar to Tacitus: changes in early Germanic governance circa 50 BC-50 AD," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 357-378, September.
    5. Virgil Storr, 2011. "On the hermeneutics debate: An introduction to a symposium on Don Lavoie's “The Interpretive Dimension of Economics—Science, Hermeneutics, and Praxeology”," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 85-89, June.
    6. Petr Špecián, 2013. "To the Interpretation of Spontaneous Order," E-LOGOS, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(1), pages 1-10.
    7. Palagashvili,Liya & Piano,Ennio & Skarbek,David, 2017. "The Decline and Rise of Institutions," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781316649176.
    8. Petr Špecián, 2012. "Od Misese k Schutzovi. Otázka apriorismu v ekonomii [From Mises to Schutz. A Question of Apriorism in Economics]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2012(3), pages 395-410.
    9. Peter Boettke & David Prychitko, 2011. "1985: A defining year in the history of modern Austrian economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 129-139, June.
    10. Rosolino A. Candela & Vincent J. Geloso, 2021. "Trade or raid: Acadian settlers and native Americans before 1755," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 549-575, September.
    11. Steven Horwitz, 2011. "Theory, history, and the great recession," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 171-184, June.
    12. Solomon Stein & Virgil Storr, 2013. "The difficulty of applying the economics of time and ignorance," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 27-37, March.
    13. Edward Peter Stringham, 2023. "Banking regulation got you down? The rise of fintech and cryptointermediation in Africa," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 197(3), pages 455-470, December.
    14. Loïc Sauce, 2017. "Market process(es) and (un)knowledge," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 305-321, September.
    15. Suzuki, Tomo, 2003. "The accounting figuration of business statistics as a foundation for the spread of economic ideas," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 65-95, January.
    16. Peter Leeson, 2014. "Pirates, prisoners, and preliterates: anarchic context and the private enforcement of law," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 365-379, June.
    17. William J. Luther & J. P. McElyea, 2018. "Austrian Macroeconomics in Search of Its Uniqueness," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 33(Summer 20), pages 1-20.
    18. Bruce Benson, 2018. "The institutional determinants of self-governance: a comment on Edward Stringham’s Private Governance," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 209-230, June.
    19. Stringham, Edward Peter, 2011. "Embracing morals in economics: The role of internal moral constraints in a market economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 98-109.
    20. Francesco Angelini & Guido Candela & Massimiliano Castellani, 2020. "Governance efficiency with and without government," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 54(1), pages 183-200, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:revaec:v:36:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s11138-021-00548-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.