Contemporary Topics in Polymer Science Advances in New Materials Book

Ever since the Marginal Revolution of 1870, in which Carl Menger was one of three economists who discovered separately the theory of marginal utility, there has been a methodological battle between the Austrian School of Economics, of which Menger was the founder, and the German Historical School. (In fact, the German Historicists labeled Menger's work as "Austrian" as an insult.) The primary difference between the two schools is how they viewed the individual. While Austrians understood each individual as an actor who made decisions based on their values, Historicists viewed individuals as part of a more coherent whole of peoples whose actions were directed towards a particular end that is understood only be the elite.

In this excellent yet challenging work, Hayek dissects the positive methodology of scientism, which incorrectly attempts to derive explanations of social phenomena through empirical research. He then provides the historical background of how the positive method, the backbone of scientistic and historicist thought, was developed. He then shows how two presumably different thinkers, Comte and Hegel, provide the intellectual framework for the totalitarianism of the twentieth century.

This is not an easy book. However, if read patiently, it can be very fruitful in helping the reader understand how the current intellectual framework has been developed.