Rationalities and Their Limits: Reconstructing Neurath’s and Mises’s Prerequisites in the Early Socialist Calculation Debates

Linsbichler, Alexander

doi:10.1108/s0743-41542021000039b008

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The outcome O of the utopian scenario is compared to the actual state of affairs A. Let us suppose we confirm the standard theory to the effect that the actual state of affairs A is 31 Actually, the unusual step of explicitly stating that S M is the most fruitful notion of superiority, thereby acknowledging the existence of different notions, is already an approach towards Neurath's concern-his ever-present criticism of pseudorationalism, the supposition that there is exactly one rational solution to each problem (see also Linsbichler 2021).…”

Section: Example N: Neurathian Utopia Harder Casementioning

confidence: 87%

“…The ideal Neurathian utopianist is not an expert with the authority for deciding on a most "efficient" course of action, but rather an expert for expanding experience to new phenomena and for enlightening the public with adequately presented knowledge for well-informed deliberation. New notions of comparison, like calculation in kind, are conceptual tools for such deliberations (Uebel 2008; see also Linsbichler 2021;2022b).…”

Section: Example N: Neurathian Utopia Harder Casementioning

confidence: 99%

“… 31 Actually, the unusual step of explicitly stating that S M is the most fruitful notion of superiority, thereby acknowledging the existence of different notions, is already an approach towards Neurath’s concern—his ever-present criticism of pseudorationalism, the supposition that there is exactly one rational solution to each problem (see also Linsbichler 2021 ). …”

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confidence: 99%

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Otto Neurath’s Scientific Utopianism Revisited-A Refined Model for Utopias in Thought Experiments

Linsbichler

Cunha

2023

J Gen Philos Sci

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Otto Neurath’s empiricist methodology of economics and his contributions to political economy have gained increasing attention in recent years. We connect this research with contemporary debates regarding the epistemological status of thought experiments by reconstructing Neurath’s utopias as linchpins of thought experiments. In our three reconstructed examples of different uses of utopias/dystopias in thought experiments we employ a reformulation of Häggqvist’s model for thought experiments and we argue that: (1) Our reformulation of Häggqvist’s model more adequately complies with many uses of thought experiments, especially with the open-ended discussions of utopias and dystopias in thought experiments. (2) As a strict logical empiricist, Neurath is committed to a strictly empiricist account of thought experiments. John Norton’s empiricist argument view can indeed account for the justifications of empirical beliefs and genuine discoveries targeted by scientific utopianism in three distinct (yet connected) ways, all of which Neurath already contemplated: (2.I) Dealing with utopias and thought experiments on a regular basis increases creativity and inventiveness. (2.II) Particular ways of presenting knowledge facilitate scientific discovery and social progress. (2.III) The use of utopias in thought experiments can prompt conceptual change and allow access to new phenomena. We conclude by highlighting that, even though thought experiments support a positive attitude for exploring new social possibilities, Neurath points out that active decisions are unavoidable. The exploration of alternatives and the awareness of a need for decisions in policy discussion avert a technocratic outlook in social science.

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Section: Example N: Neurathian Utopia Harder Casementioning

confidence: 87%

Section: Example N: Neurathian Utopia Harder Casementioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Otto Neurath’s Scientific Utopianism Revisited-A Refined Model for Utopias in Thought Experiments

Linsbichler

Cunha

2023

J Gen Philos Sci

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“…3 Drawing on Chaloupek (1990), King laudably unearths early episodes in the socialist calculation debates which have received little attention in the Englishspeaking scientific community (see also Backhaus, Chaloupek, and Frambach 2019). King underlines that the debates were initiated by the Austromarxist Otto Neurath, who prompted Mises to develop his famous calculation argument (see also Linsbichler 2021aLinsbichler , 2021bLinsbichler , 2022). Yet, other economists including Enrico Barone and Albert Schäffle published on problems of economic calculation under socialism before and thus could have been mentioned in this context.…”

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confidence: 99%

Book Review: The Alternative Austrian Economics: A Brief History

Linsbichler

2022

QJAE

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Recent efforts re-introduce the political economists of Austromarxism and their ideas to larger English-speaking audiences. John E. King’s _The Alternative Austrian Economics: A Brief History_ is another overall highly commendable contribution to that end. Anyone interested in the history of economic thought can benefit from King’s lucid reconstructions of economic theory, often embedded in the political and cultural context of interwar Vienna, and from the numerous references he provides for further study. King's history provides insight into the discourse in which eminent economists of the Austrian School developed their ideas and theories.

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Explanatory efficiency: A framework for analyzing the dynamic properties of explanatory games

Lipski

2023

Synthese

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In this paper I will discuss the problem of evaluating dynamic properties of the procedural rules that govern science. I will propose a novel framework for evaluating dynamic properties of such rules. This framework is based upon an analogy from New Institutional Economics. I will argue that the concept of ‘adaptive efficiency’, as it has been developed by Douglass North, solves a problem in economics that is analogous to the problem of evaluating dynamic properties of the procedural rules that govern science. I will propose to apply the main ideas underlying this concept to Chrysostomos Mantzavinos’s theory of Explanatory Games. Based on these ideas, I will develop the concept of ‘explanatory efficiency’. This concept is meant to provide the means to evaluate the dynamic properties of Explanatory Games. I will argue that the proposed analogy also motivates more general applications of New Institutional Economics to traditional problems of philosophy of science.

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Rationalities and Their Limits: Reconstructing Neurath’s and Mises’s Prerequisites in the Early Socialist Calculation Debates

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Otto Neurath’s Scientific Utopianism Revisited-A Refined Model for Utopias in Thought Experiments

Otto Neurath’s Scientific Utopianism Revisited-A Refined Model for Utopias in Thought Experiments

Book Review: The Alternative Austrian Economics: A Brief History

Explanatory efficiency: A framework for analyzing the dynamic properties of explanatory games

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