ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Neurath’s conception of political economy, his rejection of a single measure of rational decision making, his defense of economic planning, and his conception that economics should take into account a multidimensional conception of well-being. It analyzes his early rejection of money as the unique measure of economic rationality and his view that such a narrow conception of economic rationality is linked to “pseudo-rationalism.” The discussion then turns to Neurath’s response to Hayek’s criticism of economic planning and the conception of knowledge linked to it, and it analyzes the debate between Neurath and the Frankfurt School. The latter criticized logical empiricism for promoting a scientistic and technocratic conception of society, a characterization strongly rejected by Neurath, who emphasized the pluralistic and participatory aspects of economic planning and saw it as an instrument to increase freedom.
