Theory and History: Economic Science in the Work of Ortega y Gasset
Abstract
José Ortega y Gasset, the most prominent Spanish philosopher of the 20th century, addressed the situation and evolution of economics since the 19th century in various passages of his work. Critical of the abstract and positivist approach adopted by the discipline, he rejected the excessive influence of the natural sciences on the humanities, which he believed ignored human freedom and complexity. Opposed to the mechanistic assumptions present in both Millian utilitarianism and Marxist economism, he proposed an understanding of economics as a historical science linked to culture, yet still retaining its normative aspirations. Rooted in his philosophical stance, his reflections can be placed within the debate between theory and history that unfolded since the beginning of the so-called Methodenstreit. Critical as well of the concept of homo economicus and of reductionist economism, he envisioned economics as focused on scarcity, the superfluous and life, in dialogue with philosophy and the humanities.
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