Dr. Bruce Caldwell

Office: 444 B&E Bldg. Phone: 910-334-5463

e-mail: caldwell@iago.uncg.edu

Overview:

Course objective: to work our way through F.A. Hayek's contributions to the

methodological literature. By studying one author's work in depth we should come to know not only what he thought, but also the ideas of those who shaped his thought, both those with whom he agreed and those against whom he fought.

Course requirements: This is a seminar. The first and most important obligation each of us has to the rest of the group is to attend every meeting and to come to class well prepared to participate in the discussion. A different person or persons will be responsible for leading the seminar each week. There will be some kind of written assignment as well, but I don't know what it is yet.

Texts: With the exception of the books I've asked you to buy (italicized in the outline below) all readings are on reserve at the library. You will probably want to Xerox each week's reserve readings so that you can bring a copy to class.

Note To IHS Course Outline Readers: The first few sections make reference to chapters of a book I am working on on Hayek's methodology that I distributed to my students.]

Course Outline

A. Overview

Readings:

Project Statement - Hayek's Methodology - handout

Chapter Outline - Hayek's Methodology - handout

B. Background on the Origins of the Austrian Movement

Chapter 2 - "Menger" - in Caldwell, Hayek's Methodology.

Part of Chapter 3 - "The Methodenstreit" - ibid.

C. Menger's Methodology

Carl Menger - Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences.

D. Other Austrian Positions on Methodology - Schumpeter and Mises

Y. Shionoya - "Instrumentalism in Schumpeter's Economic Methodology" - History of Political Economy, Summer 1990.

Ludwig Lachmann - "Ludwig von Mises and the Extension of Subjectivism" - in Kirzner, ed. Method, Process and Austrian Economics.

Ludwig von Mises - "Remarks on the Fundamental Problem of the Subjective Theory of Value" - in Epistemological Problems of Economics.

E. Post-War Vienna

Earlene Craver - "The Emigration of the Austrian Economists" - History of Political Economy, Spring 1986.

F. Methodology in Hayek's Monetary Theory.

Hayek - Preface and Chapter 1 - Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle .

G. Hayek's Transformation

Hayek - Selections from Individualism and Economic Order - "Economics and Knowledge" and others.

H. His Fight Against Scientism

Hayek -"Scientism and the Study of Society" from The Counter-Revolution of Science.

I. Later Methodological Contributions

Hayek - "Degrees of Explanation" and "The Theory of Complex Phenomena" -in Studies in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Hayek - "The Pretense of Knowledge" - in New Studies in Philosophy, Politics, Economics and the History of Ideas.

J. Differing Interpretations of Hayek's Transformation

T.W. Hutchison - Chapter on the Austrians - in The Politics and Philosophy of Economics.

Caldwell - "Hayek's Transformation" - History of Political Economy, Winter 1988.

Caldwell/Hutchison/Caldwell forthcoming on Hutchison's Interpretation of the Austrians - Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology.

K. Hayek and Popper

Caldwell "Clarifying Popper," Journal of Economic Literature, March 1991.

L. Other 20th Century Views on Methodology

Milton Friedman - "The Methodology of Positive Economics" - in Essays in Positive Economics.

Donald McCloskey - "The Rhetoric of Economics" - Journal of Economic Literature, June 1983.