ABSTRACT
The Great Antinomy (Eucken) between theory and reality was central to the scientific interest of Schmoller and the German historical school. It was, not coincidentally, the main issue of the Methodenstreit in a historical phase characterised by the redefinition of the cognitive strategies of the social sciences. In the three sections of this chapter, Schmoller’s attempt to provide satisfactory answers to this antinomy will be examined through a comparison with John Stuart Mill, who was crucial to the success of the naturalistic view of economics (inherited from the neoclassical school). The second section will reconstruct Schmoller’s comparison with authors (Roscher, Knies and Marx) who attempted to construct a historical-theoretical approach to the analysis of economic phenomena. Schmoller finds fault with Roscher for his mixture of “naturalistic” and metaphysical assumptions and with Marx, whose materialistic conception of history he appreciates, for his deterministic view, which pays little attention to the role of institutions. In the third section, the Schmoller–Menger dispute on the subject of realism in economic analysis will be examined.
