Communicative action and the radical constitution: the Habermasian challenge to Hayek, Mises and their descendents

This paper evaluates Jurgen Habermas's typology of action and his recent call for a radically democratic rule of law. The theory of action that Habermas develops, however, differs significantly from the science of action (praxeology) of the Austrian school. As such, it represents a methodological challenge to Austrian praxeology. Additionally, Habermas's criticism of the welfare state is shown to be somewhat consistent with Hayek's criticisms, but his alternative to the welfare state challenges the political vision of many Austrian economists. This paper attempts to demonstrate that both Habermas's and the Austrian school's efforts suffer from similar weaknesses and epistemological pretences. Copyright 2007, Oxford University Press.

Schutz on Meaning and Culture *

Abstract The hermeneutical Austrians wanted to provide (1) a philosophically sound explanation of the contention that praxeology is a science of meaning and (2) justification for an approach to empirical/historical work that favors ethnographic methods. This article argues that had the hermeneutical Austrians relied on Alfred Schutz rather than Hans-Georg Gadamer to support their positions much of the firestorm surrounding their methodological pronouncements could have been avoided. Schutz's phenomenology offers a more than adequate defense for these (two) positions and, as a member of the Austrian school, his views on these arguments may have been more readily received