ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the epistemological assumptions underlying the spontaneous order theory. It describes the praxeological nature of this theory, expressed in the perception of social phenomena in terms of human action. The next part of the chapter presents the issue of the methodological individualism and subjectivism of the theory, and the related issues of agency and possibilities for reducing institutional terms to individual ones. The chapter notes that the theory assumes the position of epistemological anti-naturalism and shows its affinities with social phenomenology. It describes the relationship between methodological individualism and holism, and the problem of the conceptual reductionism. This leads to a synthesis of the approach of social individualism in the theory. The chapter also describes the resulting composite method of explaining social phenomena. The concepts of knowledge and entrepreneurship are also discussed, as well as the problem of the scientific nature of praxis and its cognitive value in the study of social phenomena. The chapter defends the anti-naturalism of the approach assumed, pointing to the problem of the theoretical grounding of observations and the tacit way in which the theoretical framework for research is chosen.
