Sprachgeist and Realisticness: The Troubled Relationship between (Austrian) Economics and Mathematics Revisited

Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University Working Paper Series

25 Pages Posted: 9 Aug 2021 Last revised: 12 Aug 2021

Date Written: August 2, 2021

Abstract

In recent academic and to some extent public debates, mainstream economics has been accused of excessive mathematization. The rejection of mathematical and other formal methods is often cited as a crucial trait of Austrian economics. Based on a systematic discussion of potential benefits and potential drawbacks of formalization in economics, the paper concludes that - contrary to the received view - the most prominent representatives of Austrian economists including Carl Menger, Ludwig Mises, and Friedrich August Hayek neither provide a justification for a rejection of formalization tout court nor actually reject it. Those Neo- Austrians who do, seem to rely on an unconvincing Sprachgeist argument traceable to Friedrich Wieser.

Keywords: Austrian economics, essentialism, formalization, Friedrich Wieser, mathematical methods, praxeology, realisticness

JEL Classification: B13, B16, B23, B25, B41, B50, B53, C00

Suggested Citation

Linsbichler, Alexander, Sprachgeist and Realisticness: The Troubled Relationship between (Austrian) Economics and Mathematics Revisited (August 2, 2021). Center for the History of Political Economy at Duke University Working Paper Series, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3897919 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3897919

Alexander Linsbichler (Contact Author)

University of Vienna ( email )

Vienna
Austria

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