Intersubjectivity, Subjectivism, Social Sciences, and the Austrian School of Economics

Abstract

This article is an attempt to demonstrate that the subjectivism of the Austrian School of Economics could be based on Husserl’s intersubjectivity theory. At the same time, this could be a realistic view of the “hermeneutic turn” already done by some of the younger members of the Austrian School. The theoretical foundations of this realistic phenomenology are based on Aquinas’ thought on human action, Husserl’s intersubjectivity, Schutz’s analysis of the lifeworld (lebenswelt), and Gadamer’s horizons theory. This research program has consequences for Mises’s praxeology, Hayek’s spontaneous order, and Kirzner’s middle ground in economics. Finally, certain consequences for contemporary epistemology of economics are briefly taken into account.