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Schumpeter and the meanings of rationality

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  • Mário Graça Moura

    (Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia)

Abstract

This paper discusses various meanings of rationality distinguished by Schumpeter – as well as related concepts like rationalisation – and connects them with widely remarked tensions or dilemmas in his substantive works. The well-known contrast between Schumpeter’s commitment to equilibrium economics and his heterodox, evolutionary vision is analysed on the basis of the notions of ‘rationality of the observer’ and ‘rationality in the observed’, developed in his article on 'The Meaning of Rationality in the Social Sciences'. Schumpeter’s thesis of the obsolescence of the entrepreneurial function is also scrutinised, by investigating the coherence between his conceptions of rationality and of rationalisation. This topic is in turn connected with Schumpeter’s assessment of the socialist calculation debate.

Suggested Citation

  • Mário Graça Moura, 2014. "Schumpeter and the meanings of rationality," FEP Working Papers 551, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:551
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Schumpeter; methodology; ontology; rationality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B3 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals
    • B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology

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