ABSTRACT
Since Joseph Schumpeter’s reflection of 1926, the Methodenstreit (debate on method) between Carl Menger and Gustav von Schmoller has usually been interpreted as an unnecessary conflict between two directions in economic research, theory, and history.1 Using an architectural parable, Schumpeter assigned Menger an elegant salon in which Menger could luxuriate as a victorious theorist. At the same time Schumpeter praised Schmoller for the design of the grand house of which Menger’s salon was just a part. However, this conciliatory interpretation misses an important aspect of the debate, because Menger’s claim for methodological individualism-‘exact orientation of theoretical research’ (C.Menger, 1963:54; MGW 2:31) —was not confined to the status of an abstract theory in its static sense.
