Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book outlines the philosophical debates during the nineteenth century over the nature of historical knowledge and science in neo-Kantian epistemology, Nietzschean existentialism and perspectivism, and the methodological disputes between German and Austrian economists. It examines the intensifying debates in Germany over the differences between the natural and cultural sciences and over the recognition of the growing importance of Immanuel Kant in the national dialogue. The book continues the Kantian discussion of consciousness and objectivity in the works of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Lange, and Friedrich Nietzsche. It investigates the methodological writings of Max Weber in the context of the famous Methodenstreit between the Austrian School of marginal utility analysts and the German Historical School of economics. The book also investigates the competing theories of social science and their synthesis in the work of Jurgen Habermas.