Wieser’s Unity of Thought

Abstract

In his attempt to improve Carl Menger's economics, Friedrich von Wieser frequently discussed methodological issues. This paper proposes that Wieser's epistemological position can be understood as the result of a reformulation of the empirical position that Menger (1871) developed in his Grundsätze der Volkswirthschaftslehre . This paper proposes four ways of interpreting Wieser's concept of "experience": i) experience stored in language, ii) experience as introspection, iii) experience as a mental experiment, and iv) experience as observation. Because Wieser applied the concept of "motivational power" derived from psychological induction in order to explain observable social phenomena, this paper calls his position "methodological motivationalism." This particular position can help explain his later shift to sociological studies.